Economics
Lebanon needs to rethink its economic model after decades of setbacks that have affected its socio-economic stability, an International Labor Organization official said Tuesday.
New signs of distress in Egypt's economy emerged Tuesday with the disclosure that foreign currency reserves – already at critically low levels – fell nearly 10 percent in just the last month as political turmoil flared anew on the streets.
The long frosty relations between Egypt and Iran entered a slow thaw yesterday after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became the first Iranian president to visit Egypt since the 1979 revolution.
Projects worth a combined $6.8bn (AED25bn) will boost solar power in the Middle East, claims the chairman of the inaugural Solar Middle East Conference, which opens in Dubai on 17 February.
Saudi Arabia’s economy will more than treble to US$3 trillion by 2050, making it the 18th largest economy in the world, according to analyst PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Companies
Microsoft, Marriott hotels and FedEx Express have again been rated the best companies to work for in the United Arab Emirates.
SANAD, a German fund for small and medium enterprises in the MENA region signed Tuesday a $20 million loan facility with Bank Audi aimed at expanding lending to small businesses in Lebanon.
Banks in the United Arab Emirates will this year aim to repay capital placed with them at the height of the global financial crisis, with some turning to the bond market to avoid servicing expensive debt and risking a sudden “capital cliff” later on.
Siemens has been awarded a $38 million contract by Qatar Steel to build a high-voltage substation at Qatar’s industrial city of Mesaieed, the German engineering conglomerate said on Tuesday.
