The Lebanese Tourist Sector and the Gulf Pressures

The Lebanese Tourist Sector and the Gulf Pressures

Up till now the negative effect on the Lebanese tourist sector due to the warning given by some Gulf countries to their citizens not to visit Lebanon is not clear. The Saudi, Kuwaiti and Bahraini Governments have advised their citizens not to visit Lebanon without an official declared reason despite the closely related connection of that with the speech of Secretary General of Hizboullah Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, but it does not need a lot of prediction and thinking as well as analysis of the harsh results in case these warnings were met with positive answer in the sense that the Saudi, Kuwaiti, Bahraini tourists form almost about 30% of the total Arab tourists who visit Lebanon, but they, according to the official statistics, spend in Lebanon almost 80% of the total volume of the expenditure of the Arab tourists. Taking that into consideration and with the coming of summer season, any decisions or "advices" of such kind are not far from the economic pressures excercized against Lebanon in general and on a special team in it whether they are deliberate or undeliberate.

A Real Estate Project with a Value Estimated at 250 million dirhams in Dubai Silicon Valley

Al Manal Company for Real Estate Development has signed two contracts with a value estimated at 250 million dirhams for carrying out its housing project "La Vesta Residence" in Dubai Silicon Valley on a space are estimated at 290.000 cubic meters. The project will provide 832 housing units and it comprises seven separate housing buildings each consists of 8 floors.

The Holding Jeddeh Company Announces a New Real Estate Project Near Jeddeh

The Holding Jeddeh Company said it is about to implement a big real estate project north of Jeddeh city with total value estimated at 2 billion Saudi Riyals on a space area of 230.000 square meters. The project comprises 3 towers comprising 60 floors in addition to 13 towers with 25 floors in addition to hotels, villas, clinics, and trade offices.

Al Rajehi Bank Says it Will Increase Its Capital to 15 billion Riyals

Al Rajehi Bank has announced that the contributors have agreed on increasing the capital of the bank to 15 million riyals "$4 bn". In a statement the Executive Chairman of the Bank Abdullah al Suleiman al Rajehi said that the un-expositional General Assembly of the Bank has agreed on the recommendation of the administrative board to increase the capital of the bank through granting one free of charge share per nine owned shares by the end of yesterday’s dealings.

Small Indexes

– The German indicator of IVO Institute for Economic Studies for Testing the Trust of Investors in the German Economy has recorded a surprising rise during this month and for the second month consecutively.
– The Singapori Tourist Council has announced that the number of tourists who visited Singapore during last November has hit a record reaching 883.000 tourists with an increase estimated 6.9% compare to the same period of last year.

Companies Indexes

– Afak al Omran Company for Real Estate Development has signed an agreement with Olat-OPM for Marketing and Promoting its project (View Tower).
– Amman Cement Company has witnessed the third seasonal decline in terms of profits during the last quarter of 2007 with a percentage estimated at 28%.

Bids

– The Singapori Telecommunications Company "Sing Tel" has announced that it made agreements with five big international telecommunications companies for laying a maritime telecommunication cable with the aim of transforming data between the US and Japan with investments estimated at $300 m.

Conferences & Exhibitions

– Abu Dhabi Emirate pavilion taking part in the International Aim Exhibition which concluded its activities in Melbourne, Australia has been granted for the second time consecutively the prize of the best creative design after fierce competition by more than 840 exhibitors representing 50 countries from all over the world.
– The Third Conference of Islamic Banks and Financial Establishments will be held in Syria between 10-11 of next March at Four Season Hotel in Damascus under the motto "The Islamic Banking, Reality and Aspiration".