The Middle East

Faced with a rapidly expanding population, Bahrain is seeking investors to help strengthen its food production capabilities at home, while also acquiring land overseas for cultivation.

The property market in Jordan is picking up, with a rise in the volume of transactions this year. Prices are also increasing, which whilst good news for investors, may exacerbate an already existing shortage of affordable housing for low- and middle-income residents.

A combination of far-reaching reforms, major government investment and cross-border partnerships has paved the way for Qatar to begin developing a more competitive education sector, but ensuring graduates are adequately suited to the workplace remains key.

Recent data show that Kuwait’s tourism sector had a good summer, with its hotels outperforming those found in many other GCC markets. Both public and private industry stakeholders are keen to build up the market further, although the limited scope of Kuwait’s tourist offering could make meeting targets difficult to achieve, at least in the short term.

There has been an increase in initial public offerings (IPOs) on the Muscat Securities Market (MSM), with firms in the financial, utilities and telecommunications sectors moving to broaden their ownership structure.

Rising demand and a recovering economy are driving growth in Dubai’s retail sector, with a sharp increase in new mall space suggesting that it is beginning to shake off the doldrums of the global economic crisis of 2009.