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MidEast Business
Number 152, December 4, 2003
UAE: JORDANIAN SEABIRD AVIATION TO ATTEND DUBAI AIR SHOW
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MidEast Business
Number 152, December 4, 2003
UAE: JORDANIAN SEABIRD AVIATION TO ATTEND DUBAI AIR SHOW
Investment and Economic Data
LEBANON: 40% OF CEMENT PRODUCTION GOES TO IRAQ AND SYRIA
UAE: 10 LISTED INSURANCE FIRMS WITNESS 30% PROFITS CLIMB
JORDAN: FOREIGN AND ARAB CAPITAL FLOW DECLINED BY 30%
Banking and Finance
SAUDI ARABIA: HSBC AND SABB TO ESTABLISH JOINT INVESTMENT BANK
SAUDI ARABIA: BANKS DECREASED FOREIGN ASSET HOLDINGS
SAUDI ARABIA: BANKS INCREASED INVESTMENTS ABROAD
Oil and Energy
Companies
SAUDI ARABIA: STOCK PRICE OF FOOD COMPANY WITNESSES 36% GROWTH
SAUDI ARABIA: SISCO RECORDS 36% STOCK PRICE GROWTH
Export and Import
General
UAE: JORDANIAN SEABIRD AVIATION TO ATTEND DUBAI AIR SHOW
According to Al-Bayan newspaper (December 3, 2003), a Jordanian company is to
announce a new joint venture at Dubai 2003, the International Aerospace Exhibition
taking place from December 7 to 11, and hopes to corner a growing market for 'eye in the sky'
law enforcer aircraft. Seabird Aviation Jordan will make its Dubai air show debut at Dubai 2003,
which takes place at the Airport Expo Dubai, UAE, along with its Seabird Seeker SB7L-360 aerial
patrol aircraft. Surveillance and intelligence gathering as well as border, oil pipeline and environmental
protection patrols are its specialty. Seabird Aviation Jordan is a joint venture company between the King
Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) of Jordan and Seabird Aviation Australia. The company
was established in July 2003 and operates today from Marka Airport, Amman, Jordan. The company will move
during 2004 to purpose built facilities within Queen Alia International Airport.
Investment and Economic Data
LEBANON: 40% OF CEMENT PRODUCTION GOES TO IRAQ AND SYRIA
According to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper (December 3, 2003), sources in the Lebanese
cement manufacturing sector revealed that the Iraqi and Syrian markets absorb nearly 40%
of the Lebanese cement production. The same sources added that Lebanon had exported a
monthly average 1.7 million tons of cement to Iraq alone over the past five months. The same
sources also revealed that the price of the Lebanese cement in the Iraqi market is less than the
local prices by 30%. For an instance, the Lebanese cement is sold in Iraq for $44-$46 per ton
whereas the local cement prices stand at $68 per ton.
UAE: 10 LISTED INSURANCE FIRMS WITNESS 30% PROFITS CLIMB
According to Al-Bayan newspaper (December 3, 2003), the Emirates Financial Markets
Authority reported that the 10 major listed insurance firms on the official financial markets had
recorded Dh 305.87 million total profits in the first nine months of the current year. This figure
represents an increase of 30.4% compared with these companies’ total profits through the first
nine months of 2002, in which these profits totaled Dh 234.56 million. Market analysts attributed
this profit growth to a 9.2% rise in the insurance profits and a 44% rise in the investment profits
of the insurance companies in the same period.
JORDAN: FOREIGN AND ARAB CAPITAL FLOW DECLINED BY 30%
According to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper (December 3, 2003), the Jordanian Ministry of
Industry and Commerce reported that the inflowing foreign and Arab capital into the Jordanian
companies declined to $26 million in the first 11 months of the current year, down from $37.5 million
in the corresponding period of the previous year. These figures translate into a 30.6% withdrawal.
Banking and Finance
SAUDI ARABIA: HSBC AND SABB TO ESTABLISH JOINT INVESTMENT BANK
According to Al-Hayat newspaper (December 2, 2003), addressing MEED’s 2nd Investing in Saudi
Arabia conference at One Whitehall Place in London, Sir David Gore-Booth, special adviser to the chairman
of HSBC Holdings and former UK ambassador to Saudi Arabia, revealed that HSBC and SABB are
planning to establish a joint investment bank. Mr. Gore-Booth added that the new bank will invest in
local infrastructure projects based on the Saudi Arabian Capital Market Law, which enables foreign investment
banks to operate in Saudi Arabia for the first time.
SAUDI ARABIA: BANKS DECREASED FOREIGN ASSET HOLDINGS
According to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper (December 3, 2003), the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority
(SAMA) reported that the total foreign asset holdings of the operating commercial banks in the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia dropped by 3.5% last year, which is equivalent to ($0.48 billion), compared with a 1.8% fall,
which is equivalent to $1.04 billion, in the previous year. SAMA added that the foreign assets ratio out of the
commercial banks’ total assets holdings withdrew from 53.2% in 1990 to 18.8% in 2002.
SAUDI ARABIA: BANKS INCREASED INVESTMENTS ABROAD
According to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper (December 3, 2003), the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority
(SAMA) reported that the operating commercial banks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia increased their
investments abroad by 12.6%, which is equivalent to SR 3.9 billion, last year compared with an 18.8% withdrawal,
which is equivalent to SR 2.7 billion, in the previous year. SAMA estimated the commercial banks’ investments
abroad at SR 35 billion by the end of 2002.
SAUDI ARABIA: BANKS INCREASED INVESTMENTS IN GOVERNMENTAL SECURITIES
According to Al-Watan newspaper (December 1, 2003), the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority estimated
at SR 144.4 billion the Saudi banking sector’s investments in governmental securities by the end of the
first quarter of the current year. This figure translates into a 4.2% rise compared with the corresponding
period of the previous year.
Oil and Energy
IRAQ: OIL EXPORTS REACHED 1.6 MILLION BARRELS PER DAY
According to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper (December 3, 2003), sea shipment sources reported that the
Iraqi oil exports grew by 350,000 per day through last November. The same sources estimated the Iraqi oil
exports at 1.57 million barrels per day in the same month, which is the targeted Iraqi oil export volume.
Companies
SAUDI ARABIA: STOCK PRICE OF FOOD COMPANY WITNESSES 36% GROWTH
According to Al-Watan newspaper (December 1, 2003), the Saudi Stock Exchange Authority reported that
the stock price of the Saudi Food Products Company grew by 36.6% through last November. The stock price
of the company closed at SR 57.57 by the end of the same month. The company’s activities: manufacturing,
canning, preserving, treating and developing of foodstuffs as well as marketing locally and abroad.
SAUDI ARABIA: SISCO RECORDS 36% STOCK PRICE GROWTH
According to Al-Watan newspaper (December 1, 2003), the Saudi Stock Exchange Authority reported that
the stock price of the Saudi Industrial Services Company grew by 36% through last November. The stock price
of the company closed at SR 83.75 by the end of the same month. SISCO's activities: to provide a variety of
support services in the industrial estate, to construct residential buildings, fun fair centers, markets,
restaurants, hospitals and establishing modern medical centers. SISCO owns 85% of Saudi Trade & Export
Development Co. "TUSDEER" in addition to 50% of Kindasa Water Services Co.
Export and Import
According to Al-Bayan newspaper (December 3, 2003), the Jordanian Ministry of Commerce and Industry
reported that the value of Jordan’s exports to the UAE grew to JD 47.5 million in the first nine months of
the current year, up from JD 40.5 million in the corresponding period of the previous year. These figures
translate into a 17.3% rise.
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