ME PoV Spring 2015 issue

About this issue

The articles in this issue cover Winning with China Inc., rethinking the future, Acta est fabula, Virtue borne out of necessity? raising the ceiling of expectations, trust me, I’m a real estate developer and fueling growth

Click the link on the left to access the Spring 2015 issue. Alternatively, you can read each article separately by clicking below.

Winning with China Inc.

With a growing number of Chinese multinationals setting up shop across the Middle East, are we ready to deal with a business partner whose culture is so different to our own?

Click here to read the full article.

Rethinking the future

Although the United Arab Emirates financial sector’s net profits grew by 14 percent in 2013 and has had its credit rating raised from negative to stable by Moody’s1–a rating that has been maintained for 2014 – there are concerns that new regulations to be issued by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) in line with international best practices such as Basel III, may end up constraining the activities of certain types of financial institutions.

Click here to read the full article.

Acta est fabula

The family business structure has been a key factor in the unprecedented growth in material prosperity that we have experienced so far in the Middle East North Africa region. Such businesses enhance the common good by providing employment, acting as a role model, producing required goods and services, and creating wealth that extends beyond the business family itself.

Their contribution to society is so great in fact that the prosperity of the Middle East can be directly correlated with the presence of the family business. For these reasons alone, in today’s environment, failure of a family business is not an option, but, with good succession planning, nor is it inevitable.

Click here to read the full article.

Virtue borne out of necessity?

Reducing the capital allocated for essential projects carries risk. Lack of investment leaves unmet the need for economic infrastructure to create jobs that would in turn help steer economies away from a reliance on natural resources. In addition, real and unmet demand in areas of social infrastructure such as housing, health and education goes unaddressed. Tightening budgets generally across public services has the potential to exacerbate another challenge commonly experienced in the region, that of the effective whole-life maintenance of existing public assets.

Click here to read the full article.

Raising the ceiling of expectations

Qatar is one of the world’s fastest growing economies. Once dependent on fishing and pearl hunting, the country has recently assumed a very advanced position among the leading international economies with the highest per capita in the world at over US$94,744. Also, Qatar has known one of the fastest demographic growths in the world with the population quadrupling in the last 13 years.

Projections show Qatar could easily increase from a population of 2.3 million in 2014 to 2.8 million by 2020. The drastic transition and expected development have cast certain needs to develop the real estate sector ushering in a new construction era.

Click here to read the full article.

Trust me, I’m a real estate developer

It is widely accepted amongst real estate professionals that the Middle Eastern property markets are less than transparent and have typically been administered under contract law as opposed to any real estate specific legislation. That is, until now.

Click here to read the full article.

Fueling growth

For a company that needs water for manufacturing, in its supply chain, or even for product use, a lack of access to water may jeopardize its growth. The risks point to a need to align water stewardship and business growth strategies, and to go beyond an efficiency focus.

Click here to read the full article.