Search Results for: Lebanon

Mavi, the Turkish denim giant, sold 9.7 million pairs of jeans worldwide in 2019, and, its chief executive has told just-style, has rebounded from the shuttering of the garment sector earlier this year with e-commerce sales doubling in its major markets.…

The Syrian tobacco sector has been hard hit by the civil war and associated social conflicts, now stretching into their tenth year. Tobacco leaf volumes and planted areas have dropped by around a third since the start of these troubles, factories have been destroyed, and sanctions have forced international brands from formal trading channels in Syria.…

As Syria enters its 10th year of civil conflict, the economy is in tatters, foreign currency is in short supply, and sanctions have not only been renewed, the USA has introduced new secondary sanctions. Illicit crime and sanctions busting abounds.

In May (2020), the USA issued further guidance on Syria, while the European Union (EU) extended its sanctions on Syria for a further year, to 1 June 2021.…

Only a handful of countries in the Middle East and Africa have dedicated whistleblowing laws – South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Uganda, Ghana, Liberia, Algeria, Morocco, and the Israel-occupied Palestinian territories, according to Blueprint for Free Speech, a charity promoting freedom of expression (https://www.blueprintforfreespeech.net/).…

• 1MDB SCANDAL IN MALAYSIA SEES USD BILLIONS STOLEN AND HIDDEN

Malaysia 1MDB scandal is one of the largest money laundering cases ever, worldwide, with Malaysian courts considering charges over how at least USD4.5 billion was stolen and then spent or laundered from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad by former Prime Minister Najib Razak and his associates.…

The large-scale civil protests that erupted across Lebanon in October 2019, and which continue today, have promoted large scale money laundering thought concerted and often successful attempts to avoid capital controls imposed by Lebanese banks to head off failure. Billions of dollars have flown out of the country, the Banque du Liban, the central bank, has warned, while Lebanese consumers have frantically withdrawn deposits as the Lebanese Pound LBP)  has devalued against the US dollar – in October it was officially pegged to the US dollar at LBP1,507 and began to trade above that rate after the protests began, reaching LBP2,700 to the USD in March 2020.…

In a market long dominated by well-established players, the success of ‘masstige’ beauty brands, which combine elements of mass and luxury products, is creating fierce competition in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Consumers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman looking for skincare and cosmetics are increasingly shopping from South Korean brands such as Etude House, which opened a branch in Dubai Mall in 2018 and is known for its quirky kitsch products, and The Face Shop, which arrived in Dubai in 2008 and recently renovated its four concept stores in the city.…

Sales of new cars in Lebanon have plunged 74% in the last two months of 2019 (compared to November and December 2018) as the country has faced financial and political chaos following the eruption of mass demonstrations in October. these prompted the resignation of the government – and while a new administration under Prime Minister Hassan Diab Took office on January 22, business transactions continue to be hampered by restricted access to US dollars.…

Time was that the Gulf was a hotspot for paint and coatings sales and production, with frothy demand fuelled by major building projects – most met by locally manufactured product. But today, demand for paint in the Gulf countries is sluggish due to low oil prices, depressing overall economies and a drop in the number of infrastructure and real estate projects under construction.…

MARCH’S approval by the European Parliament of new European Union (EU) electricity market rules, designed to increase consumer choice, boost renewables access and cap power subsidies, were hailed by the European Commission as a new dawn for the creation of the EU’s much vaunted Energy Union.…