Road Trip...

" Think of life as a great road trip. If you spend too much time looking back at where you've been, you'll miss what's ahead."

" It doesn't matter whether or not you have won the race, as long as in your heart, you know you have done your best."





Dollar declines

The dollar's relentless decline against major currencies was "prompting jibes from America's critics, jangling investors' nerves and giving policymakers headaches." It urged the Gulf states to "loosen their ties to the dollar" when their leaders meet on December 3rd in Qatar.
Nowhere are the dilemmas more acute than in the Gulf, where virtually all the oil-rich states peg their currencies to the greenback. The combination of soaring oil prices and the tumbling dollar is distorting their economies and fuelling inflation.

Gulf ministers support residency cap

GCC nations are broadly in favour of a proposed law to impose a six year residency cap on unskilled expatriate workers, according to a UAE labour ministry official.

The 3+3 law was discussed at the ministerial meeting in Riyadh and most countries were in favour of the law. They approved an 11 point plan for the law, likely to be approved at the GCC summit in Doha next month.

Under the law, unskilled labourers would work on a three-year contract, renewable only once. However, the law would be applied separately to each country, meaning labourers could continue to work in other Gulf nations.
World's richest Arabs - record 47 billionaires
The Arab world now boasts a record 47 billionaires, according to the annual Arabian Business Rich List.

The long awaited list of the world’s 50 richest Arabs is believed to contain a record number of new entries, with the entry level to become a member of the world’s most exclusive club having risen to $700 million - up from $520 million.

The list is also believed to uncover a number of new tycoons stemming in particular from Iraq and Syria.
One of the biggest risers is believed to be a UAE-based tycoon who has seen his fortune jump by over a billion dollars in the past twelve months.


Car accidents cost Saudi $3.46bn every year



Saudi Arabia loses around 13 billion Saudi riyals ($3.46 billion) annually because of car accidents.

The losses include four billion riyals in human losses and 3.4 billion riyals in vehicles damages.

Saudi Arabia spends 734 million riyals annually on medical care for people involved in car accidents.

Expats face infectious disease screening



The UAE plans to crack down the spread of infectious diseases among the general public by making expatriate workers undergo more stringent medical examinations.

Expatriates currently undergo tests for HIV and tuberculosis when they apply for their visas, but the new requirements would include regular checkups to ensure workers are not carrying contagious diseases and a measurement of workers' 'medical fitness’.