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Royal Bank of Scotland was financial adviser for the Ras Laffan C financing, marking yet another successful transaction in the region for the UK bank group’s project finance team. In May, RBS was appointed as financial adviser for one of Qatar’s

Qatar's dominance as an LNG exporter is unlikely to be challenged in the foreseeable future, a leading gas sector project financier told GSN. There have been forecasts that the LNG

Population growth is a universal feature of the Gulf Co-operation Council region at a time of booming oil-financed expansion, with a surge in construction activity and accelerating demand for services creating an almost insatiable need for labour. The GCC thus continues to suck in foreign workers to meet real present economic needs. This is also the case for some sectors in Bahrain, but there is also concern that in the small communally divided island state migration policy is serving political ends too – with potentially dangerous consequences.

Dubai Group (DG), which is owned by UAE government investment vehicle Dubai Holding, has been on a spending spree this summer. It has purchased a 5.24% stake in one of Egypt’s largest banks, Commercial International Bank, for Dh580m ($157.9m). Egypt has attracted a number of investors from the Gulf looking to tap the potential of its largely underdeveloped financial sector. With the government not issuing new licenses, Gulf investors are left with no choice but to buy stakes in banks. DG chief executive Thomas Volpe said the group planned another four acquisitions before the year’s end.

Some clouds overshadowing the region’s project finance market have been lifted with the closure of a $3.3bn limited recourse loan package for Qatar’s $3.8bn Ras Laffan C IWPP, and Nakilat has also got its gas carrier financing away.

The UAE's only Olympic gold medal winner, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Hasher Al-Maktoum, has been outspoken about his countrymen's lack of sporting prowess. "I feel sorry for the young generation.

State-owned property developer Nakheel has become the latest company to uncover what appear to be incidents of fraud in Dubai’s real estate sector.

Qatar’s move to become the biggest shareholder in Barclays Bank continues its love affair with the City of London, although the London/Doha axis may not be an all-consuming passion. The London Stock Exchange’s failure to become Doha Securities Market’s key partner raised City eyebrows after the DSM decided that NYSE Euronext should take up one quarter of its equity, in a $250m deal, rather than the LSE, which has been 15%-owned by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), run by Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani (HBJ), since last September.

Late April saw the marriage of Sheikh Jassim Bin Khalifa Al-Thani – thought to be the Emir’s younger half-brother – to Sheikha Mariam Bint Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Ali Al-Thani.

For the UAE’s troubled energy consumers access to gas from Iran is a tiresome and not very successful process – as the experience of Sharjah’s Dana Gas deal seems to show. Imports from Iran to Sharjah have been delayed for over a year and a half, as both sides are yet to agree on a gas price, and Iran has yet to complete building the facilities to pump gas to the UAE. Internal Iranian politics provide a further obstacle as various factions in the Islamic Republic argue about the need to channel gas into the domestic market, rather than meeting export needs.

The court of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahayan (MBZ) takes on a new status and a clearly defined role under reforms announced by the emirate’s Ruler and UAE President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed.

Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa has already promoted a twenty- something, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, to heir apparent; GSN has regularly highlighted his role in the emirate’s fast-paced development.

Through history Kuwait has energetically asserted its independence, while Iraqi nationalists have jealously eyed what Saddam Hussein called his ‘Nineteenth Province’.  Cross-border connections run deep, and these are impacting on business today

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahayan has taken over responsibility for border issues, including the difficult frontier dispute with a hitherto intransigent Saudi Arabia.

The accession of Dubai’s new ruler to the federal premiership has produced one of the most important government reshuffles in 35 years. It is a clear declaration of intent, a pointer to the evolution of national development strategy but also a completion of the leadership change effectively inaugurated with the November 2004 death of iconic founding president Sheikh Zayed.