Archive for March, 2009

Payless ShoeSource, the American retail footwear company, has opened stores in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, reports Forbes. In a deal with M.H. Alshaya Co., which will support Payless’s expansion into the Middle East with construction and staffing, the company has achieved a “significant milestone” in its international strategy, said CEO Matthew Rubel. The new stores add to Payless ShoeSource’s existing 4,500 establishments in the Americas. 

Jordan has hosted five world sports events in the last four years and wants to build on their growing popularity as a host of international competition, the AFP reports. The upshot for the Middle East nation is a good chance of attracting lucrative tourism revenues during the global downturn and beyond. “It’s a great opportunity to showcase Jordan not only in terms of what we can do in providing a venue for world-class events but also for athletes, officials and fans to see the history and culture of our country,” said Prince Feisal. Jordan, he added, had been lucky in being able to host world triathlon, fencing and snooker events as well as a stage of the World Rally Championship over the last four years. This Saturday, Jordan will host the World Cross-Country Championships.

Lufthansa, Germany’s largest air carrier, continues to build its routes into the Middle East in line with its corporate strategy to broaden links to the oil-producing region. Al Bawaba reports that, this summer, Lufthansa will increase its capacity servicing the region by 40 percent. Thierry Antinori, Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing, Lufthansa German Airlines, said: “The markets of the Middle East and the Gulf are viewed as an excellent opportunity to further develop our route network and position Lufthansa as the number one choice for business travellers.” 

Middle East marketeers, regional representatives, Connecticut State Government officials, industry experts, and selected guests will soon be arriving in New Haven, Conn. for the first annual TradeFlow21 Middle East Trade Summit.  If you or a representative of your organization has not received an invitation and you wish to attend, please contact us as soon as possible – final arrangements are being made. Following this year’s event, TradeFlow21 expects to grow the summit out to the entire New England area, and then to the Eastern Seaboard. Cheers — the TradeFlow21 Partners

If not for U.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner’s latest toxic asset rescue plan — which actually finally tickled the stock market — Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments’ $2.66B (9.1% stake) investment in Daimler AG would have been the headline of the day. Instead of “cash for trash,” Aabar and Daimler are investing in R&D in fuel-saving technology. Aabar is now Daimler’s leading shareholder ahead of the Kuwait Investment Authority (6.9%).

Bloomberg reports that Aabar has already transferred the money. Although dilutive, Daimler shores up its balance sheet. Meanwhile, along with return on its capital investment, Abu Dhabi is striving to learn from Daimler’s expertise as it aims to develop its own cleaner energy technologies. Gulf region sovereign wealth has perhaps wisely sat on the sidelines in recent months as it concerns casting more capital at Western banks, but let’s not forget there was also a sizable investment in chipmaker AMD by Abu Dhabi last October.

On Monday of this week, the Emirate announced the launch of an “exchange-traded fund backed by physical gold.”  The fund will allow regional investors to not only preserve capital but perhaps generate substantial returns.  The gold bullion, which will be held in London by HSBC, meets the hard-asset requirements of shariah. At the fifth World Islamic Economic Forum held in Jakarta also on Monday, participants ventured further in offering shariah-based banking as a viable alternative to the highly-leveraged transactions model.  For more, click on designated links to full stories in the Financial Times.