According to the officials of the Dubai Export Development Corporation (DEDC),  Dubai's trade with key markets overseas will be spared from the effects of the financial crisis, as the value of goods going out of the emirate is expected to grow by 11% in 2009 over 2008.

Dubai's imports grew more than 50 per cent to Dh120.4 billion in the third quarter last year, from Dh79.9 billion in the same period of 2007. Also during the same period, the value of exports jumped significantly by a whopping 79 per cent, from Dh6.8 billion to Dh12.2 billion.

During the first three quarters of 2008, Dubai exported more than the entire 2007 level. The value of re-exports by the emirates expanded 22% to Dh31.1 billion by the end of Q3 2008.  

The reason for Dubai's success is that investors and businesses continue to have confidence in Dubai's economy and potential for high-growth business. Last year's top export goods were gold and jewellery, petroleum oils, sugar, unwrought aluminium, polyacetals, glazed ceramic flags, chocolate and other food preparations containing cocoa, among others.

Although the current global economic crisis has impacted most countries, many of Dubai's major export markets are still growing, so the city's exports should continue to increase in 2009.

In 2009, DEDC expect the list of top exporting sectors of goods to remain broadly the same as 2008 and our exports are expected to meet our target of minimum 11% annual increase in line with the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015.

A statement from the DEDC officials also noted that the good infrastructure and logistics benefit will make Dubai an ideal location from which to export to the region.

Dana Gas, the Middle East's first and largest regional private sector natural gas company, has announced a significant gas and condensate discovery at its El Basant-2 well in the Nile Delta Concession in Egypt.

According to Dr. Hany Elsharkawi, Dana Gas country director in Egypt, the cumulative proven and probable reserves in the El Basant hydrocarbon accumulation significantly raises Dana Gas' reserves in Egypt.

He also said that the company is very pleased and encouraged by this latest discovery. Combined with Dana Gas' other discoveries this year, it shows that the company’s 2008 drilling campaign was correctly conceived and implemented and therefore on the basis of this success the company plan to continue with further drilling in this concession, where several prospects of similar nature have been identified.

This acreage is particularly attractive to Dana Gas, as they have established production in the area and are able to bring new discoveries on production quickly and at comparatively low cost.

The Bahrain government on Sunday said that the new $3 billion (Dh11 billion) Friendship Causeway, linking the country with Qatar, will be the longest in the world.

The new causeway, construction work for which has already started, is expected to boost the economy of the island nation.

Billed as the world’s longest marine causeway, the new link will be one of the most important infrastructure projects in the region. Once the bridge is completed in about four years time, it will boast more than 40km of twin carriageway, running across 22km of viaducts over the sea and 18km of embankments. Travel time between Bahrain and Qatar by car is expected to be reduced from the current four-and-a-half hours to around 30 minutes.

The Friendship Causeway will strengthen Bahrain’s position as the best place in the Middle East for companies to develop their businesses across all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies. As a location for international companies, Bahrain is one of the most mature and well established free markets in this rapidly growing economic region".

Bahrain has a strong history of working closely with our neighbors and it is already linked by the very successful King Fahad Causeway to Saudi Arabia.

The completion of this second causeway will be a welcome addition to Bahrain’s impressive air, sea and road links and will provide many new opportunities for companies based in Bahrain to further develop their businesses, not only in Qatar but right across the GCC.

The causeway will also provide a connection for future high-speed freight and passenger rail lines between the countries. There are also plans to extend the route to link Istanbul and Turkey to Muscat in Oman.

Leading news agencies in the Gulf reported that the Jizan Economic City (JEC) is well ahead of its target of attracting investors. The mega project has attracted SAR 100 billion from local and international investors since its launch in 2006.

Mr Zaidan Mohamed O Yousef CEO of MMC Saudi Arabia Company, the master developer, said that the JEC has lured investments worth SAR 100 billion within a time span of two years, well ahead of the 25 year target envisaged at the launch of the project.

Mr Yousef informed that the city would have an industrial zone, a privately owned oil refinery, a steel cluster, an iron ore trading hub, a palletizing plant, and an aluminum smelter complex and various downstream industries. In addition to primary and heavy industry, the project will include a multipurpose seaport, power and water desalination plants, a commercial business district, residential areas, hospitals and schools.

A thermal power plant will be built comprising a captive plant for the aluminum smelter and the balance for other industries and the city’s needs.

MMC Ports, SBG and JEC have already signed an agreement to develop the port, which is intended to help the city’s industrial activities.

Mr Yousef further said that construction had already begun on the first stage of JEC with the building of a steel plant with a production capacity of one million tonnes per year.

The value of construction contracts awarded in the United Arab Emirates fell by 85 per cent in the fourth quarter compared to the same period last year, said a report.

Contract awards worth $14.4 billion were made during the fourth quarter of 2008, down from $98.1 billion during the same period in 2007 as the global credit crisis rendered project financing a struggle, London-based weekly Middle East Economic Digest (Meed) said on Wednesday.

Around $23.2 billion worth of projects have been put on hold, almost 10 per cent of the $249.7 billion of projects under construction in the UAE, Meed reported.

Projects hit by delays include Nakheel Properties' Palm Deira project in Dubai, Dubai Waterfront, Dubailand, and the Trump International Hotel & Tower, it added.

In total, $191.8 billion of contract awards were made in 2008, a 60 per cent drop from the $482.5 billion of awards made in 2007.

According to a recent study done by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia now ranks number one among 20 Arab nations in terms of doing business,

The study, which reviewed the business regulatory environment in the Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, also found that doing business in most parts of the Arab world is now easier. This year, 13 Arab countries introduced 31 reforms - 29 of which made it easier to do business, while two made it harder.

Overall, Saudi Arabia tops the Arab world ranking on ease of doing business, followed by Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Tunisia, Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, West Bank and Gaza, Algeria, Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Djibouti, Comoros and Mauritania.

The report said starting a business, registering a property and getting credit are the easiest in Saudi Arabia.  Starting a business in Saudi Arabia used to be limited to those who could afford one of the highest minimum capital requirements in the world - $125,000 (Dh458,750) for limited liability companies. The country slashed the minimum capital requirement and simplified business start-up procedures a year later.

According to the study, the country’s ease of doing business ranking soared from 159 in 2007 to 36 in 2008.

On the labour front, it is easiest to employ workers in Oman. Kuwait offers the strongest investor protection in the Arab world and is also the most efficient in the enforcement of contracts.  Qatar, on the other hand, offers the easiest process of paying taxes for businesses, while UAE offers the least hurdles to exporting or importing goods.

The report, which compares the ease of operating a private business, benchmarks regulations, and identifies reforms and global good practices, finds that over the past five years, the most popular business-friendly reform in the Arab world has been in business start-ups, with 10 reforming economies.

Getting credit information was the second-most-popular reform, followed by improvement in trade across borders. Multiple reforms also took place in protecting investors, dealing with licenses, registry property, paying taxes, and closing a business.

In terms of implementing business-friendly reforms, the study cited the UAEs establishment of Emcredit, which has helped supervise banks and borrowers debt levels while fostering a culture of sharing credit information.

Oman’s move to set up a one-stop shop at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry was credited for cutting three procedures and 79 days to start a business in the area.

The 29th annual summit of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) wrapped up in the Omani capital of Muscat late Tuesday, with six Gulf leaders approving the monetary union accord.

The accord still waits for ratification of the member states from now till the end of next year. The leaders agreed to set up a monetary council, which will evolve into the Gulf central bank. The location of the monetary authority has not been decided yet and will be discussed from now until the middle of next year.

The accord also said the single currency is to be issued in 2010 in accordance with the plan, unless the monetary council decides something else.

However, the host Oman said it cannot join the single currency in 2010, so it could be issued initially in other Gulf nations.

Established in 1981, GCC is a regional political and economic alliance aimed at enhancing cooperation among its six member countries, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

On the timetable of its economic integration, the bloc launched a customs union in 2003 and a common market came into being in 2007. Convinced by the success of euro zone, the Gulf leaders decided in 2001 to set up a monetary union and adopt a single currency in 2010.

On Sept. 17, GCC's finance ministers have hammered out a draft agreement on the monetary union, which involves a single currency and a unified Gulf monetary authority, two key steps toward economic integration.

The draft deal was referred to heads of state and finally got green lighted at the Muscat summit, paving the way for a unified currency for the world's largest oil-exporting region.