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Yemeni deputy finance minister Jalal Yaqoub took the spotlight during his visit to London for the Royal Institute of International Affairs’ Yemen Forum on 1 November. Giving interviews to major news outlets, including The Financial Times, Reuters and CNN,

The International Monetary Fund’s latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) report, released on 9 April, cut the IMF’s growth rate predictions for every country in the Gulf. This is due to a combination of weaker oil sector growth, geopolitical instability and the impact of slower growth in key global economies including China. Worst affected among the Gulf Co-operation Council countries was Oman.

Iraq announced on 13 September that it had stopped registering Turkish companies, raising fears that the political sourness between the two nations could spill into the business arena. Coming just two days after Ankara’s vocal support for Iraqi vice president Tareq Al-Hashemi, whom Iraq wants to execute and Turkey will not extradite, the trade ministry in Baghdad said the move was for regulatory, rather than political, purposes.

Even Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal felt the effects of the global downturn. But 2010 profits show that his 95%-owned KHC is back on track despite warnings of over-valuation

Ras Al-Khaimah (RAK) remains bound up in a range of US and UK court cases related to past business dealings, undermining the hopes of Ruler Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al-Qassimi of taking the northern emirate towards a period of more stable governance and greater prosperity by exploiting its potential for tourism and other ventures. Sheikh Saud has sought to improve RAK’s reputation by promoting improved governance initiatives, including beefing up the due diligence efforts of the Ras Al-Khaimah Free Trade Zone Authority (RAKFTZA) by retaining a major international law firm.

The contract for Oman’s much-delayed National Rail Project has been pushed back again to 5 October, according to news reports.

Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani named Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani chief executive of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) on 3 December, removing Ahmed Mohamed Al-Sayed from the post he had held since early July 2013.The move came out of the blue, though it was accompanied by rearrangements of both the QIA board and the Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment (see box, page 15), suggesting it was some time in the planning.

The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has been questioning current and former Airbus Group employees in connection with possible corruption at GPT Special Project Management (GPT), a subsidiary of Airbus, in relation to its Saudi contracts. Airbus, previously known as EADS, said in a statement to media that it “understands that four former and current employees were recently interviewed – along with MoD [British Ministry of Defence] officials – as part of a wide-ranging SFO investigation into subsidiary GPT”.

Sanaa had been hoping its Gulf neighbours – and Saudi Arabia in particular – would help plug its massive budget deficit at the June donor meeting, now postponed.

The Central Bank of the UAE governor spoke to GSN about why the UAE pulled back from the current plan for GCC monetary union

More than 1,000 exhibitors from 61 countries turned up to the 8-12 November Dubai Airshow, which reflected in its global status to show off some 150 aircraft on the tarmac, from agile drones made by Abu Dhabi-based Adcom Systems all the way up to lumbering Airbus A380s decked out in the liveries of Dubai’s Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways. So far, so normal: what was unusual was the lack of big new orders. Abu Dhabi-based national UAE airline Etihad Airways exercised options for two Boeing 777 freighters, but that was part of an order for 199 planes announced in 2013.

Riyadh plans to follow up the opening of the Tadawul stock market to foreign investors, who could buy up to 10% of the available paper, by allowing external investment in the local debt market. The Capital Market Authority (CMA) is working on new rules to promote the local currency bond and sukuk market, which are expected to allow foreign investors to buy bonds for the first time. The CMA is examining a number of measures, including requiring ratings agencies that rate domestic securities to have a local presence, but its rule changes are not expected to be published until 2015.

It appears that Iraq will not pass a budget for 2014. While a draft was passed in January, the legislative process quickly broke down due to a dispute related to Kurdish oil exports, and never resumed as the nation become engulfed in a second Sunni insurgency and Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi struggled to form a new government. The government is now expected to simply declare its revenues and expenses by the end of the year; should Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) reach a revenue-sharing agreement, it would be wrapped into the budget for 2015.

Atradius Dutch State Business has highlighted a significant series of claims and payment delays.

New structures are required, and participating bank numbers may be reduced, but the GCC’s syndicated loan market should hit its stride again in 2009, according to project financiers canvassed by GSN.