The meticulously-crafted Khanjar, incense burners and many other handcrafted items from the Sultanate of Oman trace their roots back several hundreds of years, and remain a key feature of the Omani culture even as the country has seen very fast economic development.

The Salalah Tourism Festival (STF) will start with the Eid festivities this year. Beginning from the second day of Eid al Fitr, the official festival will continue for another 26 days.

The Syrian revolution began to realize a dream of freedom, and dignity, in its simplicity. The time for Syrian’s shared dream is now. However, price of the simple dream has not only been huge but still soaring.

Within the framework of the upcoming Country Partnership Strategy for Iraq, we reflect on the Social Protection challenges in Iraq, starting with a look at Iraq’s social safety nets, to be followed by subsequent blogs on labor/employment and social insurance.

Like many other emerging markets around the world, mobile phone usage in Morocco continues to increase on the back of rising competition and declining prices over the past 18 months.

Although Algeria has struggled to attract significant interest in recent bidding rounds, the potential for new shale deposits will increase the country’s already considerable allure,

In addition to significant development challenges, Yemen is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Apart from frequent flash-floods and droughts, climate change is impacting already scarce water supplies – making them even scarcer.

The creation of a new multi-billion-dollar industrial city in Bahrain could soon be given the green light as the government steps up its efforts to build on its manufacturing base.

The transport sector in Qatar has had mixed results so far this year, in part a reflection of its exposure to the global economy. However, the three leading transport firms listed on the bourse continued to post strong earnings leading into the last quarter of the year. 

The launch of 4G long-term evolution (LTE) services in Kuwait has sparked a wave of increased activity among mobile operators as they move to attract new business in what is already a fiercely competitive telecoms market.