The Middle East Point of View issue #2Offering insights into the region's hot issues |
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Have Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs) around the world, including the Gulf region, been so busy structuring products and services that they have overlooked the importance of communicating the essence of Islamic Finance? |
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In the decade prior to the current economic crisis, there was strong consumer spending growth in the United States as well as in smaller economies such as the United Kingdom, Spain and Ireland. |
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With world-class infrastructure and facilities and an excellent geographic location on the world stage, the Middle East is expected to emerge as one of the world’s most competitive landscapes offering value tourism and conference experiences to a worldwide customer base. |
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While the accounting world may have reason enough to rejoice at the prospect of finally being able to sing the “one world, one music” accounting standards tune, there are some who still have doubts about the commitment of the U.S. to allow that to happen soon. |
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How do the GCC markets compare with more developed economies in terms of market efficiency? Not too well, according to this author, though recent developments have been encouraging. |
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Only 28% of the adult female population in the Middle East is economically active, the lowest rate in the world. While this statistic is consternating, in nearly all Middle Eastern countries, women today are better represented and are beginning to play a more prominent role in the workplace than was the case in the year 2000. |
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In recent years, governments in the Gulf cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait) embarked on a large number of initiatives to enhance government services to citizens, residents and businesses both at the national level and at the GCC level. |
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Since the early 1990s VAT has been adopted by various countries as an efficient alternative revenue source. But there are those who are still holding out. |
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Human Resource functions in companies across the Middle East have reached a point of no return. The pressure to change has become too great for HR and business leaders to neglect. |
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The world contains a vast amount of digital information which is diverse, complex and most importantly, continuing to grow at an exponential rate. Although this new information superhighway allows us to make gains in all sectors, it also creates a host of problems, not least of which is data protection. |
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