STANDPOINT by Atique Naqvi

Why Water is a Major Concern in the Arab World By Atique Naqvi  |  Dubai, UAE  |  Uploaded on the blog recently** Fresh water in the deserts of Arabia is very scarce. Water is the most pressing environment concern in the Arab world, says the ongoing poll sponsored by US-giant General Electric in partnership with LinkedIn. As of today more than 300 people voted in the poll, answering the question “What is the most pressing environmental concern for the region?”. About 40 per cent of the respondents chose water as their biggest concern, 21 per cent said climate change, 20 per cent said energy while 18 per cent pointed out that waste was their major concern. Most of the people voted belonged to age group of 37-44, and the second largest group was from 30 to 36 years of age. Water for drinking, domestic use and irrigation purposes is key to human life. The world’s population is growing by about 80 million people a year, implying increased freshwater demand ...

French Luxury Brand in Middle East Expansion By Atique Naqvi  |  Dubai, UAE  |  Uploaded on the blog recently** CEO of Interparfums Philippe Benacin The luxury sector, fragrance market in particular, has been less unstable over the past five or six years. Though there are no high expectations ahead, there is no bad weather either to be worried about, says chief executive of French fragrance company Interparfums. Philippe Benacin, on his recent visit to Dubai to launch Repetto fragrance, spoke with TRENDS on the business dynamics of the luxury market. Please click here to see the video. After your launch in Dubai, do you intend to enter the other GCC markets? We have plans for Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia. One thing I want to say about the region is that the Middle East consumers have strong brand awareness even if the brand is not physically present in the region. On the business side, tell us about the Burberry departure? We stopped Burberry at ...

Dubai Expo 2020: What it Means to Us By Atique Naqvi  |  Dubai, UAE  |  Uploaded on the blog recently** Artist impression of Dubai Expo arena What is common among Empire State building, Burj Khalifa, Big Ben and Eiffel Tower? They are all iconic buildings that have become synonymous with their cities. However, Eiffel Tower in Paris stands out purely for business reasons as it was built in 1889 for World Expo. The icon creator Expo, launched in London as Great Exhibition in 1851, might be coming to Dubai. And, why not! The UAE has been campaigning tactfully and aggressively to win the bid, which will be announced in November. The emirate made the last minute entry as the candidate city to hold the six-month business exhibition in 2020. In the past 150 years, the Expo has evolved in terms of its size and duration. Five cities were shortlisted for the 2020 fair – Dubai in UAE, Izmir in Turkey, Yekaterinburg in Russia, Sao Paulo in Brazil and Ayutthaya i...

Oil Output Slows But Saudi Economy Grows By Atique Naqvi  |  Dubai, UAE  |  Uploaded on the blog recently** Saudi growth has been heavily dependent on crude oil. Years of solid efforts toward the diversification of oil-based economies in the Arabian Gulf region are finally paying off. The UAE has been at the forefront in terms of reducing its dependence on the oil sector, but the largest producer by far in the region, Saudi Arabia, has also started seeing the results of diversification. In the first half of 2013, economic growth continued, despite the falling oil GDP in Saudi Arabia, which arguably holds the world’s second largest crude oil reserves. Recently, the Kingdom’s Central Department of Statistics and Information released GDP data for Q2 2013 showing a real growth of 2.7 percent year-on-year, compared with 2.1 percent in the first quarter and 5.5 percent in the second in 2012. Without doubt, the figures suggest that Saudi Arabia’s economic growth...

CEO's Role in Nokia-Microsoft Deal Suspicious By Atique Naqvi  |  Dubai, UAE  |  Uploaded on the blog recently** Former CEO of NOKIA Stephen Elop Farewell to Nokia was not without tears and brickbats in Finland. Some Finns had monetary relationship with the telecom firm, while most had emotional love affair with the company, which was a market leader for the best part of the last decade. In this buyout, the role of Stephen Elop, who was the CEO of Nokia until September 3, 2013, has come under fire and he is being referred to as ‘Trojan horse’. Finns are highly suspicious that Elop came from Microsoft to elope away with Finland’s darling Nokia to Redmond in Washington, United States of America. On Tuesday (September 3), Nokia Corporation said it would sell all of its devices, services business, license and patents to Microsoft for EUR5.44 billion ($7.16bn) in cash, payable at closing. Elop, who headed the business division of Microsoft from 2008 until 2...

Syria War: Not a Game Changer By Atique Naqvi  |  Dubai, UAE  |  Uploaded on the blog recently** The US says it will take military action against Syria The spooky noise from war drums continues as the US-led attack on Syria is postponed from ‘within days’ to ‘within weeks’. Political and defense pundits across the world are brainstorming and airing their views in media about the possible scale and outcome of such strikes against Syrian President Bashar Al Asaad’s regime. The intention of planned limited strikes on Syrian regime’s military installations is not to remove Al Assad, but to rather degrade his hold on power and upgrade the rebels’ capabilities. Political scientist and president of Eurasia Group, Ian Bremmer, said the Syrian military campaign would act as “an amplifier, not necessarily a game-changer”. In Arabian Gulf, however, there is a strong support for the Syrian rebels. The reasons behind the support have several shades – from geopoliti...

New Strategy: Merge, Acquire & Grow By Atique Naqvi  |  Dubai, UAE  |  Uploaded on the blog recently** Qatar has acquired assets in Europe. After three years of consecutive decline, the activity in the mergers and acquisitions market picked up in 2012 and will continue to improve this year. While stagnant capital is dead capital, the lifeline of assets and cash is movement perfectly demonstrated by mergers and acquisitions. Increased activity in the Middle East and North Africa’s M&A sector last year has helped boost business confidence. Firms in the region are gearing up for big transactions in 2013 indicating the end of deal drought caused by financial meltdown in 2008. Even during the years when most economies were cash-strapped, liquidity was not a major issue in the region. However, low risk appetite resulted in regional investors holding back from loosening pockets. The collapse of credit market in the United States and Arab Spring-led ...

Low Cost Power And it's Renewable Too By Atique Naqvi  |  Dubai, UAE  |  Uploaded on the blog recently** Solar panels have gradually become cheaper. Cut-throat competition among manufacturers of solar panels has brought down costs of harnessing energy from the sun. In today’s world, electricity denied is development denied. Sustainable natural resources such as solar and wind had a solution in store for rising electricity demand for years, but high costs of realizing the optimum potential of natural resources held back public and private investments. However, the situation is changing, and its changing very fast. In the past 24 months, accessibility and deployment of solar technology has become cheaper by more than 60 per cent. With energy demand rising with each passing day, governments and stakeholders are looking to find cost-effective ways to meet that demand. Even oil-rich countries, such as the nations in the Arabian Gulf, are diversifying their ene...

Carbon Credit in the Arabian Gulf Countries By Atique Naqvi  |  Dubai, UAE  |  Uploaded on the blog recently** Ivano Iannelli The private public partnership in the green energy sector bodes well for the future of the carbon credit market, says Ivano Iannelli, CEO of Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence. How do you view the increased green energy efforts in the Arabian Gulf region? The GCC is late entrant in the sustainability scene, however it carries an important ability in its modus operandi: private sector participation. Traditionally, all global developmental models were structured using a multiplier approach whereas ODA (official development assistance) would only fund activities that would start/ pilot/initiate industrial sector and services. In essence ODA would fund the proof of concept and the private sector would follow. In the GCC, sustainability has now been embraced in the organizational structure and is a synonym of corporate resource effici...