This weekly newsletter provides a summary of economic and financial news from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for the week of July 24-30, 2009. Key highlights include: - Stock markets in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, and other MENA countries increased slightly. Commodity prices like gold and oil were stable. - Saudi Arabia is increasing domestic power production from oil to reduce imports. Its foreign assets declined due to increased public spending. Several Gulf countries connected their electricity grids. - The UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain saw economic growth and recovery in sectors like real estate, banking, and trade. Inflation declined in the UAE and Qatar. - Jordan

1. Issue No. 1.52
MENA WEEKLY NEWS
Week of July 24, 2009 – July 30, 2009
MENA MARKETS
For additional Saudi Arabia Kuwait UAE Egypt Oman Jordan Commodity (USD) Currency (USD/)
information or requests 5,778.1 7,679.5 1,818.3 579.4 5,846.2 2,618.8
Gold Spot 934.40 GBP 0.606
(0.9%) (0.8%) (1.4%) 1.5% (1.0%) 0.7%
or to be added to the Silver Spot 13.48 EUR 0.710
distribution list, please Morocco Bahrain Qatar Tunisia Lebanon Abu Dhabi LME 3 mth. Cu 5,602.00 SAR 3.750
contact 11,076.1 1,502.2 6,707.7 3,615.4 1,471.9 2,800.8 LME 3 mth. Al 1,879.00 KWD 0.288
0.1% 1.0% 1.0% (0.4%) 2.5% 2.8% ICE Brent Crude 70.11
MACRO ECONOMIC NEWS
Samir Tiwari Saudi Arabia
VP – Sales & Marketing
▲ Saudi Arabia is burning more crude in domestic power plants to keep new wells pumping and produce cleaner electricity, to
+912261567304
samir.tiwari@tresvista.com eliminate demand for imported fuel this summer.
▼ Saudi’s foreign assets dropped by about SAR 190.0 bn in H1 2009 to SAR 1,500.0 bn amid heavy public spending in a bid to
boost economy.
1. Macro Economic
News Kuwait
2. Government ▲ Ministry of Public Works said that a contract for the design of Kuwait International Airport's Terminal 2 will be signed next
Regulations month at a cost of KWD 300.0 mn.
3. Sector News
▲ Kuwait plans to auction stakes in three transportation system projects worth up to KWD 1.5 bn (USD 5.2 bn) next year.
4. Company News
5. Mergers & ▼ The world’s fourth largest oil company, Chevron, announced that they will be closing their offices and operations in Kuwait.
Acquisitions
6. Liquidity / Capital UAE
Raising ▲ The UAE economy grew 7.4% in 2008, due to high oil prices. Inflation jumped to 12.3% in 2008 due to property rental prices
rising by 13.4%.
▲ Stronger US dollar boosted the UAE dirham against other major currencies in Q1 2009 and helped ease inflation after climbing
Market Buzz… to a record annual level in 2008.
▲ A surge in domestic demand boosted UAE's imports by nearly 45.0% to AED 585.0 bn in 2008 to become the largest trade
destination in the Arab World.
▼ About one in three UAE residents (31.0%) will spend their summer holidays in the country in 2009 compared with one in 10 in
the previous 3 years, as cheaper deals keep residents at home.
▼ Migration of Indian workers rose 11.9% in 2008 over 2007.
▼ The UAE’s annual inflation rate has turned negative for the first time since 1990. In H1 2009, the consumer price index fell by
2.7%, due to a 5.8% decline in housing costs and a 2.0% slippage in food prices.
Jordan
▲ The international donor community has pledged to assist the Kingdom with a total of USD 1.1 bn in grants and soft loans for
2009, of which some will be in the form of direct budget support.
▲ Tourism revenues in the Kingdom increased by 1.9% in H1 2009, total number of visitors to the Kingdom rose by 3.0%
generating revenues worth JOD 847.0 mn.
Bahrain
▲ Plans are underway to build 600 homes in six months in a bid to solve Bahrain's housing crisis.
▲ Trade relations between Bahrain and Japan are flourishing and expected to grow further with the nearing of a GCC-Japan
Free Trade Agreement. It is noted that bilateral trade between Japan and Bahrain increased by more than 20.0% last year.
Qatar
▲ Qatar’s economy has been perceived as ‘the most robust’ in the region and the Qatar Investor Confidence Index remains highest
in the GCC region at 137.5 points.
GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS
Saudi Arabia
▲ The Council of Ministers to adopt a new strategy focusing on the total employment of the Saudi national workforce in line
with the recommendation of the Supreme Economic Council.
Kuwait
▲ The Kuwaiti Cabinet approved a draft bill on unemployment benefits in a bid to contain the economic and social impacts of
the global crisis on the local labor market.
Jordan
▲ The Labour Ministry finalized amendments to regulations governing the recruitment of expatriate workers, a measure expected
to facilitate the hiring of foreign workers and streamline the sector.
Product 2009. TresVista Financial Services, Pvt. Ltd. ©
Mumbai, India. www.tresvista.com.
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2. Issue No. 1.52
MENA WEEKLY NEWS
Week of July 24, 2009 – July 30, 2009
▲ The income tax draft law does not levy any income taxes on shares and bonds trading to observe the interests of citizens who
…Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi deal in shares trading in the financial market.
Arabia, and Kuwait
connected their Bahrain
electricity grids together ▲ Labour Market Regulatory Authority's (LMRA) BD 10 tax on foreign workers has been re-invested into the local economy to
on 26 July as part of the great effect.
first phase of the USD
1.1bn GCC power grid SECTOR NEWS
project… Saudi Arabia
▲ Saudi cement firms dispatched 19.4 mn tonnes of cement in H1 2009, up 4.7% from the same period earlier.
▲ Arab Advisors Group revealed a 9.3% current growth in the Kingdom's IT sector ranking them first among Arab countries
in terms of e-Commerce growth, as the value of e-Commerce transactions in Saudi has peaked at SAR 12.0 bn.
Kuwait
▲ Kuwait’s real estate business remarkably surged in Q2 2009 where total property investment went up to KWD 149.0 mn
▲ The acquiring of shares of Boubyan Bank is stressing competition in the Islamic banking in particular and the financial and
banking sectors in general.
▼ Kuwait’s Commercial property prices dropped by 7.1%.
UAE
▲ The UAE travel sector has recorded a 7.0% increase in volumes in July since April, according to YouGov's Travel Tracker.
▲ 7 financial brokerage companies that are not affiliated to Abu Dhabi or Dubai banks are about to finalize the first-of-its-kind
merger in the country with an estimated capital of AED 1.0 bn.
▲ The UAE pumped about AED 4.4 bn into the non-oil manufacturing sector in 2008 to signal a sharp recovery in such
investments after a slowdown over the previous two years.
COMPANY NEWS
Saudi Arabia
▲ Astra Industrial Group to acquire a 51.0% stake in Al Maseera International's steel unit in Jordan, for the total value of SAR
225.0 mn.
▲ The Savola Group announced that its 80.0% owned subsidiary, Al Azizia Panda United Company, would purchase assets from
Fawaz Alhokair Group for a total price of SAR 440.0 mn (USD 117.3 mn).
▲ Fitch Ratings has affirmed the National Commercial Bank's Stable Outlook and Long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'A+'
the highest credit ratings in the Kingdom's banking industry.
▲ Assir acquired 3.2 mn square-meters of land paying SAR 210.0 mn for the purchase to build a medical, educational, and
residential city in northern Riyadh.
▲ Aramco awarded contracts to the BGP Arabia Company Ltd. to launch exploration in the Empty Quarter and the Red Sea, and
oil reserves at the Manifa field.
▲ The Saudi Commerce Ministry awarded AXA Co-operative Insurance Company a license and registration to operate as a
licensed co-operative insurance company in the country.
▲ The Jeddah Municipality has signed a SAR 10.0 mn contract to fix and repair the bumps, ditches, and sinkholes left by
contractors who did not honour their agreements after finishing their projects
▲ Australia's Worley Parsons has signed a contract to manage the construction of pipelines to supply crude oil to two power
plants in Saudi Arabia.
▲ Marafiq signed a SAR 2.7 bn contract with South Korea’s Hanwha Engg and Construction Co. for setting up two steam-
turbine generator plants with a combined generation capacity of 500 MW.
Kuwait
▲ Wataniya Airways opens new outlet and launches flights to Jeddah
…A free trade ▲ Kuwait's KGL Investment Co. is setting up an investment fund to acquire infrastructure projects in the MENA region worth
agreement between USD 850.0 mn.
Indonesia and GCC
States will ensure ▲ Kuwait's Al Safat Energy Holding Co. said its Egyptian subsidiary has signed a deal to buy an oil drilling rig for USD 9.3 mn.
optimum benefits to ▲ Aggregate profits for 32 companies which announced their H1 2009 results stood at 459.2 mn KWD for H1 2009, registering a
both sides and decline of 44.2%.
establishment of UAE
Indonesia-UAE Joint
Economic Committee to ▲ Aabar Investments to acquire 32.0% of Virgin Galactic (VG), the space tourism flight division of Virgin Group, for about
expand their bilateral USD 280.0 mn (AED 1.0 bn).
relations… ▲ Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) has acquired DSM Energy of the Netherlands for AED 1.5 bn to help boost its
North Sea production.
Product 2009. TresVista Financial Services, Pvt. Ltd. ©
Mumbai, India. www.tresvista.com.
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3. Issue No. 1.52
MENA WEEKLY NEWS
Week of July 24, 2009 – July 30, 2009
▲ Abu Dhabi Airports Company, or ADAC, announced an 8.1% increase in passenger traffic growth during the first six months
of 2009, as the airline added more flights.
Bahrain
▲ Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) and GDF Suez have raised USD 1.6 bn for the financing of the USD 2.1 bn Al Dur water
and power project.
▲ Kuwait Finance House - Bahrain (KFH-Bahrain) has successfully arranged a five-year USD 140.0 mn syndicated Ijara facility
for Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company.
Qatar
▲ The Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB), popularly known as International Islamic, has plans to open 2 new branches
taking the total to 15.
▲ The Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA) has granted license to International Financial Services Qatar
(IFS-Q) to carry on regulated activities.
Egypt
▲ The Egyptian Company for Mobile Service, or Mobinil, Telecom Egypt, and Vodafone Egypt offered their bids to buy the
Orascom Telecom internet subsidiary, Linkdotnet.
LIQUIDITY
Saudi Arabia
▼ The annual growth of M3, the broadest measure of money circulating in the economy, slowed to 16.4% in June, compared with
16.9% in May.
UAE
▲ The UAE's money supply growth was up 29.1% in 2008, reaching AED 899.1 bn (USD 245.0 bn) by the end of 2008, and trade
balance surplus increased by 35.3% to AED 231.1 bn in 2008.
▲ Dolphin Energy of Abu Dhabi, in a move to increase its Qatari gas supply by one billion cubic per feet per day, is likely to
announce a bond sale of more than USD 1.0 bn (AED 3.7 bn).
Qatar
▼ Qatar’s total domestic liquidity stood at QAR 183.9 bn in May 2009, down 4.5% due to the drop in oil price. Inflation in Qatar
has slowed from a record high of 17.0% last year.
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