Bilateral will dominate Gulf UK and EU trade advances

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Green Energy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Technology Transfers ◽  
Gcc Countries ◽  
Gulf Countries ◽  
The World ◽  
European Engagement ◽  
Rights Issues ◽  
The Eu

Significance The post-Brexit United Kingdom is eager to conclude economic agreements across the world under its promise to deliver a ‘Global Britain’. The EU wants to increase its visible commercial clout in the Gulf and strengthen its image as a significant geopolitical actor. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are ready to seize the opportunity to boost technology transfers. Impacts The Gulf countries’ increasingly serious shift towards green energy could be a major driver for increased European engagement. The GCC countries will seek further investment in their respective education sectors. Differences in perspective on human rights issues will lead to tension within the EU itself, as well as with the GCC.

scholarly journals Challenges and Prospects of Using Treated Wastewater to Manage Water Scarcity Crises in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1971
Author(s):  
Asad Sarwar Qureshi
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Treated Wastewater ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
Forage Crops ◽  
Effective Response ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Gcc Countries ◽  
The World

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are located in the driest part of the world with an annual per capita water availability of 500 m3 compared to the world average of 6000 m3. Agricultural water demand, which is more than 80% of the total water consumption, is primarily met through the massive exploitation of groundwater. The enormous imbalance between groundwater discharge (27.8 billion m3) and recharge (5.3 billion m3) is causing the excessive lowering of groundwater levels. Therefore, GCC countries are investing heavily in the production of nonconventional water resources such as desalination of seawater and treated wastewater. Currently, 439 desalination plants are annually producing 5.75 billion m3 of desalinated water in the GCC countries. The annual wastewater collection is about 4.0 billion m3, of which 73% is treated with the help of 300 wastewater treatment plants. Despite extreme water poverty, only 39% of the treated wastewater is reused, and the remaining is discharged into the sea. The treated wastewater (TWW) is used for the landscape, forestry, and construction industries. However, its reuse to irrigate food and forage crops is restricted due to health, social, religious, and environmental concerns. Substantial research evidence exists that treated wastewater can safely be used to grow food and forage crops under the agroclimatic conditions of the GCC countries by adopting appropriate management measures. Therefore, GCC countries should work on increasing the use of TWW in the agriculture sector. Increased use of TWW in agriculture can significantly reduce the pressure on freshwater resources. For this purpose, a comprehensive awareness campaign needs to be initiated to address the social and religious concerns of farming communities and consumers. Several internal and external risks can jeopardize the sustainable use of treated wastewater in the GCC countries. These include climate change, increasing costs, technological and market-driven changes, and regional security issues. Therefore, effective response mechanisms should be developed to mitigate future risks and threats. For this purpose, an integrated approach involving all concerned local and regional stakeholders needs to be adopted.

EU bonds will rival German Bunds as a safe asset

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Euro Area ◽  
Safe Haven ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Over Time ◽  
The Eu

Significance This could create an alternative benchmark safe-haven asset to rival German Bunds within the region. As part of its issuance plans, the EU intends to issue at least EUR50bn in green bonds annually, which is likely to make it the world’s largest issuer of these bonds. Impacts The increased importance of EU bonds over time will help to support the euro's value and could eventually put pressure on the dollar. The EU is leading the world in green bond issuance, but the risk of spurious environmental claims (‘greenwashing’) must be managed. The creation of new EU bonds will help reduce the funding costs of riskier euro-area members such as Italy.

Board gender diversity and firms' social engagement in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Jizi ◽  
Rabih Nehme ◽  
Cynthia Melhem
Keyword(s):  
Social Engagement ◽  
Generalized Least Squares ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Foreign Direct Investments ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Female Representation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Gcc Countries ◽  
Thomson Reuters

PurposeThe Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries form a unique socioeconomic environment that makes the conclusions of the prior literature not likely to be applicable. GCC countries have huge oil reserves, yet they are aiming at reducing oil dependency through enhancing transparency, increasing foreign direct investments and reforming their governance structure. Their firms are mainly family owned and have low female representation in leadership positions. The study seeks to fill a literature gap by providing a business case supporting the call for gender diverse boards for better governance.Design/methodology/approachThe study examines a sample of GCC-listed firms for the years 2009–2018. Three measures are used to proxy for firm social engagement, namely, CSR strategy score, environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure score and social pillar score. To ensure whether the presence of women on board or the number of women on board is influential on social engagements, the authors use the existence of women on board and the percentage of women on board variables. Data are collected using Thomson Reuters, and generalized least squares (GLS) panel data regression is used to estimate relationships.FindingsThe authors find that female representation on GCC corporate boards is increasing, yet in a slow path. The reported results support the role of women on boards in prompting firms' social agenda and enhancing the level of sustainability reporting. The results also show that female board representation supports the implementation of climate change policy, business ethics policy and health and safety policy.Originality/valueThe paper evidence the add value of women participation on GCC corporate boards in enhancing boards' functionality and governance. The empirical findings encourage firms and policymakers in the GCC countries to increase the share of females on corporate boards to improve firms' citizenship and facilitate attracting foreign investors.

East and West will divide over new Bosnian viceroy

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
East And West ◽  
Dayton Agreement ◽  
Negative Behaviour ◽  
Roll Out ◽  
The Eu

Significance The summit’s avowed aim was to renew the EU-US ‘Transatlantic partnership’, including committing to upholding the international rules-based order built around the UN. It called for cooperation with Russia in areas of common interest despite its repeated “negative behaviour”. Such strains include Russia’s opposition to appointing a new high representative for Bosnia. Impacts Vucic’s call for regular reports from the high representative recognises his legitimacy while asserting Serbian interest in BiH. Croatian President Zoran Milanovic’s support for the 1995 Dayton agreement weakens outside backing for Bosnian Croat separatism. The World Bank has left its growth forecast for BiH unchanged from January, provided vaccine roll-out accelerates.

scholarly journals Molecular Characterization of Carbapenemase-Producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae in the Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council: Dominance of OXA-48 and NDM Producers

2014 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 3085-3090 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hosam M. Zowawi ◽  
Anna L. Sartor ◽  
Hanan H. Balkhy ◽  
Timothy R. Walsh ◽  
Sameera M. Al Johani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Klebsiella Pneumoniae ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Mechanisms Of Resistance ◽  
Antibiotic Resistant ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Carbapenem Resistant ◽  
Resistant Genes ◽  
Gcc Countries

ABSTRACTThe molecular epidemiology and mechanisms of resistance of carbapenem-resistantEnterobacteriaceae(CRE) were determined in hospitals in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), namely, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait. Isolates were subjected to PCR-based detection of antibiotic-resistant genes and repetitive sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR) assessments of clonality. Sixty-two isolates which screened positive for potential carbapenemase production were assessed, and 45 were found to produce carbapenemase. The most common carbapenemases were of the OXA-48 (35 isolates) and NDM (16 isolates) types; 6 isolates were found to coproduce the OXA-48 and NDM types. No KPC-type, VIM-type, or IMP-type producers were detected. Multiple clones were detected with seven clusters of clonally relatedKlebsiella pneumoniae. Awareness of CRE in GCC countries has important implications for controlling the spread of CRE in the Middle East and in hospitals accommodating patients transferred from the region.

Solar power set for expansion in the Gulf

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Government Policy ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Oil Prices ◽  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Natural Conditions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Power Set ◽  
Policy Frameworks ◽  
The World

Subject Solar power in the Gulf. Significance Favourable natural conditions and growing gas shortages make the Gulf Cooperation Council bloc one of the most attractive and lowest-cost solar markets in the world. Impacts Lower oil prices will reduce funding and incentives for solar projects, but recent reductions in costs make solar power economically viable. To win future bids, solar firms will require a combination of local knowledge and global best practice. The UAE and Saudi Arabia have strong prospects of evolving into a regional hub for solar business and installations. Due to low capacity and a small starting base solar power may displace only 1-3% of the power sector's fuel consumption by the early 2020s. Another barrier to growth will be the lack of coherent government policy frameworks, and ongoing electricity subsidies.

US efforts could only paper over the Gulf rift

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Special Session ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Negotiated Settlement ◽  
Gcc Countries ◽  
Secretary Of State

Significance A senior US administration official briefed in advance that the Saudi-Emirati rift with Qatar was to be “a key point of discussion”, with the possibility of a special session of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at Camp David in May. This is despite the dismissal of former US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was a strong supporter of a negotiated settlement between Qatar and its GCC rivals. Impacts The GCC countries will intensify lobbying activities in Washington, over the crisis and other issues. The standoff will affect how the Pentagon and NATO plan their future operational and strategic postures vis-a-vis the GCC. The narrative of a ‘brotherhood’ between GCC members is unlikely to recover for many years. Failing a resolution, Qatari economic reliance on Iran (as well as on Turkey and ASEAN) could grow.

MiFID II will recast Europe’s financial landscape

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Financial Stability ◽  
The United States ◽  
Financial Instruments ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The World ◽  
October 17 ◽  
The Eu

Subject MiFID II implementation and compliance Significance The EU’s flagship investor protection reform -- the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) -- will come into force on January 3, 2018, Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU Commissioner responsible for financial stability, confirmed on October 17, saying that there would not be a further delay. Despite already having been given an extra year's extension, banks are struggling to comply in time because of the directive's complexity. Regulators, too, are behind in expanding their capacity to enforce it. Impacts Firms across the world that do any of their business within the EU will have to comply, not just those registered in the EU. All firms trading in financial instruments must comply but those where this is a small part of their business may be caught unawares. MiFID II will come into effect before the United Kingdom leaves the EU and is likely to be written into UK law post-Brexit. The United States is keen to deregulate, but US firms whose EU activity is not compliant will be punished, possibly harming US-EU relations.

Prospects for the Gulf states to end-2020

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Spending ◽  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Gcc Countries ◽  
Gulf States

Subject Prospects for the Gulf states to end-2020. Significance All Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have ordered large cuts in public spending. As governments implement economic measures to cope with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, regional disputes including the war in Yemen, tensions with Iran and the Qatar boycott will remain high on the agenda. The GCC 's failure to seize the opportunity offered by the pandemic to reinvigorate cooperation to fight the disease reflects a deeper malaise.

The effect of Omani-Iranian relations on the security of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries after the Arab Spring

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Al-Bolushi
Keyword(s):  
Arab Spring ◽  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
The Other ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
Internal Security ◽  
Gcc Countries ◽  
Gulf Countries ◽  
The Arab Spring

This research paper focuses on Gulf–Iran relations within the framework of the bilateral relationship between Oman and Iran. This relationship is unique as well as distinct from Oman’s relations with the other nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and has a direct influence on Gulf regional security. Oman’s relationship with Iran has grown stronger and firmer after the events of the Arab Spring. This comes at a time when the Gulf countries are suffering worsening internal security, political and economic conditions and disagree amongst themselves about how to deal with Iran. Hence, the Omani-Iranian rapprochement is intensifying the security anxieties of the GCC countries. This paper examines the conceptual frameworks for security and cooperation within the GCC. Oman’s view on security and cooperation is seen in its foreign policy which adheres to non-intervention and neutrality in foreign affairs. Omani-Iranian relations are analyzed in how they affect Gulf integration and the role played by Oman in the Iranian nuclear deal. The paper concludes by discussing Oman’s position on the current conflict in Yemen and its effect on Gulf security as well as Oman’s role in mediation between the parties in the conflict.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document