Category: Uncategorized

George Richani-CEO-Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait

Increasingly competitive and technologically advanced sharia-: compliant funds see healthy returns as frameworks improve Challenging convention

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  Sharia-compliant funds are emerging as an increasingly popular investment instrument in markets across the region, and Qatar is playing an important role in this expansion. According to the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), sharia-compliant funds accounted for $224m by end 2017; just over 50% of the assets placed in the Qatari mutual fund segment. Their prominence in the market means that they are no longer viewed as a niche investment opportunity, with an increasingly broad range of investors taking the sharia-compliant option as a result

Peter Wong-Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive-HSBC

Proof of concept: Funding programmes and a new coordinating council provide a platform for research and development

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  Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV 2030) aims to improve the country’s sustainable development and increase the standard of living. The blueprint identifies four pillars of development: human, social, economic and environmental. Research and innovation have the potential to spur tangible results in each of these areas, whether through improving the efficacy of health care, or technological innovations to help strengthen environmental protection. “Qatar has been focusing on research and development (R&D) for many years, and going forward the focus will be on innovation in

Emmanuel Macron-President of France

Continental business: The region sees a raft of trade deals and disputes

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  While 2018 is unlikely to earn the description of a time of significant global trade cooperation, the year did end on a note of cautious optimism for advocates of open trade, when, at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, the US declared a 90-day truce in its 10-month-long trade war with China. It is hoped that this ceasefire will stand, leading to talks between the world’s two largest economies in the first quarter of 2019. Whatever the outcome, it is likely to have a major impact on business and politics across Asia Pacific. The new year may also see an intensification of a result

Nhon Luc Ly-CEO-AIA Myanmar; Son Nguyen-Country President-Chubb Life Insurance Myanmar; Daw Zarchi Tin-CEO

Free, small and enterprising: Government schemes are supporting new businesses, local communities, youth and women

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  Companies categorised as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) constitute around 75% of all businesses in Sri Lanka, making them a crucial component of the economy. Boosting this vital area, both in term of raw size and contribution to value added, is thus a vital part of policy, with recent times seeing major initiatives launched with this goal in mind. June 2018 saw the launch of Enterprise Sri Lanka (ESL), an ambitious countrywide scheme designed to increase entrepreneurship in areas such as farming, ecotourism and

Chaim Zach-Managing Director and CEO-Agric International Technology and Trade; Kabiru Rabiu-Group Executive Director-BUA Group; and Aliyu Abbati Abdulhameed-Managing Director

Path to prosperity: Vision 2025 seeks to boost exports and spread economic benefits

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  In September 2017 the Sri Lankan government launched an ambitious development plan, Vision 2025. The eight-year strategy aims to turn the country into an upper-middle-income one “by transforming Sri Lanka into the hub of the Indian Ocean, with a knowledge-based, highly competitive, social market economy”. While the government and the country as a whole have since gone through many tribulations, these goals have largely retained their currency across the political spectrum, even if there is some disagreement as to how they should be achieved. Vision 2025 provided a list of the longer-term obstacles to achieving those goals while also proposing some key solutions. Building

Chaim Zach-Managing Director and CEO-Agric International Technology and Trade; Kabiru Rabiu-Group Executive Director-BUA Group; and Aliyu Abbati Abdulhameed-Managing Director

Ship to shore: Ports continue to play a key role in the emirate’s broader economic development goals

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Ports play a central role in the economic development of Abu Dhabi, contributing 3.6% of the emirate’s non-oil GDP in 2017, a value-added contribution of Dh19.6bn ($5.3bn). Closer ties with a number of international partners coupled with the growing needs of a diversifying domestic economy are driving the expansion of the emirate’s seaports, with a significant flow of investment in the pipeline geared towards boosting capacity. Abu Dhabi Ports The emirate’s commercial and community ports, as well as their associated industrial zones, are developed, managed

Chaim Zach-Managing Director and CEO-Agric International Technology and Trade; Kabiru Rabiu-Group Executive Director-BUA Group; and Aliyu Abbati Abdulhameed-Managing Director

Reactive strategies: Despite sector growth, some retailers have adopted tactics that respond to greater consumer caution and lower budgets

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  While Dubai’s retail space continues to expand and adapt to global trends, recent years have seen some particular external challenges for the local sector. A sustained period of low oil and gas prices, starting in 2014 and continuing into 2018, has impacted sentiment and disposable incomes in many Gulf states, while economic slowdowns in Asia and elsewhere have also hit tourist and expat pockets. At the same time, the sector has had to absorb the introduction of value-added tax (VAT), which the UAE, along

Nhon Luc Ly-CEO-AIA Myanmar; Son Nguyen-Country President-Chubb Life Insurance Myanmar; Daw Zarchi Tin-CEO

Building resources: Recruiting and training medical staff are key strategic aims

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  One of the biggest challenges for health services worldwide is that of human resources. Finding and keeping the best doctors and nurses, administrators and technicians in an increasingly competitive and globalised sector requires a range of approaches. For Dubai, whose population and workforce has a high concentration of expatriates, personnel recruitment, retention and training is a particularly key issue. The emirate has engaged in a series of programmes to expand its workforce in recent years, including continuous training and enhanced recruitment packages, and is expected to step up efforts in the coming years, as factors such as population growth continue to accelerate demand for

Chaim Zach-Managing Director and CEO-Agric International Technology and Trade; Kabiru Rabiu-Group Executive Director-BUA Group; and Aliyu Abbati Abdulhameed-Managing Director

On the move: Improving logistics infrastructure is a policy priority

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  Logistics infrastructure and supply chains in Morocco have strengthened considerably over the past decade. According to figures from the Moroccan Agency for Logistics Development (Agence Marocaine de Développement Logistique, AMDL), during the period 2010-16 the segment grew by 3.47% on average per year and directly contributed 24,000 net jobs, representing a share of 9% of all employment creation at the national level. While its contribution to GDP is still low, at around 2.3%, high levels of public and foreign direct investment over the past decade, coupled with efforts by policymakers to establish industrial and logistics special economic zones (SEZs) and incentivise smallscale businesses, are

Nhon Luc Ly-CEO-AIA Myanmar; Son Nguyen-Country President-Chubb Life Insurance Myanmar; Daw Zarchi Tin-CEO

My country: While recent years have seen stronger international visitor numbers, domestic tourism will be key over the long term

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  The domestic tourism market has been growing strongly since the beginning of the decade, both in absolute terms as well as in its contribution to the wider industry. Nights spent in tourism accommodation by local residents stood at 7.14m in 2018, up 2% on the previous year’s figures and accounting for 30% of total nights in the kingdom. However, this latter figure was down two percentage points, thanks to a large increase in nights spent by foreign residents. Furthermore, in the first 10 months