New Saudi and Emirati gas finds boost export hopes

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Demand ◽  
Petrochemicals Industry ◽  
European Markets

Significance Further exploration and appraisal work will be needed to gauge how much gas can be recovered from the new discoveries and at what cost. The global demand slump following COVID-19 lockdowns is raising cost-effectiveness questions over the multiplicity of new global LNG projects, not least in neighbouring Qatar. Nevertheless, Middle East producers are well positioned to challenge US and Russian LNG in Asian and European markets. Impacts Middle Eastern LNG imports will decline further, and plans for new regasification capacity are likely to be shelved. Dubai’s reduced dependence on the Dolphin gas import pipeline could affect relations with Qatar and fellow-customer Muscat. Riyadh’s development of the Jafurah gas and condensate field will provide feedstock for its growing petrochemicals industry.

Middle East luxury retail sector – opportunities or uncertainties in the future?

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-39
Author(s):  
Roger Moser ◽  
Gopalakrishnan Narayanamurthy
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
International Business ◽  
Market Entry ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Retail Sector ◽  
Senior Executive ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Future

Subject area The subject area is international business and global operations. Study level/applicability The study includes BSc, MSc and MBA students and management trainees who are interested in learning how an industry can be assessed to make a decision on market entry/expansion. Even senior management teams could be targeted in executive education programs, as this case provides a detailed procedure and methodology that is also used by companies (multinational corporations and small- and medium-sized enterprises) to develop strategies on corporate and functional levels. Case overview A group of five senior executive teams of different Swiss luxury and lifestyle companies wanted to enter the Middle East market. To figure out the optimal market entry and operating strategies, the senior executive team approached the Head of the Swiss Business Hub Middle East of Switzerland Global Enterprise, Thomas Meier, in December 2012. Although being marked with great potential and an over-proportional growth, the Middle Eastern luxury market contained impediments that international firms had to take into consideration. Therefore, Thomas had to analyze the future outlook for this segment of the Middle East retail sector to develop potential strategies for the five different Swiss luxury and lifestyle companies to potentially operate successfully in the Middle East luxury and lifestyle market. Expected learning outcomes The study identifies barriers and operations challenges especially for Swiss and other foreign luxury and lifestyle retailers in the Middle East, understands the future (2017) institutional environment of the luxury and lifestyle retail sector in the Middle East and applies the institutions-resources matrix in the context of a Swiss company to evaluate the uncertainties prevailing in the Middle East luxury and lifestyle retail sector. It helps in turning insights about future developments in an industry (segment) into consequences for the corporate and functional strategies of a company. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or e-mail [email protected] to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 5: International Business.

Comparative CSR decision-making in the Middle East: an exploratory study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre El Haddad ◽  
Alexandre Anatolievich Bachkirov ◽  
Olga Grishina
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Managerial Decision ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Nodal Model ◽  
Comparative Csr ◽  
High Level ◽  
Corporate Social

Purpose This study aims to explore the commonalities and differences of corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions among business leaders in Oman and Lebanon, two Middle Eastern countries forming a comparative dyad with a high level of cultural variance within the Arab cluster. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were used to elicit qualitative data that were analyzed by means of multilevel analysis. Findings The findings provide empirical evidence that CSR is a powerful factor in managerial decision-making in the Middle East with the national cultures of Oman and Lebanon exerting partially differing effects on CSR decision-making. Practical implications The study enlightens practicing managers and policymakers in terms of the salience of multiple actors’ influence on CSR decision-making processes and the responses they may receive when developing and implementing CSR initiatives in the Middle East. Originality/value The study proposes a seven nodal model, which captures the flow of CSR decision-making in the research contexts.

After Islamic State, Middle East fissures will deepen

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Middle East Conflict ◽  
Local Support ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Recent Attack

Significance The salafi-jihadist group has lost almost all the territory it formerly held in Iraq and Syria. The recent attack on a mosque in Egypt’s Sinai also significantly reduced its local support. Arabic-language media are already looking to the next stages of Middle East conflict. Impacts The negative impact of IS losing its Raqqa propaganda centre on its efforts to control the narrative will be temporary. Following IS's loss of the Syria-Iraq border, Arabic press focus on the confrontation between Iran and US-linked forces will rise. The disappearance of IS as a territorial threat will likely increase divisions among Middle Eastern states.

Middle Eastern airlines face massive potential losses

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Civil Aviation ◽  
Aviation Industry ◽  
Security Threats ◽  
Alternate Route ◽  
Security Risks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Potential Losses

Significance The COVID-19 outbreak is the latest blow to civil aviation in the Middle East, where airlines already face unprecedented security risks and operational complexities. Carriers routinely have to make difficult decisions around the conflict in Syria, US-Iran tensions and the Qatar boycott, leading to re-routed flights, lost profits and delays. Impacts COVID-19 has the potential to transform the entire aviation industry. Despite ongoing security threats, overflight of Iraq and Iran will be critical for carriers operating between Europe and the Gulf or Asia. Security improvements will make Egypt a more important alternate route for overflight, but operators will incur more cost by using it.

Turkish-Azeri Tanap line will cut Russian gas prices

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Gas Pipeline ◽  
Gas Field ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Eastern Turkey ◽  
Pipeline Project ◽  
Gas Fields ◽  
European Markets

Subject The Tanap gas pipeline project. Significance The Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (Tanap) has a planned capacity of 31 billion cubic metres/year (bcm/yr) but will initially carry 16 bcm/yr from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz gas field. It is to run from eastern Turkey to the Turkish-Greek border. There, Tanap will connect with the planned 20 bcm/yr Trans-Adriatic pipeline (TAP) that will carry the gas on to Italy and European markets. With the TAP line also moving towards construction, the only questions remaining over Tanap are where the gas for the remaining 15 bcm/yr of capacity will be sourced, and where it will go. Impacts The start of work on Tanap will ensure that construction of the planned TAP may now also commence. SGC will encourage developing more gas fields in the Caspian, the Middle East and Iran. Developing Tanap will provide Russia with further impetus to develop its Turkish Stream pipeline, which will compete for the same markets. Barring major problems with existing suppliers, Tanap will secure Turkey's growing gas needs into the next decade.

Nuclear energy will diversify Middle Eastern ties

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nuclear Material ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Nuclear Arms Race ◽  
Political Leverage

Significance Rosatom’s nuclear energy contracts with Iran, Egypt, Turkey and Jordan signal a growth in Russian soft power in the region. Meanwhile, the United States is conspicuous by its absence in both reactor sales and nuclear cooperation. Impacts Russian hegemony in regional uranium supplies could offer political leverage. Nuclear energy programmes will give leaders further justification to strengthen state security mechanisms. The presence of nuclear material in the Middle East region will increase Western concerns over regime security and survival. Civil nuclear power could contribute to anxieties over a nuclear arms race. US disengagement from civil nuclear power in the Middle East may weaken its influence over non-proliferation.

A new OPEC+ deal would not resolve Russia's problems

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Oil Prices ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Funding Sources ◽  
Global Demand ◽  
Price Management ◽  
Price War

Significance As the COVID-19 pandemic depressed Chinese and global demand for oil, Russia and Saudi Arabia broke off their three-year price management agreement, sending prices tumbling. Moscow insists it can weather the storm, but low oil prices further complicate the adverse economic conditions stemming from COVID-19. Russia has the funding sources to prop up its budget, but this implies abandoning ambitious plans to invest in growth and development. Impacts The disintegration of OPEC+ would undermine Russia's wider attempts to win political partners in the Middle East. Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan signed up to OPEC+ but are less willing or able to side with Russia in a price war. Rosneft's divestment of its Venezuelan assets shows a greater sensitivity to sanctions risks in a tougher market.

Aid to the Middle East will fall far short of needs

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Urban Migration ◽  
North African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Migration Patterns ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Gulf States ◽  
North African Countries ◽  
In Transit

Significance The UN is seeking an additional USD10.3bn in donations to combat the pandemic worldwide, with around one-fifth earmarked for the Middle East. Impacts An upsurge in migration to Europe would put new pressure on resources in transit as well as destination countries. Internal rural-urban migration patterns may be disrupted as poverty rises. Low oil prices will reduce aid and worker remittances from Gulf states to poorer Middle Eastern countries. A failure to contain COVID-19 in Middle East and North African countries could contribute to new waves in Europe and elsewhere. A change in US administration after the November elections could lead to a reversal of recent decisions cutting support to UN aid agencies.

Europe-US divergence on Middle East could be long-term

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Us ◽  
International Attention ◽  
Defence Cooperation ◽  
Swift System ◽  
Uk Foreign Policy ◽  
Trump Administration

Subject European and Middle East priorities in the Middle East. Significance The US killing of Iran’s Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani on January 3 focused international attention on continuing tensions between Tehran and Washington and revealed deep and ongoing fractures in the transatlantic alliance. These strains were not caused by Soleimani's death; they stem from fundamental strategic differences on Middle Eastern policy priorities between the transactional Trump administration and a multilaterally oriented Europe. Impacts Trump’s re-election could further divide European from US interests in the Middle East. Europe’s main focus in the Middle East will continue to be security and controlling migration, with less concern for human rights. Future EU-UK foreign policy unity will hinge on safeguarding security and defence cooperation post-Brexit. European efforts to reduce dependence on the dollar as a reserve currency, such as creating an independent SWIFT system, will gain support.

US-China competition will create Middle East dilemmas

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
The United States ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Key Sectors ◽  
History Of ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road

Significance The Middle East has long been polarised between US allies and enemies, while Beijing has historically retained a comparatively smaller footprint and rejected taking sides in regional political and security disputes. However, its economic interests are increasing. Impacts The United States will maintain a comparative advantage from its long history of political, military and economic cooperation in the region. Beijing could leverage its control over large industrial conglomerates in key sectors such as energy, infrastructure and biotechnology. The Belt and Road Initiative will be an attractive project for all Middle Eastern countries, maximising their geographical advantages.

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