All Countries and All Sectors

Vast stretches of desert once tracked by camel trains will soon be spanned by one of the world’s most modern and sophisticated transport systems, with Saudi Arabia now developing a countrywide rail network that underpins the government’s programme to diversify the economy.

As part of the rapid liberalisation of Myanmar’s economy, the banking sector is now opening up to foreign participation. The government is enacting reforms to promote foreign participation in the sector, while the US has recently lifted restrictions on four local banks. With the economy both fast-growing and underbanked, and with foreign investment on the rise, the opportunities for international institutions could be considerable.

Sentiment in the Turkish construction sector is rising, with contractors seeming confident that some of the momentum lost over the past 12 months will be regained as the government moves to open up several large-scale developments for tender.

After a slow year in 2012, Malaysian officials expect exports of crude palm oil (CPO) to expand in 2013. Prices that have fallen due to oversupply and slower demand are now on the rise again, and though they may moderate in the second half of the year, an average steady climb over the next two years seems likely.

The Qatar Central Bank’s (QCB) February takeover of responsibility for licensing and supervising insurance companies, reinsurance companies and insurance intermediaries, part of an effort to streamline doing business in the country, should enhance regulation and level the playing field for insurance companies.

With regional integration of the financial services industry drawing closer, analysts are warning Thailand’s banks to strengthen their position at home or risk being swallowed up by rivals once the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community is launched in 2015.