The Middle East

The banking sector has shown signs of a brisk recovery in the past year, with expansion of both assets and deposits at major firms. Banks have boosted profits and built healthy balance sheets by tackling non-performing loans, auguring a return to the growth seen in pre-crisis years. Near-term sector growth is set to come from new lending to small and medium-sized enter-prises and Islamic...

The state is pushing ahead with structural reforms that should provide a sound base for future development. GDP is forecast to expand by 3.5% in 2013, while the government has made reducing the fiscal deficit a priority. Trade opportunities with Iraq are also being explored, and longer-term initiatives, including the development of shale oil and renewables, should help to address long-standing...

Home to many important biblical and pilgrimage sites, the past several years have seen significant changes in Jordan, with protests, constitutional reforms and most recently, elections held in early 2013 all reshaping the country’s political landscape. With a Parliament made up of Chamber of Deputies and Senate, the development of political parties is high on the agenda, with King Abdullah...

This chapter features a rundown of the island’s leading hotels and contact information for various institutions, including government ministries, foreign consulates and embassies, emergency services, tourism companies and local media. It also includes information on society and etiquette, language, transport and visas for both business visitors and tourists.

New regulations from the Central Bank of Bahrain that seek to target the marketing of unauthorised financial services have recently been introduced. This new regulation is intended not only to regulate all the financial services and products that are offered in Bahrain, but also to safeguard the interests of the foreign financial institutions who wish to offer or market financial products and...

The Third National Telecommunications Plan, unveiled in 2012, lays out the goals of developing a national broadband network and providing the regulatory framework necessary for implementing fourth-generation long-term evolution (4G LTE) technology. A considerable improvement in the country’s ICT capabilities, represented by a jump of five places from 45th to 40th between 2011 and 2012 in the ICT...