The Middle East

Since the Supreme Education Council (SEC) was established in 2002 as a regulatory body, Qatar’s education framework has been completely reworked and updated – indeed, the sector has undergone a complete transformation.

Strong financial indicators in Kuwait have seen the country rewarded by a ratings upgrade. On July 20 Standard & Poor’s (S&P) announced that it was raising Kuwait’s long-term sovereign credit rating from AA- to AA, with a stable outlook. According to the credit rating agency, the economy’s strengths include high GDP per capita and healthy fiscal and external balance sheets, factors that have been accorded greater weight under S&P’s recently revised methodology for rating sovereign credit risk.

The lifting of a rating agency’s temporary cloud over the Oman economy and a healthy forecast for GDP growth have combined to create an air of optimism in the Sultanate. On July 20 Standard & Poor’s removed Oman from CreditWatch, with the country’s long-term local and foreign currency rating at A, and the short-term rating at A-1.

With the recent addition of a new 1400-MW power plant, Kuwait appears ready to meet the increase in electricity demand that occurs every summer. Government authorities are also planning to bring additional capacity on-line over the next few years, with the private sector expected to play a major role in this expansion.

Significant progress has been made on the goals set out for Jordan’s information and communications technology (ICT) sector to reach by the end of 2011, with internet penetration rates, foreign direct investment (FDI) and revenues all increasing, even as government spending declines. Expanded plans for the sector for the 2010-16 period should be finalised by the end of this year.

Efforts to deepen the penetration of information and communications technology (ICT) in everyday life in Oman are gathering pace, with state-backed investments targeting improved and faster access to advanced applications. The government has been stepping up spending on ICT as part of its policy – formally launched in 2002 – of providing the private sector with the tools to expand and diversify as well as putting in place a state e-infrastructure to improve services provision to the public and promote the development of a knowledge-based economy.