All Countries and All Sectors

Looking to a bit of belt-tightening in its public spending scheme, the Jordanian government is working to mitigate the effects of recent turmoil in the global financial markets, the Arab Spring uprisings and the eurozone sovereign debt crisis on the local economy.

As Indonesia handed over its chairmanship of the Association of South-east Nations (ASEAN) late last year to another member, it could look back on a year of diplomatic and economic gains.

As 2012 gets underway, Saudi Arabia can look back on 2011 as a year of solid growth, as well as anticipate a further 12 months of expansion and development, building on an already impressive economic platform as the state seeks to guarantee future growth through investments in infrastructure and human resources.

The New Year sees a very different Egypt from the one that welcomed the opening of 2011, being in the process of instituting multi-party democracy, while trying to reshape the national economy. However, many hurdles still have to be overcome to ensure social, economic and political stability.

The announcement of a major downstream project has been the highlight of a busy period for Qatar’s hydrocarbons sector. An agreement, signed on December 4 between Saleh Al Sada, the minister of energy and industry, and Shell’s CEO, Peter Voser, lays out the commercial principles and scope of a proposed petrochemicals complex in Ras Laffan Industrial City in northeast Qatar.

Emphasising the government’s fiscal prudence, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan presented the 2012 federal budget to the National Assembly in mid-December, noting that although spending is expected to rise, the deficit is projected to fall.