With the price of oil at record lows, the small Southeast Asian nation of Brunei is quickly becoming the first oil-rich country to fall victim to an economic reliance on the energy industry. The hydrocarbon-dependent sultanate of 420,000 people now stands on the precipice of an economic calamity. At the apex of its 2008-2015 financial crisis, Greece’s budget deficit was ...

Kyrgyzstan completed its accession to the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) in August 2015, eight months after the union’s official launch and three months after Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev signed the agreements with the leaders of the other member states–Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Armenia–in Moscow. But as Oleg Pankratov, the deputy prime minister, said at a press conference this week, the ...

For decades after 1949, Hong Kong—also known as the “Pearl of the Orient”—was the envy of mainland Chinese because of its prosperity and freedom. It was naturally the top destination for hundreds of thousands of mainlanders who tried to flee from famine or political chaos. Hong Kong also used to evoke feelings of poignancy among mainlanders, because it was under ...

Riyadh / Bloomberg A record 47,431 rooms and 124 hotel projects are currently under development in Saudi Arabia, according to a new report. The majority of projects are in the final construction and pre-opening stages with 52 projects and almost 20,000 rooms set to open to the public throughout the Kingdom this year, says the new report by TOPHOTELPROJECTS commissioned ...

London / Bloomberg Buy-to-let landlords are rushing to purchase U.K. homes ahead of an increase in the stamp-duty sales tax in April. The number of homes acquired by rental homeowners rose 71 percent in January from the same month a year earlier, according to data compiled by Countrywide Plc. the U.K.’s largest realtor. Landlords purchased 21 percent of all the ...

LAS VEGAS / Bloomberg At the onset of the millennium, house flippers—people who purchased imperfect homes, renovated them, and resold them at a profit mere months later—ran rampant in U.S. housing markets. When the market went bust, the flippers mostly went away, replaced by investors who bought distressed homes and rented them out. The practice of flipping homes has been ...

London / Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co., the world’s largest bank by market value, is close to a deal to lease an office building being constructed near the Bank of England in the City of London financial district, a person with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private. The 33 Central building ...

RIYADH / Bloomberg JODC’s core business of developing projects close to Islam’s holiest site in Mecca, is no longer viable. Jabal Omar Development Company (JODC) is in financial trouble and that much is known from the company’s disclosures to the Saudi Stock Exchange earlier in 2016. It has swung to a loss and the company has been forced to negotiate ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Emirates REIT delivered a strong financial and operating performance during 2015, consolidating its position as a leader in the UAE property asset management industry. By year end, the net asset value of the REIT stood at USD 469.6 million, an increase of 8.7% year-on-year. “We have continued to organically grow overall occupancy and leasing rates in ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Paperworld Middle East, the region’s largest trade fair for paper, office supplies, and stationery, is eyeing continued growth, as its launch partners lead the charge of returning exhibitors with high hopes for a big year in 2016. With more than 250 exhibitors from 42 countries expected this year, the sixth edition of the three-day event in ...