Economics and policy
Arab leaders are expected to take a final decision on the plan of establishing the Greater Arab Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in the coming months.
Lebanon will proceed with the prequalifying bid for offshore oil and gas exploration as scheduled despite the resignation of the Cabinet, caretaker Energy and Water Minister Gebran Bassil has said.
Saudi Arabia’s real estate share index rose to a 10-month high on bets the sector will benefit from a new mortgage law being introduced, and Egypt’s Orascom Construction Industries helped lift Cairo’s bourse.
Companies and Business
DP World, the world’s third-largest port operator, is looking to expand in Latin America and Africa, according to the Dubai-based company’s chairman.
Total passenger traffic through Muscat International Airport increased by 10 percent in the first two months of 2013, latest figures reveal.
Dubai-based Al-Braik Investments on Sunday said it planned to set up a $200 million silicon smelter in Abu Dhabi, the first facility of its kind among Gulf Arab countries.
Online communications platforms Skype and WhatsApp may face being banned in Saudi Arabia if the Gulf kingdom’s government is not provided with services to monitor the technologies.
Electronics retailers in the UAE have reported mixed sales for the highly anticipated BlackBerry Z10 smartphone, but said sales are expected to rise when the Q10 model is released.
Standard Chartered would consider acquiring a bank in Egypt to ride an expected boom in one of the Middle East's largest economies, the firm's regional head said.
