Issue 7 | April 2007

MEMSA Newsroom (see articles below)

Oman: Universal insurance card for vehicles proposed Jordan: GDP growth stands at 6.4% in 2006 Saudi Arabia: Sectors to open up to foreign companies Kuwait: Kipco to raise stake in existing investments Greece: MFG to take 100% control in Marfin Bank Turkey: NBG sells 5% stake in Finansbank to IFC Greece: Syros' residents fed up with DEI pollution Greece: High levels of pollution found at Asopos river Greece: Investigation launched on sunken Sea Diamond UAE: Government sets up aeCERT to tackle cyber crime UAE: Royal Focus, Microsoft end pirated software claim Middle East/Africa: AIG, Amadeus debut travel insurance UAE: Royal Focus, Microsoft end pirated software claim Middle East: Takaful needs to meet US$ 20bn potential UAE: Government endorses convention to stop pollution Oman: Universal insurance card for vehicles proposed Oman Observer, 03 Apr 2007,:- An unified agreement on insurance card for automobiles is being proposed by Oman's Capital Market Authority (CMA) throughout Arab nations. Since most of the Arab nations accept the orange card, no premium payment will be required from Omani vehicles under the new system while entering other Arab nations. According to the Executive President of CMA, Yahya bin Said al Jabri, a memorandum and articles of association has been sealed by national insurers in December 2006 to incorporate a new firm for the issuance of the orange card in a bid to expand third party liability insurance cover outside Oman. The new company will help to issue insurance policies for motorcars leaving the country and to settle claims for vehicles holding the card either within or outside Oman. The OR 500,000 (US$ 1.3mn EUR 0.98mn) Omani Unified Orange Card Firm is jointly set up by seven national insurers. © Esmerk Link to original article in English. Back to Top Jordan: GDP growth stands at 6.4% in 2006 Jordan Times, 02 Apr 2007,:- Ghazi Shubaikat, the Director General of Department of Statistics (DoS) of Jordan, has revealed that the unemployment rate in the country has declined from 14.8% in 2005 to 14% in 2006, while the inflation rate increased from 3.5% in 2005 to 6.3% in 2006. Jordan's gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2006 was pegged at 6.4%. The construction sector contributed 5% to the GDP in the year. Meanwhile, the construction industry and manufacturing sector grew by 11.1% and 10.6% respectively. The wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants industry also grew by 7.3% and the electricity and water industry expanded by 9.2%. During the said year, insurance, banking, finance and real estate services sector expanded by 5.1%, while the telecommunications and transport industry reported a growth of 6.7%. The food sector recorded a lower growth at 3.6%. © Esmerk Back to Top Saudi Arabia: Sectors to open up to foreign companies Middle East Economic Digest Online, 10 Apr 2007,:- Foreign investors will be allowed to own up to a 75% stake in local insurance, air and rail companies by the end of 2008. Currently, they can only have up to a 51% stake in the companies in these sectors. Saudi Arabia pledged to increase the range of sectors open to foreign investors when it joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The Supreme Economic Council (SEC) will also review upstream real estate investment, recruitment, employment and fisheries sector, which remain closed to foreign investment. © Esmerk Link to original article (subscription required) in English. Back to Top Kuwait: Kipco to raise stake in existing investments Middle East Economic Digest Online, 10 Apr 2007,:- Kuwait Projects Company (Kipco) is reported to be gearing up spend its proceeds from the sale of its stake in Wataniya Telecom to raise holdings in its existing investments. A Kipco-led consortium sold its combined 51% stake in Kuwaiti mobile operator to Qatar Telecom for US$ 3.7bn in March. The company will raise its 71% stake in United Gulf Bank, its 51% stake in Gulf Insurance Company and its 38% stake in Burgan Bank. © Esmerk Link to original article (subscription required) in English. Back to Top Greece: MFG to take 100% control in Marfin Bank Naftemporiki, 05 Apr 2007,:- Marfin Popular Bank of Greece has announced that its board has decided to go ahead with the 100% takeover of Marfin Bank by the banking and investments group, Marfin Financial Group, in a transaction that is estimated to be worth in the region of EUR 616,533,000 (US$ 0.83bn). © Esmerk Link to original article in Greek. Back to Top Turkey: NBG sells 5% stake in Finansbank to IFC Turkish Daily News, 09 Apr 2007,:- National Bank of Greece (NBG), the main shareholder of Finansbank, is reported to have sold a 5% stake in Finansbank to International Finance Corporation (IFC) at call price. The Greek bank bought a 46% stake in Finansbank for EUR 2.3bn (US$ 3.01bn) in April 2006. © Esmerk Link to original article registration required) in English. Back to Top Insurance Enviornment/Social Issues Greece: Syros' residents fed up with DEI pollution Kathimerini, 04 Apr 2007,:- According to a Ombudsman report that was released on 3 April 2007, the health of the residents of the Greek island of Syros is in danger from the large amounts of air pollution that is caused by a local electricity plant that belongs to Greece's public utility, Dimosia Epihirisi Ilektrismou (DEI). The pollution is due to the plant's poor management techniques by DEI, and the Ombudsman's investigation took place after several complaints from local residents that date back to 2001. The report has revealed that the plant operated for two years, from 2003 to 2005, without adopting the approved environmental conditions, while its waste disposal standards was not met for many years since DEI did not possess the necessary permits. Meanwhile, Syros' prefectural officials have also revealed that the plant's reserve electricity producing unit operates illegally since it does not have a waste management © Esmerk Link to original article in Greek. Back to Top Greece: High levels of pollution found at Asopos river Kathimerini, 10 Apr 2007,:- According to evidence seen by the daily Greek newspaper Kathimerini, the river Asopos, in central Greece's Viotia region, is being currently polluted by the waste of more than 750 factories that take advantage of legal loopholes and continue to heavily pollute the river with their dump. Although a total of more than 10,000 local residents are being supplied with drinking water from the river, recent studies have revealed that dangerously high levels of chromium, lead, and nitrate (all potentially carcinogenic's) were found in Asopos' water. The Asopos River also empties into the southern Evia Gulf, which has a number of popular beaches that are used by locals, as well as tourists during the summer season. The local authorities have launched legal proceedings against 13 factories for dumping their unprocessed waste into the river, yet the officials are pessimistic about the outcome since © Esmerk Link to original article in Greek. Back to Top Greece: Investigation launched on sunken Sea Diamond Kathimerini, 10 Apr 2007,:- The Greek authorities have launched a full investigation over the recent accident of the Sea Diamond cruise ship that sunk off the Greek island of Sa ntorini on 6 April 2007. The sunken Sea Diamond, which is owned by the Cyprus based shipping company, Louis Hellenic Cruise Lines, carried a total of 1,156 passengers, mostly from the USA, Spain and France, which they were initially all reported to have been rescued and safe. However, two French tourists had not been accounted for and are still missing, with growing fears that they have drowned. According to the Sea Diamond's captain, the cruise ship hit a charted reef (due to a sudden current) at about 4p.m on 5 April 2007 while it was on its way to dock at the port of Athinio, leading to the 143-meter ship's sinking early morning on 6 April. The ship’s captain and five crew members have been charged for causing the accident through negligence © Esmerk Link to original article in Greek Back to Top UAE: Government sets up aeCERT to tackle cyber crime Gulf News, 05 Apr 2007,:- The government of United Arab Emirates (UAE) has formed a UAE Computer Emergency Response Team (aeCERT) to tackle Internet crime. The new task force will prevent and detect cyber crime in the country. According to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), the aeCERT will also team up with global cyber crime prevention organisations to address the issue. © Esmerk Link to original article in English. Back to Top UAE: Royal Focus, Microsoft end pirated software claim Gulf News, 09 Apr 2007,:- In an out-of-court piracy lawsuit settlement, United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Royal Focus LLC has sealed a declaration to stop selling counterfeit versions of Microsoft computer software and pay compensation to US-based Microsoft. This was revealed by the anti-piracy association Business Software Alliance (BSA). However, a spokesperson of Royal Focus disclosed that no pirated software was ever sold by the company and the lawsuit settlement was done to end the dispute sooner. © Esmerk Link to original article in English. Back to Top Middle East/Africa: AIG, Amadeus debut travel insurance Imerisia, 20 Feb 2007- US-based insurance firm AIG Inc and Spain-based travel industry solutions developer Amadeus have formed a partnership to launch an automated travel insurance system in the Middle East and Africa. The new system enables travel agencies to provide insurance policies automatically to tourists during the travel planning phase. © Esmerk Link to original article in English Back to Top Middle East: Takaful needs to meet US$ 20bn potential Insurance Day, 12 Apr 2007, p.1:- According to US ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P), the takaful insurance market in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), which has an estimated annual growth rate of 40%, has the potential to grow from the current US$ 4.6bn (EUR 3.46bn) to US$ 20bn. However, analysts are warning that the market's ability to fulfil this potential is limited by the nature of takaful investments, which require extensive regulation in accordance with Islamic Sharia law, precluding the economies of scale that traditional companies can take advantage of. S&P also warns that the current growth rate is unlikely to be sustainable in the longer term, and profitability is essential for growth in the future in the GCC region, currently seen as an untapped market opportunity, and beyond. © Esmerk Back to Top UAE: Government endorses convention to stop pollution Khaleej Times, 15 Apr 2007,:- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has given the nod for the international convention to prevent pollution from vessels. The convention includes six technical annexes, consisting prevention of air pollution from vessels, regulations to prevent pollution by oil, prevention of pollution by waste from vessels, prevention of pollution by hazardous substances and prevention of pollution by ships' sewage. The convention will come into effect on 15 April 2007. © Esmerk Link to original article in English Back to Top

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