By Mohamed H. Zakaria, Jeddah published 10 Oct 2004 (Friday 04 Shawal 1427H)
The Mighty Dollar
This has reference to the article “The Danger of the Current World Monetary System” by Abdelmenem Jamil Addas (Oct. 4). The “mighty” dollar is not only US money but also the world’s. Other countries use it for international trade, global investment and even pocket money. The Federal Reserve estimates that more than 70 percent of prin...
Mohamed H. Zakaria, Jeddah published Sunday 1 January 2006 (01 Dhul Hijjah 1426)
Mobile Number Portability
The arrival of Mobily in Kingdom has brought a lot of changes in the culture and attitude of the local utility giants. The Saudi Telecom Authority should also look into the possibility of Mobile Number Portability (MNP). The facility, which allows mobile phone users to switch phone operators but retain their existing numb...
Mohamed H. Zakaria • Jeddah, published 23 December 2004
Market Capitalization
This refers to the report “Saudi Stock Market Capitalization Crosses SR1 Trillion in November” by Said Al-Shaikh (Dec. 16). The total market capitalization of the developed world’s main bourses such as NYSE, FTSE, DAX, CAC and Nikkei’s has rarely exceeded their national GDPs. The highly speculative Saudi Stock market has exceeded the GDP. The market,...
Mohamed H. Zakaria, Jeddah published 7 November 2006
Culture Clashes
This has reference to the reports (Nov. 3) of Saudi General Investment Authority’s governor, Amr Al-Dabagh, warning the Chinese not to miss the opportunity to invest in the Kingdom. I also refer to the report of a court sentencing a young woman, raped by several men, to 90 lashes for meeting a man alone, supposedly with the intention of doing something bad. T...
Mohamed H. Zakaria, Jeddah, published 16 March 2006
Saudi Stock Market
This is in reference to news and articles published daily on Saudi and other regional stock markets. The core problem remains the lack of investment opportunities in the region; so the investors look at the stock market and real estate as the only way to make quick returns on investments.
One only has to look at the history of Japanese stock market to see what the future will b...
Mohamed H. Zakaria, Jeddah published 7 April 2006
Cause for Concern
The flood of so-called energy drinks in the market is a matter of great concern. In recent years consumption of energy drinks among the youth is rising. Taking into consideration the consumption of cigarettes and other soft drinks, Saudi Arabia may rank top in per-capita consumption of caffeine in the world. And surprisingly, no one has shown any concern on the ...
Mohamed H. Zakaria, Jeddah published Tuesday 28 March 2006 (27 Safar 1427H)
Asian Visit
King Abdullah’s Asian visit that took him to China, India, Malaysia and Pakistan indicates a major shift in Saudi Arabia’s priorities in the new geopolitical scenario.
India has recently gained prominence as a potential market because of its 90 million plus middle-class consumers and as the third largest Asian economy and the fourth largest crude ...
Mohamed H. Zakaria, published Sunday 4 December 2005 (03 Dhul Qa`dah 1426)
Power Position
Saudi officials have stated often the need to increase the country’s power-generation capacity to 50,000MW or even 80,000MW from its present level of 30,000MW. This, according to them, needs an investment of SR200 billion. Instead of increasing production, the government should rationalize consumption, by reducing subsidies and increasing tariffs. Saudi Arab...
Mohamed H. Zakaria, Jeddah published Saturday 21 October 2006 (28 Ramadan 1427)
Celebrations
It is celebration time both in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Bangladeshis are celebrating the Nobel Peace Prize for Muhammad Yunus who began a revolution with his pioneering work in lending: giving tiny loans to millions of poor people whom no commercial bank would touch — destitute widows, abandoned wives, landless laborers, rickshaw drivers, sweepers and begga...