The Middle East

Dubai’s economy is maintaining a steady pace of recovery, with confidence returning to the marketplace, investor appetite again being whetted and some of the longer-term development schemes starting to repay the faith and capital placed in them, though the need for care in managing the emirate’s debt burden remains key.

Plans by the Saudi Arabian government to boost public expenditures and invest in the nation’s infrastructure could prompt local companies to step up their own investments. As Islamic financial services expand in the Kingdom, some of these borrowers may well turn to sharia-compliant bonds as a means of finance.

Having emerged as one of the most resilient financial markets in the region in the wake of the international economic downturn of 2008-09, Qatar is working to further boost its profile. The government has made a concerted effort to expand the country’s asset management industry, in particular, to meet steadily expanding global demand for local and regional funds.

With residential sales well up so far this year, Jordan’s real estate sector looks to be rebounding from the downturn it experienced during the global economic crisis. Questions remain, however, as to whether the surge can be maintained for the rest of 2011 in the face of rising interest rates and a possible end to state-backed incentives.

Saudi Arabia is embarking on a massive programme to boost its logistics and cargo-moving capacity as part of a much larger scheme to broaden the base of the economy and pave the way for future expansion.

Having recently published its executive bylaws, Kuwait’s first independent stock market regulator, the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), is now ready to begin operations.