While reduced oil prices are undoubtedly a concern for the emirate’s authorities, economic diversification efforts of recent years mean Abu Dhabi is well placed to weather a prolonged period of subdued prices. Vision 2030 meanwhile contains a raft of goals that will further reduce the emirate’s reliance on hydrocarbons, and continue to foster the emergence of a more sustainable and knowledge-based economy in the years ahead.
Bahrain now has a solid telecoms market with customers benefitting from a diverse array of services and increasingly competitive rates. The 2014 World Bank “Broadband Networks in the Middle East and North Africa” report singled out Bahrain as having the only mature broadband market in the MENA region, as well as being one of only two countries in the region to have a fully open telecoms market...
Bahrain has embarked on a reworking of its subsidy framework in a bid to ease the budgetary pressures associated with the fall in oil prices. Meanwhile, the government is also pushing forward with diversification efforts, with the kingdom’s $32bn investment strategy fuelling activity in various areas of the economy.
Driven by growth in consumer demand for data and improved connectivity, combined revenues from fixed-line telephony and mobile services in Oman reached OR906.19m ($2.4bn) in 2015, a 12.8% increase on the previous year. Infrastructure providers face considerable challenges in rolling out high-speed services to all areas of the country, while increased competition in the mobile market is...
Despite ongoing economic pressures associated with the drop in oil prices, Oman’s diversification strategy and efforts to enhance wider revenue streams are beginning to bear fruit, as witnessed by continued growth in the non-oil sector despite dropping incomes and wider regional instability.
Despite high levels of government debt and the costs associated with hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees, Jordan’s economy has continued to demonstrate remarkable resilience in the face of ongoing regional instability. A raft of far-reaching reforms introduced in 2016, along with newly brokered international agreements, should help the kingdom continue along its slow but steady growth path in the years ahead.
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