All Countries and All Sectors

Tourism officials in Sharjah have adopted a hard-sell approach to promoting the emirate’s credentials as a travel destination, racking up frequent flyer points of their own as they criss-cross the globe to take part in tourism fairs and trade events. The success of this campaign will depend to some degree on the health of the economies of the countries targeted by the emirate’s promotional push.

South Africa’s economy is regaining momentum after a challenging few years that saw the country fall into recession in 2009 before slowly working its way back towards steady growth, though some underlying weaknesses will need to be addressed if expansion is to continue.

The establishment of a new school for logistics training has set the supply chain industry on course for a high-tech future, fulfilling one of the key goals of the long-term master plan for the sector and reinforcing several recent positive developments.

The Sultanate’s sharia-compliant insurance sector is looking to expand its market share, stepping up efforts to promote takaful products and increase the range of policies on offer, with the sector likely to see greater segmentation as a result.

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.