Search Results for: Lebanon

THE UNITED States Trade Representative (USTR) has highlighted its continuing concern about intellectual property rights violations in the pharma sector, citing claims that 20% of medicines sold in India are fakes.

In its annual ‘Special 301 Report’, the USTR said it notes “its particular concern with the proliferation of counterfeit pharmaceuticals that are manufactured, sold, and distributed in trading partners such as Brazil, China, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Peru, and Russia.”…

Pakistan remains a source of concern to global anti-money laundering (ML) authorities even though the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the world’s leading AML organisation, removed the country from its monitoring process last February (2015). Then, FATF cited Pakistan as having made “significant progress” in improving its AML and CFT (combating the financing of terrorism) regime.…

A NEW survey has concluded at least 50 million people paid bribes just to access basic public services in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in a 12 month period. Transparency International estimates are based on its September 2014 to

November 2015 survey of nearly 11,000 adults in nine countries and territories across the region: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian territories, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen.…

AT a time when the world is regularly sickened by the web-cast beheadings and civilian bombings by Islamic State (IS), it is perhaps hard to recall when Lebanon Shia militant Hizbullah group was regarded as maybe the world’s most notorious international terror group.…

Five years since the start of the Arab uprisings in 2011, instability is still impacting cosmetics sales in the Levant and north Africa. Last year saw a slight improvement on overall sales in 2014, the year the Islamic State spread through northern Iraq and Syria, but figures are down on 2013, and the growth projected in 2010, according to figures from market researcher Euromonitor International and estimates from cosmetics companies.…

THE JORDANIAN and Lebanese confectionery markets are both in a state of flux due to the conflict in neighbouring Syria, now into its fifth year. Local production has faced major competition from Syrian entrants fleeing the chaos of their home country, particularly in Jordan; while in Lebanon imports of parallel goods have soared over the past few years.…

The professional coaching sector is booming in the Middle East. Over the past decade the region has become increasingly interconnected in the global business system, and accordingly adopted international standards. This has driven the need for professional coaching and training. But with coaching modelled on US and European norms, there is a need for greater localisation, while more coaching accreditation is needed to develop further confidence in the fledgling sector.…

Jordan maybe a small country – with a population of just 6.6 million people, but it is one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in the Middle East. A key reason is that production is export focused, particularly of generics. The country’s USD500 million-a-year turnover manufacturing sector had been steadily growing at 8% to 10% per year until 2012, according to the Jordanian Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Medical Appliances (JAPM).…

The conflict in Syria has seriously impacted trade and business in the Levant. The millions of Syrian refugees that have fled to neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan are putting economies under serious strain, causing the authorities to turn a blind eye to illicit trade and unregulated business.…

With the conflict in Syria entering its fifth year, there are 7.6 million Syrians internally displaced, and 3.8 million refugees, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) – their health needs require specialist nursing skills.…