STANDPOINT by Atique Naqvi

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 the end of June thi

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 in Thailand. The P

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 has slowed, but th