STANDPOINT by Atique Naqvi

Middle East, Africa Tablet Market Grows 111% By Atique Naqvi  |  Dubai, UAE  |  Uploaded on the blog recently** Home segment is driving growth of tablet computers. Shipments of PC tablets into the Middle East and Africa (MEA) expanded 111 per cent year on year in the final quarter of 2013, according to the latest results released by International Data Corporation (IDC). The premier global market intelligence and advisory firm for the information technology and telecommunications markets today announced that the overall MEA tablet market reached a total of 3.45 million units for the quarter. “This massive growth was mainly driven by the home segment, with numerous end-of-year promotions taking place in most countries across the region,” says Adriana Rangel, research director for systems and infrastructure solutions at IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey. “The corporate segment also witnessed a steady increase in volume, with major deals seen in all countries, particularly with

11 Million Guests in Dubai Hotels in 2013 By Atique Naqvi  |  Dubai, UAE  |  Uploaded on the blog recently** Visitors from Saudi Arabia is the largest group to visit Dubai. Dubai’s hotels welcomed more than 11 million guests in 2013 – an increase of just over one million on the 2012 numbers and a positive indication that Dubai is on the way to achieving its target of welcoming 20 million visitors a year by 2020. Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) released the statistics ahead of the global tourism industry gathering at the International Tourism Bourse (ITB) in Berlin this week, with the announced figures also showing increases across key indicators such as hotel establishment revenues and room occupancy. Visitors and source markets Guest numbers across all hotel establishments (hotels and hotel apartments) in 2013 reached 11,012,487, a 10.6 per cent increase on the 9,957,161 of 2012. Dubai’s top 10 hotel guest source markets remained, for the most

Effective Risk Management Raises Banks’ Value by up to 24% By Atique Naqvi  |  Dubai, UAE  |  Uploaded on the blog recently** Risk management should be part of overall strategy of a bank. Recent negative reports from the financial industry make it clear that banks and financial institutions urgently need strategy-oriented risk management. In a volatile environment, risk management is not merely a regulatory and compliance element, but it also becomes a decisive active design element in ensuring profitability and sustainable growth. According to the new analysis “Navigating risk” by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, banks that implement an improved risk management strategy see their market value go up by as much as 24 per cent. “At many banks, there is a direct relationship between the quality – i.e. the effectiveness – of risk management, and the sustainability of profit development,” says Dr. Marc D. Grüter, Partner in Roland Berger’s global Financial Services Competen

Profitability of GCC Firms Down in 10 Years By Atique Naqvi  |  Dubai, UAE  |  Uploaded on the blog recently** Real estate and banks are the hardest hit sectors. Average net margins of GCC companies have decreased from 31 per cent in the boom years a decade ago to about 17 per cent in recent years, with industries such as construction, real estate and banking hardest hit, says a new study by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants Middle East. The global financial crisis contributed strongly to this development through slower GDP growth as well as high but stagnant oil prices. In addition, efforts by GCC countries to improve their global competitiveness, e.g. through deregulation and better market accessibility, have encouraged foreign companies to enter the market. “We expect pressure on profitability to remain high. Comparably high growth rates and the GCC’s solid business environment will continue to attract market entries from international competitors,” says Dr. Tobias Plat

We, at Batelco, have explored the largest market close to us – and that is India. We have entered India through a partnership and rolled out our network there, said Mohamed Bin Isa Al Khalifa in 2011. Bahrain’s largest telecom operator, Batelco, has its eyes set on India and consolidation in the Gulf telecom market. The interview was published in the March 2011 issue of the Dubai-based magazine TRENDS - An International Magazine on Arab Affairs. Below is the jpeg file of the TRENDS magazine.