naturalfeature:the gulf arab

Qatar has 143 millionaires for every 1,000 households: Study

http://gitm.kcorp.net/index.php?id=651565&news_type=Economy&lang=en

The Peninsula - 05 June, 2013

Wealthy individuals in the Middle East and Africa saw the value of their assets rise by 9.1 percent to $ 4.8 trillion in 2012, a study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) showed, as strong economies and rising equity markets fuelled regional growth.

High net worth individuals in the Gulf Arab region continue to allocate heavily on cash and prefer regional stock markets when they invest in risky instruments, the report said.

The Gulf Arab region ranked highly among countries with the highest percentage of millionaire households with Qatar leading the global list with 143 millionaires out of every 1,000 households, the study showed.

If current trends continue, wealth in the region could rise to $ 6.5 trillion by 2017, said the survey, published yesterday.

Global wealth managers have flocked to the region in recent years, lured by its rich energy and commodity reserves, relatively higher economic growth and rising population.

At the same time, Middle Eastern investors are becoming more comfortable investing domestically even though the percentage of assets held off-shore is relatively high, said Markus Massi, partner and managing director at BCG.

Wealth held in equities grew by 18.3 percent in 2012 in the region, the survey showed. “You see less money getting invested in outside jurisdictions but this can change pretty quickly if political conditions worsen,” Massi said.

Private banks like Julius Baer and Sarasin Alpen, now compete with Credit Suisse, J P Morgan Chase and UBS in the region.

Royal Bank of Canada expects to double the number of wealth management employees in its Dubai office in the near future, and is open to opportunities for acquisitions, a senior executive said last year. But only those offering unique investment products and catering to specific asset classes are gaining traction among Middle Eastern investors, said Massi.

US seeks talks with Bahrain on worker rights | GulfNews.com
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/bahrain/us-seeks-talks-with-bahrain-on-worker-rights-1.1180637

The United States is seeking talks with Bahrain over workers’ rights following a report that cited the deterioration of labour protections in the Gulf state after the unrest in 2011, officials said on Tuesday.
Acting United States Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis and acting Secretary of Labour Seth Harris said they had requested consultations over the alleged firings of trade union leaders and sectarian-related discrimination in employment since the March 2011 general strike.
Such issues would be inconsistent with the labour chapter of the US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement, they said.
“Ensuring that workers in Bahrain — and in other countries — can exercise their fundamental labour rights is a top priority for the Obama administration, and we expect that the action we are taking today will produce a collaborative discussion and positive resolution to these important labour issues,” Marantis said in a statement.

On Sunday, Bahrain’s cabinet approved a parliamentary proposal to take unspecified action to stop “interference” in the kingdom’s affairs by the US ambassador.
“The cabinet has approved a proposal by the parliament to put an end to the interference of US Ambassador Thomas Krajeski in Bahrain’s internal affairs,” government spokeswoman Sameera Rajab said, according to the official BNA news agency.
The measure also aims at ending “his repeated meetings with instigators of sedition” — a government term for protesters who frequently clash with police.

.:Middle East Online ::Alwaleed bin Talal : Women driving can breathe life into Saudi economy :.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=58140

Alwaleed bin Talal: Women driving can breathe life into Saudi economy

Pour qui roule al-Walid ?
Cela devrait plaire aux Femen (je sais, c’est bas !) : le grand capital au chevet de l’émancipation féminine ! Selon Al-Walid Ibn Talal, grosse fortune princière et tycoon des médias (Rotana), laisser la femme conduire ouvre la voie à de sérieuses économies en libérant l’économie nationale de la charge financière de quelques 750 000 chauffeurs étrangers. Sachant qu’il y a au moins autant de chômeurs mâles dans le pays, il devrait aller jusqu’au bout de son raisonnement et obliger ces derniers à rouler pour la femme saoudienne. Au fait, al-Walid, pour qui roule-t-il ?

Dans son curriculum : il a le soutien des pétromonarchies du Golfe et de… la France
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/05/201251515750848456.html

Infighting and a lack of political coherence within the SNC have made it struggle to win formal international recognition as the sole legitimate representative of the anti-Assad movement.

However, Ghalioun enjoys the backing of the Gulf Arab states and France, and is seen as a consensus figure in a group where Islamists, divided into different factions, hold sway.

Egypt’s ‘Orderly Transition’? International Aid and the Rush to Structural Adjustment
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/1711/egypt’s-‘orderly-transition’-international-aid-and

In the case of Egypt, the discourse of institutional reform has allowed neoliberal structural adjustment to be presented not just as a technocratic necessity – but as the actual fulfillment of the demands innervating the uprisings. In this sense, neoliberal ideology attempts to reabsorb and fashion dissent in its own image, through rendering Egypt’s uprisings within a pro-market discourse. This fundamental message has been repeatedly emphasized by US and European spokespeople over the last weeks: this was not a revolt against several decades of neoliberalism – but rather a movement against an intrusive state that had obstructed the pursuit of individual self-interest through the market.

[...]

In this discursive reframing of the uprisings, the massive protests that overthrew Mubarak and Ben Ali occurred due to the absence of capitalism rather than its normal functioning. In an ideological sense, this reframing directly confronts the popular aspirations that have arisen through the course of the struggle in Egypt. The political demands heard on the streets of Egypt today – to reclaim wealth that was stolen from the people, offer state support and services to the poor, nationalize those industries that were privatized, and place restrictions on foreign investment – can be either disregarded or portrayed as ‘anti-democratic’. Precisely because Egypt’s uprising was one in which the political and economic demands were inseparable and intertwined, this effort to recast the struggle as ‘pro-market’ is, in a very real sense, directly aimed at undercutting and weakening the country’s ongoing mobilizations.

À lire absolument. #égypte

Protests break out in Omani city - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/04/201142215140646886.html

At least 1,000 protesters have taken to the streets in Oman’s southern port city of Salalah in one of the biggest pro-reform demonstrations since scattered unrest began in the Gulf Arab sultanate two months ago.

The protesters assembled in a car park across the street from the governor’s office on Friday, where a preacher led mid-day prayers and led them on a march across the city.

“The Omani people are not afraid of protesting for as long as it takes for reform, [but] first and foremost is to get government officials, who have been embezzling funds for years, to stand trial,” Amer Hargan, the leader, told the crowd.

#oman

#Oman uncovers ’#UAE spy network’ - Al Jazeera English
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/01/20111311523946478.html

Oman claims to have uncovered a United Arab Emirates (UAE) spy network in the Gulf Arab state that targeted its government and military.