The Middle East

Trade and diplomacy took centre stage in 2010. In economic terms, it was a year in which Turkey was courted aggressively by both its Western partners and neighbours in the region. The country finished out 2010 with a number of trade agreements either inked or in the works, while the government made much headway in advocating Turkish business interests in its dealings with foreign partners. Meanwhile, Turkey’s main business centre, Istanbul, received a significant publicity boost thanks to its status as the European Capital of Culture for 2010.

Saudi Arabia is looking to diversify its domestic power industry away from its existing reliance on fossil fuels by investing heavily to make renewable energy the Kingdom’s central source of electricity, a move that will extend the life of its oil fields, protect export earnings and pay environmental dividends.

With a move to become one of the first countries to offer non-Latin language scripts in domain names, Qatar is pushing forward with efforts to help accelerate the development of e-services and e-commerce environments throughout the Arabic-speaking world. In February, the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR) announced that its website had became the first to use a Qatar-specific domain name in Arabic, with more Arabic domains set to be available for government entities and registered trademark holders starting in March.

The health care industry has moved front and centre of the development agenda throughout the Gulf and wider Middle Eastern region. The industry’s resilience to the effects of the global economic crisis over the past two years has whetted the appetite of private investors, while governments are concerned about growing demographic pressure on social services.

The retail sector in Saudi Arabia appears set for solid medium-term growth, with sales and turnover expected to rise steadily in the coming years as the public begins benefitting from a greater range of product lines and more shopping centres.

On February 27, when outlining his government’s proposed plan of action, Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit told parliament that he was firmly committed to extending financial support to the nation’s universities to overcome any funding shortfalls and to continue to expand their activities. Directing more energy and money towards courses that meet the needs of the economy will help give Jordan’s education system a sharper focus and provide students with the skills required to find employment after graduation.