Economy

Sectors with high E-commerce potential

Sectors with high E-commerce potential People in Dubai and Saudi Arabia love to shop in malls. Dubai has two shopping festivals in a year and the number of malls in GCC is growing, as more companies prefer brick and mortar stores. In the GCC, e-commerce is still at its nascent stage. According to BQ Doha, while 90% of global e-commerce sales come from Asia-Pacific, North America and Western Europe; while GCC accounts for a mere 2% of total retail sales....

Foreign Ownership Laws in the GCC

With economic diversification and industrial growth becoming a key part of the reforms agenda in the GCC, there is much attention being focused on the foreign ownership regime across the bloc. This note will delve into the foreign ownership laws in the GCC, starting with Kuwait. Kuwait: In 2013, the Kuwaiti authorities issued the new Foreign Direct Investment Law (“FDI Law”) with respect to the promotion of direct investment in Kuwait. According to the new FDI Law, investments into Kuwait...

Potential Investment Opportunities in GCC

KEY QUESTION 1: Can you explain the market growth in the GCC region? The GCC countries have been doing a lot better than both the developed and the emerging markets. The governments in the GCC region have been using oil revenues to develop various industries such as aviation, infrastructure, retail, health and education and thereby spurring strong growth in non-oil sectors. The success of GCC airlines at the global level stands testimony to this. Emirates Airways, Qatar Airways and Etihad...

Can Riyadh rival Dubai as a financial hub?

Dubai is a global business city located in the UAE with a population of 2.1 million and a GDP per capita based on PPP of USD 65,000. In contrast, Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, boasts of a population of 6 million and a GDP per capita based on PPP of USD 54,000. Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are oil rich countries. In order to reduce their dependency on oil revenue the two countries are diversifying into non-oil...

Crowdfunding in the GCC

KEY QUESTION 1: What is Crowd funding? How is it gaining at the global level? Officially, Crowdfunding stands for “Capital Raising Online While Deterring Fraud and Unethical Non-Disclosure”. Here, a venture is funded by a large number of people, via the Internet, and this concept has gained massive popularity world-over. According to a report by The Crowd Data Center, in 2014, each metric in crowdfunding is doubling every two months thanks to disruptive shifts in capital formation. This trend has...

Impact of social media on GCC businesses

KEY QUESTION 1: How far have the GCC countries ventured into social media? The social media has offered the population in GCC countries an opportunity to express themselves and access more information. According to the Arab Social Media Report, 2012, the Gulf States are now more tolerant of different points of view and are more aware of events happening globally because of their growing presence in social media. They are taking to the new medium as a duck would take...

Affordable housing in the GCC-Scale of the problem

Amongst a handful of regions with bright economic indicators, the GCC is projected to grow at 3.8% in 2016 according to the IMF.  The region, which is highly reliant on oil and gas, is now hedging its bets by diversifying into non-hydrocarbon sectors. (Read: Marmore’s report on “Affordable Housing”). Despite its richness, the issue of affordable housing is yet to be addressed thoroughly. What is the scale of this crisis? KEY QUESTION 1: Why is there a housing problem? You...

Telecom Charges in the GCC-Are they too high?

What is the structure of the telecom market in the GCC? How has it changed over the years? The telecom market in the GCC has one of the highest penetration rates in the world with 170% mobile penetration and 77% internet penetration. The large number is attributable to ever rising population in the region and increasing number of expatriates. The number of subscribers grew from 87.97 million in June 2014 and is expected to reach 100 million by 2020. There...

The rise & rise of GCC Airlines

Here are FOUR questions that you would like to ask about the GCC airline industry.  We provide the answers. #1. How well in recent years has the aviation sector in GCC region grown? There is only one word for it, “tremendously.”  The two figures below tell you the story of growth; the first is country specific and the second is aircraft specific.   Figure 1- Passengers carried by registered air carriers in the UAE and Qatar Source – World Bank...

KSA Obesity: Key Questions

There has been a welcome surge in the economic prosperity of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). With prosperity, socio-cultural and lifestyle changes have emerged. This is like a curator’s egg, good in parts. The disturbing part is the increased incidence of a dangerous medical condition, namely obesity. Once considered a Western phenomenon, it is now very much an Arabic problem: it hurts people medically, and the kingdom financially.    “Obesity” and “Diabetes” are close cousins.   Type-2 diabetes, a...