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Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
The New Middle East
Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon dominate the bad news headlines from the Middle East region, but a new Middle East is quietly taking shape in the Gulf, in places like Qatar, Dubai and Abu Dhabi (UAE).
In the last 3 months of 2007, I spent some time with two extraordinary women whose work and views exemplify important, positive changes that are taking place. One of them is Sheika Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned, wife of the Emir of Qatar, and chairperson of the private Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. The other is Yasemin Saib, a 34-year-old Saudi woman, who runs her own film production company in Dubai.
"The gender gap is not due to Islam. In the golden age of Islam, women were participating in every aspect of their societies. Look at the men. They are also oppressed. This is the problem: politics, the political agendas that some people are using to suppress their citizens, and traditions that existed even before Islam. Those traditions can play to the interests of some politicians." --Sheika Mozah
"I love fasting during Ramadan, I love praying in the mosque, I love being part of a Muslim community. In Dubai, I can be an Arab and a Muslim. And I can also have all the Western amenities, all the freedoms I need to be an independent, self-sufficient woman." --Yasemin Saib
/dp
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Shift Happens
In a world of rapid change, shift piles upon shift. One can get thoroughly confused and draw the wrong conclusions by focusing on one change while losing sight of the shifts that are coming up.
Advertising is a case in point. Seismic shifts are shaking up the world of advertising big time. But which shift is most relevant? And what are the implications for executives?
Understanding the shifts
In the advertising world, multiple shifts are piling on top of each other and it is often hard to keep track of them, much less understand their implications. Let’s look at just some that are re-shaping the advertising world:
Shifts from advertising placed in digital content to ads placed in social networks and applications
Shifts from digital advertisements delivered through conventional PC’s to a growing array of mobile devices, with an increasing ability to target messages based on the physical location of the person
Shifts in the behavior of digital users in their responsiveness to advertisements online
Shifts in the way that companies connect with and build relationships with stakeholders (e.g., blurring boundaries between customers, partners and suppliers)
Shifts in the revenue models for businesses, as online businesses in particular become more and more dependent on advertising as a key revenue source (e.g., is there any Web 2.0 start-up that doesn’t blithely answer “advertising” when asked about their revenue model?).
If that isn’t complicated enough, we also have broader macro-economic shifts like potential near-term recessionary pressures
Whew! No wonder it’s easy to get confused, especially since one set of changes can offset or even reverse the impact of another set of shifts. So, how do we make sense of all this?
In essence, three fundamental shifts are piling on top of each other.
Advertising is migrating to digital media because it is far more effective in targeting and reaching relevant audiences than most traditional media.
Aggregate advertising spend in the US is likely to experience a cyclical downturn as the economy softens
People are confronting a proliferation of sources competing for their attention and becoming less receptive to advertising messages, even when they are very well targeted
Here’s the danger: we may become so focused on the recent growth in online advertising that we dismiss any short-term slowdown in spending growth as a purely cyclical phenomenon. In the process, we may miss the longer-term, and ultimately far more profound, impact of the diminishing returns that online advertising is already beginning to experience.
This is particularly relevant in the Internet space. Virtually everyone seems to be zeroing in on advertising as the basic revenue model. Titanic battles among Internet gorillas, including mega-acquisitions, are at least in part motivated by a desire to occupy choke-points in the advertising value chain.
The likely evolution of Internet advertising
The basic paradox of the Internet can be framed very simply: The very platform that makes advertising both more relevant and more measurable is the same platform that longer-term will challenge and ultimately undermine the basic role of advertising in communicating with customers.
Why will the Internet ultimately undermine advertising? A number of factors come into play:
The Internet proliferates resources, all competing for the attention of people. Even the most targeted and relevant ads over time will have a harder and harder time rising above the noise.
The Internet creates powerful options for people in terms of how they become aware of new products and services and how they obtain information about the products and services that are relevant to them.
The Internet offers increasingly powerful tools to filter and block advertisements (and, yes, product placements will be an interesting alternative for a while, until even that space becomes so cluttered that people will mentally filter out the products)
On the second point, social network sites provide increasingly robust platforms for us to learn about what our friends are interested in and purchasing (although in many cases still trying to figure out the appropriate balance between privacy and attention). In this context, Esther Dyson wrote a great op ed piece in the Wall Street Journal on February 11 on “The Coming Ad Revolution” highlighting the “walled gardens” that users themselves are cultivating to connect with each other and with favored vendors.
Amazon continues to represent a leading edge example of how a trusted third party intermediary can help filter and present information about the interests and purchase patterns of others in ways that are very helpful in discovering new products. We are still a long way from the infomediaries that I wrote about almost ten years ago in Net Worth. However, the proposition of a trusted advisor who can help us sort through the growing array of resources and discover those that are truly relevant and valuable becomes ever more compelling.
As we find richer and more diverse ways to connect with friends and trusted advisors who can help us discover what we need, conventional advertising – even with all of the best behavioral targeting algorithms - will become viewed at best as marginal value and at worst as an increasing nuisance. People want to connect with vendors, especially vendors that can address unmet needs, but they will increasingly want to do it on their terms.
Advertisers are wrestling with this shift in user preferences. Recent declines in online click-through rates and the especially dismal click-through rates experienced on social network sites like Facebook should be an early red flag regarding the challenges ahead.
Implications for advertisers
For advertisers, the key message should be to build the skills required to genuinely engage people around their products and services in such a compelling way that people seek them out – and keep coming back because they have received so much value. The old game of paying for placement of messages, no matter how targeted, will yield diminishing returns. The long trajectory that will shape the advertising business is the move from random interception to targeting intention to seeking attention and ultimately to attracting attention.
The end game is collaboration marketing where advertising, meaning paid placements of messages, becomes more and more marginal. The focus shifts to becoming more helpful by creating rich, serendipitous environments that people will actively seek out (there’s a lot more to be said on this front, but this is a blog after all, so the details will be left to the imagination of the reader).
I want to be clear: while I am skeptical about the long-term future of advertising as paid placements of messages, marketing becomes more and more important in an era of abundance. Companies of all kinds will wrestle with growing challenges in terms of connecting, and building deep relationships, with key stakeholders. I also understand that advertising does far more than convey information; it also excites and engages people in imagining how their lives could be improved with the vendor’s products. Marketing will still need to address this emotional and psychological mission – my only point is that advertising in online environments will be increasingly marginalized as the vehicle for accomplishing this mission. Will advertising go away? Hardly, but it will move from the core of marketing to the edge, challenged by diminishing returns and more robust options for engaging people.
Implications for revenue models of businesses
If advertising is likely not to be a sustainable revenue source, it means that online businesses must find other sources of revenue to support their businesses long-term. What might be some of those revenue sources? Well, one option is to get customers to pay. In this regard, Kevin Kelly has an interesting post on “Better Than Free”. Observing that the Internet is a vast copy machine that makes copies of everything super-abundant and free, he concludes that “when copies are free, you need to sell things which can not be copied.” Kevin highlights eight uncopiable values that can in one form or another be sold – immediacy, personalization, interpretation, authenticity (meaning here certification of authenticity), accessibility, embodiment, patronage and findability. It is a thought provoking piece and, for my money, it begins to shine the light on the key question: what will people continue to pay for in this digital networked world?
Kevin’s perspectives are largely framed in the context of digital goods and services that are the core of the Internet today. More broadly, until fab labs become consumer items, physical goods that cannot be reduced to digital code will still command a price, although we need to be ever watchful about the extent to which these goods will be transformed into services (look at what’s happening to computers as they get sucked into the cloud).
And, if Chris Anderson is to be believed in the preview to his forthcoming book, more and more things will be free in the economics of abundance. But even Chris ultimately circles around to finding money. As he observes, “to follow the money, you have to shift from a basic view of a market as a matching of two parties — buyers and sellers — to a broader sense of an ecosystem with many parties, only some of which exchange cash.” While he acknowledges advertising as one source of cash, Chris offers a much more nuanced view, tapping into a number of other cash reservoirs.
So, where’s the money? Here’s my answer: to find the money, seek out scarcity. Abundance in some areas inevitably creates scarcity in others. Attention, reputation and talent become relatively scarce in economies of abundance. Businesses will be well positioned to charge for their services if they can deliver one or more of the following values:
help amplify attention through more effective advice/recommendations
foster and protect reputation
help amplify talent development through rich learning environments
The real winners will realize that amplifying return on attention, building reputation and developing talent are deeply and intricately related – the most valuable platforms will address these needs in powerful new ways.
Bottom line
Bottom line, if entrepreneurs want to build hot properties that can be flipped quickly, relying on advertising as the primary revenue source in the near-term may be OK – it will position you for a robust exit as long as investors stay focused exclusively on the first shift (I can hear a lot of my entrepreneurial colleagues breathing a deep sigh of relief at this point).
On the other hand, if entrepreneurs want to build enduring businesses that will change the world, resist the temptation to become too dependent on advertising. It’s OK to offer many products and services for free (in fact, that will be essential for success) but just be sure you understand your role in a broader ecosystem where someone (even if it is not directly you) is making a ton of money with platforms and services that people will pay for. In particular, look for ecosystems with platforms and services that generate increasing value as the number of participants expands.
Advertising is a case in point. Seismic shifts are shaking up the world of advertising big time. But which shift is most relevant? And what are the implications for executives?
Understanding the shifts
In the advertising world, multiple shifts are piling on top of each other and it is often hard to keep track of them, much less understand their implications. Let’s look at just some that are re-shaping the advertising world:
Shifts from advertising placed in digital content to ads placed in social networks and applications
Shifts from digital advertisements delivered through conventional PC’s to a growing array of mobile devices, with an increasing ability to target messages based on the physical location of the person
Shifts in the behavior of digital users in their responsiveness to advertisements online
Shifts in the way that companies connect with and build relationships with stakeholders (e.g., blurring boundaries between customers, partners and suppliers)
Shifts in the revenue models for businesses, as online businesses in particular become more and more dependent on advertising as a key revenue source (e.g., is there any Web 2.0 start-up that doesn’t blithely answer “advertising” when asked about their revenue model?).
If that isn’t complicated enough, we also have broader macro-economic shifts like potential near-term recessionary pressures
Whew! No wonder it’s easy to get confused, especially since one set of changes can offset or even reverse the impact of another set of shifts. So, how do we make sense of all this?
In essence, three fundamental shifts are piling on top of each other.
Advertising is migrating to digital media because it is far more effective in targeting and reaching relevant audiences than most traditional media.
Aggregate advertising spend in the US is likely to experience a cyclical downturn as the economy softens
People are confronting a proliferation of sources competing for their attention and becoming less receptive to advertising messages, even when they are very well targeted
Here’s the danger: we may become so focused on the recent growth in online advertising that we dismiss any short-term slowdown in spending growth as a purely cyclical phenomenon. In the process, we may miss the longer-term, and ultimately far more profound, impact of the diminishing returns that online advertising is already beginning to experience.
This is particularly relevant in the Internet space. Virtually everyone seems to be zeroing in on advertising as the basic revenue model. Titanic battles among Internet gorillas, including mega-acquisitions, are at least in part motivated by a desire to occupy choke-points in the advertising value chain.
The likely evolution of Internet advertising
The basic paradox of the Internet can be framed very simply: The very platform that makes advertising both more relevant and more measurable is the same platform that longer-term will challenge and ultimately undermine the basic role of advertising in communicating with customers.
Why will the Internet ultimately undermine advertising? A number of factors come into play:
The Internet proliferates resources, all competing for the attention of people. Even the most targeted and relevant ads over time will have a harder and harder time rising above the noise.
The Internet creates powerful options for people in terms of how they become aware of new products and services and how they obtain information about the products and services that are relevant to them.
The Internet offers increasingly powerful tools to filter and block advertisements (and, yes, product placements will be an interesting alternative for a while, until even that space becomes so cluttered that people will mentally filter out the products)
On the second point, social network sites provide increasingly robust platforms for us to learn about what our friends are interested in and purchasing (although in many cases still trying to figure out the appropriate balance between privacy and attention). In this context, Esther Dyson wrote a great op ed piece in the Wall Street Journal on February 11 on “The Coming Ad Revolution” highlighting the “walled gardens” that users themselves are cultivating to connect with each other and with favored vendors.
Amazon continues to represent a leading edge example of how a trusted third party intermediary can help filter and present information about the interests and purchase patterns of others in ways that are very helpful in discovering new products. We are still a long way from the infomediaries that I wrote about almost ten years ago in Net Worth. However, the proposition of a trusted advisor who can help us sort through the growing array of resources and discover those that are truly relevant and valuable becomes ever more compelling.
As we find richer and more diverse ways to connect with friends and trusted advisors who can help us discover what we need, conventional advertising – even with all of the best behavioral targeting algorithms - will become viewed at best as marginal value and at worst as an increasing nuisance. People want to connect with vendors, especially vendors that can address unmet needs, but they will increasingly want to do it on their terms.
Advertisers are wrestling with this shift in user preferences. Recent declines in online click-through rates and the especially dismal click-through rates experienced on social network sites like Facebook should be an early red flag regarding the challenges ahead.
Implications for advertisers
For advertisers, the key message should be to build the skills required to genuinely engage people around their products and services in such a compelling way that people seek them out – and keep coming back because they have received so much value. The old game of paying for placement of messages, no matter how targeted, will yield diminishing returns. The long trajectory that will shape the advertising business is the move from random interception to targeting intention to seeking attention and ultimately to attracting attention.
The end game is collaboration marketing where advertising, meaning paid placements of messages, becomes more and more marginal. The focus shifts to becoming more helpful by creating rich, serendipitous environments that people will actively seek out (there’s a lot more to be said on this front, but this is a blog after all, so the details will be left to the imagination of the reader).
I want to be clear: while I am skeptical about the long-term future of advertising as paid placements of messages, marketing becomes more and more important in an era of abundance. Companies of all kinds will wrestle with growing challenges in terms of connecting, and building deep relationships, with key stakeholders. I also understand that advertising does far more than convey information; it also excites and engages people in imagining how their lives could be improved with the vendor’s products. Marketing will still need to address this emotional and psychological mission – my only point is that advertising in online environments will be increasingly marginalized as the vehicle for accomplishing this mission. Will advertising go away? Hardly, but it will move from the core of marketing to the edge, challenged by diminishing returns and more robust options for engaging people.
Implications for revenue models of businesses
If advertising is likely not to be a sustainable revenue source, it means that online businesses must find other sources of revenue to support their businesses long-term. What might be some of those revenue sources? Well, one option is to get customers to pay. In this regard, Kevin Kelly has an interesting post on “Better Than Free”. Observing that the Internet is a vast copy machine that makes copies of everything super-abundant and free, he concludes that “when copies are free, you need to sell things which can not be copied.” Kevin highlights eight uncopiable values that can in one form or another be sold – immediacy, personalization, interpretation, authenticity (meaning here certification of authenticity), accessibility, embodiment, patronage and findability. It is a thought provoking piece and, for my money, it begins to shine the light on the key question: what will people continue to pay for in this digital networked world?
Kevin’s perspectives are largely framed in the context of digital goods and services that are the core of the Internet today. More broadly, until fab labs become consumer items, physical goods that cannot be reduced to digital code will still command a price, although we need to be ever watchful about the extent to which these goods will be transformed into services (look at what’s happening to computers as they get sucked into the cloud).
And, if Chris Anderson is to be believed in the preview to his forthcoming book, more and more things will be free in the economics of abundance. But even Chris ultimately circles around to finding money. As he observes, “to follow the money, you have to shift from a basic view of a market as a matching of two parties — buyers and sellers — to a broader sense of an ecosystem with many parties, only some of which exchange cash.” While he acknowledges advertising as one source of cash, Chris offers a much more nuanced view, tapping into a number of other cash reservoirs.
So, where’s the money? Here’s my answer: to find the money, seek out scarcity. Abundance in some areas inevitably creates scarcity in others. Attention, reputation and talent become relatively scarce in economies of abundance. Businesses will be well positioned to charge for their services if they can deliver one or more of the following values:
help amplify attention through more effective advice/recommendations
foster and protect reputation
help amplify talent development through rich learning environments
The real winners will realize that amplifying return on attention, building reputation and developing talent are deeply and intricately related – the most valuable platforms will address these needs in powerful new ways.
Bottom line
Bottom line, if entrepreneurs want to build hot properties that can be flipped quickly, relying on advertising as the primary revenue source in the near-term may be OK – it will position you for a robust exit as long as investors stay focused exclusively on the first shift (I can hear a lot of my entrepreneurial colleagues breathing a deep sigh of relief at this point).
On the other hand, if entrepreneurs want to build enduring businesses that will change the world, resist the temptation to become too dependent on advertising. It’s OK to offer many products and services for free (in fact, that will be essential for success) but just be sure you understand your role in a broader ecosystem where someone (even if it is not directly you) is making a ton of money with platforms and services that people will pay for. In particular, look for ecosystems with platforms and services that generate increasing value as the number of participants expands.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Bush rejects suggestion Putin's successor will be 'puppet'
Washington: US President George W. Bush on Thursday rejected a suggestion he might see Russian President Vladimir Putin's likely successor as a puppet.
Bush said at a press conference that he knows little about Dmitry Medvedev, but will be watching closely for hints about how his election would change Russian foreign policy.
He said that it will be interesting to learn who will represent Russia at the next Group of Eight industrialised nations meeting. The answer, he said, would "give some insight as to how Russia intends to conduct foreign policy after Vladimir Putin's presidency."
Asked by a reporter if he was concerned Medvedev would be a puppet, Bush replied: "No, I wouldn't say that."
Medvedev, who has been endorsed by Putin, is widely expected to beat three other candidates handily in Sunday's election.
Putin has said he will take the No. 2 post of prime minister after stepping down as required by the Russian constitution.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Fidel Castro hands over Cuba reins to his brother
Fidel Castro handed over the Cuba reins to his brother Raul on Sunday, ending his nearly 50 years in power.
Raul Castro is a former hardliner who is feared for his ruthlessness but has adopted a softer tone in recent years.
The 76 year old vowed to continue the communist revolution.
He is expected to pursue limited economic reforms but in a sign that change is unlikely to be abrupt, Communist Party ideologue Jose Ramon Machado Ventura was named first vice president, or Cuba's number two.
In his first speech as president, Raul Castro said he would continue to consult his older brother on important issues.
"The mandate of this legislature is clear ... to continue strengthening the revolution at a historic moment," he said.
Raul Castro said he was accepting the job on the condition that his brother continued to be the "commander in chief of the revolution", a title created for him during his guerrilla uprising before seizing power in a 1959 revolution.
Monday, February 11, 2008
A difficult choice to make
Hilary Clinton may still be the front runner by a whisker to win the Democratic nomination in August, but she is going to have to work very hard indeed to keep ahead of her rival Barak Obama.
After the votes were counted in this week's Super Tuesday Democratic primaries, she was ahead in delegates and she had won the two largest states, New York and California, but her rival, Obama, had made a strong showing winning 13 states to Clinton's eight states.
The Democratic tally as of late Wednesdy afternoon showed Clinton with 845 delegates and Obama with 765, in a race in which a candidate needs 2,025 delegates to be able to win the nomination.
But what is a serious problem for Clinton is her lead comes from the super-delegates, members of Congress and other party leaders, who are not selected in primaries and caucuses.
Clinton has 213 super-delegates who have declared for her, and Obama has 127. This means that both candidates are almost level in elected candidates from the primaries: Clinton with 632 and Obama with 638.
These super-delegates are free to change their minds when they get to the convention, and they may chose to do so if Obama is gathering momentum.
The Democrats badly want a clear decision, giving them a leader around whom they can rally. A long and bruising primary campaign would help split the party when its main job should be preparing to challenge the Republicans.
Both Obama and Clinton claimed victory on Wednesday morning. Both know that Obama's ability to appeal to a wide audience is growing, and if he does well in the next few primaries, he may be able to catch Clinton.
The Democratic party bosses are terrified of the race coming down to a vote at the Democratic Convention. They want the convention to be a launch pad to the presidential election for a successful candidate, instead of a destructive fight between their two most hopeful candidates.
On the Republican side, John McCain is clearly the front runner after Super Tuesday. His main rival Mitt Romney failed to make much impression, while the surprise of the night was the strong showing of third-runner Mike Huckabee in winning several southern states.
McCain's main platform has been continuing the war on terror, and the abrupt collapse of the campaign by a major politician like Rudy Giuliani has given McCain unexpected room, as his lack of many other firm policies has not been investigated.
The excitement of Huckabee's strong showing led several commentators to talk about him as a possible running mate for McCain, but that would place McCain's platform firmly in the far right.
If McCain is to break out of his core right wing support, he will have to find a running mate who appeals to the centre, which means Huckabee cannot be considered. Huckabee is a strong social conservative, and he is an ordained Christian evangelical pastor.
His appeal has been mainly in the southern states, and has not been able to move on to a wider national stage. He has attracted some attention for his creationist views, believing that evolution did not happen and that the world was created in a single act about 6,000 years ago.
Where does this leave the Middle East?
The prospect of McCain as president has to be very worrying. He has not mentioned nation building at all when he looks outside the US, so the outlook for Iraq and Afghanistan has to be miserable.
For American worldwide foreign policies to continue to be defined by George W. Bush's sole focus on finding "Muslim terrorists", would continue the reduction of the world's superpower's influence, and continue to wreck the multilateral structure that the world desperately needs to manage its affairs.
Mixed record
Clinton would come to power with a mixed record. She would have her husband at hand to support her, and under his presidency the Middle East got the closest it ever has to a Palestinian peace deal in the Barak-Arafat talks. But she has also shown strongly protectionist tendencies and she led the charge on getting the DP World purchase of P&O rejected in the US.
There is more of a mystery about Obama's positions, since he has offered a lot of rhetoric and little substance. In the past he has made some firm statements in favour of a just peace for the Palestinians, but he has been completely quiet on the issue for many months.
The Arab world has started to hope that if he is elected he will emerge as looking for a fair peace, but a lot of this is hopeful thinking. He has simply not said very much about it.
On Iraq both Clinton and Obama have moved sharply from their more balanced positions earlier in the campaign when they both spoke of a need to 'finish the job', which gave some hope from both for building a new political settlement in Iraq. But during the campaign they have reacted to popular pressure and they both now talk of ending the war in Iraq soon.
This cut and run attitude will mean continued violence in Iraq, unless they change their statements and commit to address the political impasse there.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Turning into an energy hub
The signing of the pipeline deal linking Bul-
garia’s Black Sea port of Burgas with
Alexandroupolis in northeastern Greece is
seen as a large step in placing the country
on the European energy map and a move
expected to pry open the door of new business
opportunities for the region.
The deal, which will involve pumping mostly
Russian crude to the Mediterranean, will take
Greece a step closer to transforming into an ener-
gy hub at a time of soaring petrol prices and a
growing world appetite for power.
Construction of the 280-kilometer pipeline is
scheduled to start at the end of 2008 with a com-
pletion date set for the start of 2011.
Once completed the pipeline will be able to
transport around 35 million tons of oil per year.
This amount could increase to 50 million tons at a
later stage, according to officials involved in the
project.
Politicians have repeatedly called the signing of
the deal an ‘historic occasion’ as they point to the
fact that it is Europe’s first major pipeline project
in the last 40 years. The signing of the deal
between the three countries — Greece, Russia and
Bulgaria — took 14 years to complete.
‘Greece’s position on the international energy
map... is now a fact,’ Deputy Foreign Affairs Min-
ister Evripidis Stylianidis told Greek Economy and
Markets.
‘It is evident that Greece is an equal interlocu-
tor among the international energy players and the
Greek government a trustworthy partner in the
energy sector in the region of Southeastern
Europe,’ added Stylianidis.
The pipeline had been repeatedly delayed,
mostly due to concerns about its financial viability.
However, soaring oil prices and the recent inau-
guration of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, link-
ing the Caspian Sea with the Mediterranean,
prompted Bulgaria, Russia and Greece to speed up
the signing of the deal.
Indicative of the support behind the pipeline
are the two recent visits to Athens by Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
In September last year Putin visited Greece to
revive the long-stalled pipeline along with Greek
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and Bulgarian
President Georgi Parvanov. The Russian president
visited Athens again in March to attend the signing
ceremony.
The project is seen to be of strategic impor-
tance, for the first time giving Greece a role in
helping ensure the steady flow of petrol to other
European countries.
‘It is the first important step in upgrading
Greece’s geopolitical role and safeguarding securi-
ty in the region. It will also help in supplying Euro-
pean Union nations with petrol,’ Constantinos Filis,
head of the Center for Russia and Eurasia, a think
tank set up by Panteion University’s International
Relations Institute, told Greek Economy and Mar-
kets.
Experts point out that the pipeline could help
secure stability in the region of Alexandroupolis,
which lies next to the Greek-Turkish border, since
the supply of energy to Greece’s EU partners could
be interrupted in the event of any military conflict
arising between the two nations.
A Russian consortium of the energy companies
Transneft, Rosneft and Gazprom will hold a 51
percent stake in the project.
Greek and Bulgarian companies will evenly split
the remaining 49 percent.
The majority of Greece’s stake (24.5 percent)
will be held by a joint venture between state-con-
trolled Hellenic Petroleum and Thrace, belonging
to the Copelouzos group, while the remaining 1
percent will be held by the Greek government.
The project foresees oil being transported by
tanker to Burgas from Novorossiysk, Russia, and
from there the new pipeline will transport it to
Greece.
Tankers currently make the entire trip via the
Bosporus Strait but traffic along the waterway has
intensified in recent years, raising congestion con-
cerns.
Tanker accidents often endanger the environ-
ment and the safety of residential areas on the
banks of the strait.
‘This pipeline will improve the situation in the
Black Sea straits, accelerating and reducing the
cost of oil supplies. It will help not only Russia,
Greece and Bulgaria but also a number of other countries, both oil producers and consumers, to
feel more secure,’ Russian Ambassador to Greece
Andrei Vdovin told Greek Economy and Markets.
Economic impact
The government says the economic benefits are
numerous.
Apart from construction of the project demand-
ing a 1-billion-euro investment for the region,
Greece also expects to earn tens of millions of dol-
lars from government-imposed oil duties.
Deputy Development Minister Tassos Nerantzis
said the economic impact can be broken into two
stages.
‘The first one relates to the construction phase
of the program, which involves an investment in
today’s prices of 1 billion euros. Then there is the
second phase that involves the operation of the
pipeline,’ Nerantzis told Greek Economy and Mar-
kets.
‘Already there is strong business interest from
banks, energy, construction and shipping groups
with multiple economic and growth consequences
for our country,’ the deputy minister added, with-
out giving further details.
On the job front, the project is seen creating
300 permanent positions after the completion of
its construction.
Other areas that could open up to Greek busi-
nesses include transporting crude oil from Russia’s
Novorossiysk to Burgas before it is pumped down
the pipeline to Greece.
Experts point out that Russia does not have an
adequate number of tankers for this part of the
route and is likely to require the services of foreign
shipping companies to transport the petrol.
‘Given Greece’s strength in shipping, new
opportunities may open up here,’ said Filis.
Steps made in helping make world fuel supplies
more stable could also trim the price volatility of
international oil markets.
‘(The pipeline) will reduce the transit cost in
general for Russian and Kazakh crude oil coming
onto the world market. All of this will be good for
consumers, producing more choices and hopefully
reducing the upward cost pressures in the oil mar-
ket,’ US Ambassador Charles Ries pointed out at a
recent energy conference.
Apart from supplying Greece’s EU peers with
fuel, the pipeline will help provide the country with
a steady flow of petrol for its own growing needs.
Strong economic growth in the last few years
has increased Greece’s thirst for energy in a trend
that is likely to keep growing in the future.
According to figures from the International
Energy Agency (IEA), final energy consumption in
Greece reached 23.5 million tons of oil equivalent
in 2004, about 50 percent higher than levels
recorded in 1990.
Experts estimate that this growth rate indicates
that Greece will be required to double its current
energy supply within the next eight years.
Due to delays in introducing alternative energy
sources, Greece is one of the EU countries with the
highest dependency on oil imports.
Economists also draw attention to the fact that
although Greece’s economy is growing at a fast
rate there exist other economies in the region that
are showing larger economic expansion rates which
demand increasing power supplies.
Energy hub
Experts agree that the Burgas-Alexandroupolis
pipeline will help place Greece on the energy map
but stress that more is needed to develop the coun-
try’s weight on the world energy scale.
‘More projects are needed if Greece is to
become an energy hub like Turkey,’ said an
Athens-based energy analyst.
The government says that this has already
started.
‘The government’s energy policy is being deliv-
ered at a fast pace in converting the country into
an energy channel,’ said Nerantzis.
After the signing of the petrol project, progress
is expected on the building of a new natural gas
pipeline connecting Greece with Italy and Turkey.
Greece’s link with Turkey is expected to be
ready in July, while construction of the branch with
Italy is scheduled to start in June 2008.
Stretching over 300 kilometers, two-thirds of
which is on Turkish territory, the pipeline will
transport gas from Azerbaijan and other Caucasus
producers to European countries.
Greece has been importing natural gas for a
decade, 80 percent of it from Russia via a pipeline
through Bulgaria.
Greek domestic gas consumption rose by 35
percent between 2003 and 2006 and is expected
to double between now and 2010 to 6.5 billion
cubic meters on higher industrial and consumer
demand and ambitious plans for new gas-fired
electrical power plants.
‘Additionally, we are in the process of connect-
ing electricity grids with neighboring countries
(such as the one with Turkey which closes the loop
of Mediterranean countries and will be ready in
January 2008) either by upgrading the existing one
or planning new ones,’ added Nerantzis.
Other plans on the energy front include imple-
menting changes to the regulatory framework of
bio-diesel energy production.
Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas recently
announced that Greece would spend over 4.5 bil-
lion euros up until 2010 on investments in biofuels
and other renewable energy sources.
Supply concerns
Greece’s new role in the sector has triggered con-
cerns over who will supply the pipelines with gas
or fuel.
‘What the European governments, including the
Greek government, are seeking to do is safeguard
their energy security by not allowing just one single
provider to supply them with energy,’ said Stylian-
idis.
‘In this regard, Greece is increasing its suppli-
ers in natural gas by adding LNG (liquified natural
gas) from Algeria, Egypt, Qatar and third sources
into its own energy mix. As far as oil supplies are
concerned, the suppliers of Greece in crude oil
include many countries,’ he added.
On a recent trip to Athens, European Energy
Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said that Russia
should not be allowed to dictate Europe’s energy
supply.
‘I am not worried about dependence on Russia
in oil as long as we have diversity of supply,’ he
said. ‘The problem is not Russia, the problem is
that Gazprom is a monopoly supplier.’
Piebalgs stressed the importance of the Turkey-
Greece-Italy interconnector but added that it
should serve multiple producers.
‘It is very important that it involves natural gas
from the Caspian. We should get gas from many
suppliers, including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turk-
menistan, Iran and Iraq, not just Russia,’ he
stressed.
Ries has also backed the notion of using multi-
ple suppliers, saying that otherwise Europe will
miss an opportunity to improve market efficiency.
‘If the interconnector is filled with Russian gas,
a huge opportunity for increased competition in the
European gas market will be lost,’ according to the
US ambassador.
Russian springboard
The signing of the deal has brought Greece and
Russia closer together as the two countries look
into further boosting bilateral economic ties.
‘We see this development as a way toward
expanding cooperation to additional fields, in par-
ticular investments and larger exports of Greek
products into the Russian market, tourism, and so
on,’ said Stylianidis.
‘It is the firm belief of our government that we
could use bilateral energy cooperation as a pilot
case to achieve equally substantial results in other
fields of economic cooperation,’ he added.
Greek media reported after the signing of the
deal that Athens will play a larger role in Russian
plans to invest 300 billion euros in European busi-
nesses.
Russian conglomerate Sistema bought a major-
ity stake in Intracom Telecom last year for 120 mil-
lion euros. The company said that it might also be
interested in other telecom investments in Greece.
‘The idea is to use the dynamic momentum,
created in the sphere of the energy cooperation, to
boost other mutual investment projects in a large
spectrum of activities,’ said Russian Ambassador
Vdovin.
‘Russian capital has already entered the
telecommunications market in Greece and some
other opportunities may arise. There are also
prospects for enhancing Russian-Greek cooperation
in the military field,’ added Vdovin.
According to figures presented by the Hellenic
Center for Investment (ELKE), Russia accounted
for 4.7 percent of Greek foreign trade turnover in
2004. Greece imports from Russia mostly crude
petroleum, gas and metals while export products to
Russia mainly consist of fur, tobacco and fruit.
Greece’s position on the
international energy map is now
a fact. It is evident that Greece is
an equal interlocutor among the
international energy players and
the Greek government a
trustworthy partner.
By D.P.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Davos 2008
Published: January 28, 2008, 00:11
Davos: The continuing violence and the facts on the ground are stopping progress to a peace deal in Palestine, Tony Blair, former UK Prime Minister and Quartet Special Envoy to Palestine, said.
The terms of a possible future deal are largely clear, but the continuing Israeli actions and "their effects on the Palestinians mean that no one on the ground believes that any deal can be made real", Blair said.
Because of the emerging consensus based around the two-state solution, Blair thought that the Annapolis process might arrive at a deal, but was much more doubtful that it could be made to stick, thanks to the continuing violence.
"The Palestinians have to deal with the impact of Israel's continuing occupation, the soldiers, the road-blocks, and peace will only happen if the facts on the ground change," he said
"We have a collision between the facts which people see every day, and the possible plans for peace. Talking at the closing session of the World Econ-omic Forum in Davos, Blair rated peace in the Middle East as one of the most important requirements for improving the state of the world.
He and others on the panel listed what they see as important to achieve during 2008, in the light of the discussions in Davos. In addition to seeking peace, their priorities tackled various aspects of building international plans to deal with global issues like climate change, efficient used of energy, or better use of water resources.
The importance of an energy and environmental policy with specific targets was the priority for James Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, and restarting the Millennium Development Goals was the top priority for Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo.
The whole panel made very clear that while they see the global economy as a reality, there is a dangerous disconnect with people's values which are defined by their regional cultures, and with the world's regulatory authorities which remain stuck at the national level.
They saw this as a problem which contains the imminent danger that unless action is taken, people will react badly to the effects of globalisation, feeling that it is "something happening to them, rather than something they are taking part in," as Nooyi put it.
Asian power
"The shift of economic power to Asia, and the newly emerging importance of India and China is something with which the West will need to feel comfortable," said Dimon.
"Globalisation is a fact, but its values are still a choice to be made. At an international level, political leaders should make clear that the international values that should go with the global economy are based on justice and freedom, and are not about exploiting people," said Blair.
"There is a long way to go to reassure people across the globe that these values are part of globalisation, and the economic changes are not a threat, but are happening in the spirit of making the world a better place for all," said the former prime minister.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Nuclear reactors in UAE made in France. .
Sarkozy to sign UAE nuclear deal
Sarkozy, right, will visit Qatar and the UAE after leaving Saudi Arabia [AFP]
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, is to sign a deal that could pave the way for France to build nuclear reactors in the United Arab Emirates.
Starting his third trip to the region in three weeks, Sarkozy arrived in Saudi Arabia on Sunday and was later due to visit Qatar and the UAE, seeking to further establish French ties in the region.
"My visit to the United Arab Emirates will be ... the occasion to sign an agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy," Sarkozy told the Al-Hayat newspaper ahead of his three-day visit to the Gulf.
The deal for co-operation in civilian nuclear activities, a first step toward building a nuclear reactor, would be the third France has signed recently with Muslim nations after Libya and Algeria.
"I have often said that the Muslim world is no less reasonable than the rest of the world in seeking civilian nuclear [power] for its energy needs, in full conformity with international security obligations," Sarkozy told the London-based Al-Hayat.
Nuclear power
The UAE has expressed an interest in developing nuclear power despite having its own oil and gas reserves.
Neil Partrick, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera the UAE's move towards nuclear power was both "strategic" and "practical".
"Particularly in the UAE, there is increasing energy demands and limited - believe it or not - energy resources," he said.
"A nuclear power programme is practical and more widely may have some strategic weight, but we need to put it in perspective - it could take ten or fifteen years before the first power station comes on stream."
Under the deal, French companies Areva, Total and Suez could build two, third-generation nuclear plants in the UAE.
The weekend edition of France's Le Figaro newspaper said one plant could be built under the agreement, although a formal contract was some way off.
During a December visit to Egypt, Sarkozy also expressed France's willingness to assist Egypt in the nuclear field.
Message to Iran
Building nuclear reactors for civilian use for these countries would mean lucrative contracts for France, which generates most of its own electricity from nuclear power.
Such contracts could also be seen as sending a message to Iran, whose own nuclear programme has led it into conflict with other world powers.
The Iranian nuclear dispute with the international community was among the topics on Sarkozy's agenda during his three-day trip.
Sarkozy says he wants international pressure increased on Iran over its refusal to halt its nuclear programme.
"Iran is persistent in not respecting its international obligations, we want to continue to increase international pressure within the [UN] security council and European Union, until the country fulfills all its international obligations," he told Al-Hayat.
Discussion would also focus on the threat of terrorism and the war in Iraq, Sarkozy's office said.
Friday, December 7, 2007
CIA destroyed interrogation tapes ! Guys give me a break. . .
The CIA has confirmed that it destroyed at least two video tapes showing the interrogation of terror suspects.
According to the intelligence agency, the tapes were destroyed to protect the identity of CIA agents and because they no longer had intelligence value.
But civil liberties lawyers have refused to accept this, saying the CIA previously denied such tapes existed.
They say the move appears to be an attempt to destroy evidence that could have brought CIA agents to account.
The New York Times, which broke the story, quotes current and former government officials as saying the CIA destroyed the tapes in 2005 as it faced Congressional and legal scrutiny about its secret detention program.
Officials feared the tapes could have raised doubts about the legality of the CIA's techniques, the newspaper says.
The tapes are thought to have shown the interrogation in 2002 of a number of terror suspects, including Abu Zubaydah, who had been a chief recruiter for the al-Qaeda network.
TORTURE TECHNIQUES
Water boarding: prisoner bound to a board with feet raised, and cellophane wrapped round his head. Water is poured onto his face and is said to produce a fear of drowning
Cold cell: prisoner made to stand naked in a cold, though not freezing, cell and doused with water
Standing: Prisoners stand for 40 hours and more, shackled to the floor
Belly slap: a hard slap to the stomach with an open hand. This is designed to be painful but not to cause injury
Source: ABC News
The videos were, according to the New York Times, wiped in 2005, at the time the agency was being scrutinised about its secret detention programme.
The Associated Press news agency on Thursday obtained a letter sent to all CIA employees by the agency's current director, Michael Hayden, explaining why the footage was destroyed.
In the internal memo, Mr Hayden told staff that the CIA had begun taping interrogations as an internal check in 2002 and decided to delete the videos because they lacked any "legal or internal reason" to keep them.
According to AP, the CIA chief wrote to employees: "The tapes posed a serious security risk.
"Were they ever to leak, they would permit identification of your CIA colleagues who had served in the program, exposing them and their families to retaliation from al-Qaeda and its sympathizers."
'Troubling'
The CIA acknowledges that these early interrogations were harsh, but Mr Hayden says that the CIA's internal watchdogs saw the tapes in 2003 and verified that the techniques used were legal.
But Senate judiciary committee chairman Patrick Leahy said the tapes' destruction was troubling.
The damage is compounded when such actions are hidden away from accountability
Senator Patrick Leahy
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman
"The damage is compounded when such actions are hidden away from accountability," he said.
The American Civil Liberties Union has accused the agency of showing an utter disregard for the law.
"The destruction of these tapes appears to be a part of an extensive, long-term pattern of misusing executive authority to insulate individuals from criminal prosecution for torture and abuse," an ACLU statement said.
The BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says the news is likely to trigger more questions about the interrogation techniques used by the CIA and whether they amounted to torture.
There are also questions over whether CIA agents withheld information from the courts and a presidential commission.
The CIA's failure to make the tapes available to a federal court hearing the case of the terror suspect Zacarias Moussaoui or to the 9/11 Commission could amount to obstruction of justice, according to the New York Times.
Lawyers in the Moussaoui trial and officials from the 9/11 Commission had both requested from the CIA details of any relevant interrogations of al-Qaeda suspects.
Michael Hayden wrote to all CIA employees about the tapes
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US, President George W Bush authorised the use of "harsh techniques" in the interrogation of suspected terrorists.
According to our correspondent, those techniques are alleged to have included water-boarding, a method in which a suspect is held down and gagged while water is poured into his mouth in order to simulate drowning.
Human rights groups say that water-boarding - and other techniques allegedly used by the CIA - can be defined as torture under various international treaties to which the US is a signatory.
The Bush administration has always maintained that it does not allow the use of torture.
HA-HA-HA-HA ! THIS "BUSH" ADMINISTARTION IS SO F***ING PATHETIC !! BUT THE MOST PATHETIC OF ALL IS THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WHO GAVE A 2ND CHANCE TO THIS DOPE, THIS BLOCKHEAD OR MAY I SAY TO THIS JACKASS IN 2004. ARE THEY FOR REAL ?!?!?!?! THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR FATES.
/D.P.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
The Failure of the GCC
According to the IMF, the GDP of the GCC in 2007 will reach a whopping $750 Billion[1], placing it roughly above Australia as the 16th largest economy in the world[2]. And yet this number does little more than aggregate the economies of six geographically close countries that practically might as well be on six different continents. It is inconceivable that these half a dozen countries that are for all terms and purposes carbon copies of each other cannot agree on how to proceed with what is clearly the common good for their economies and end up holding expensive lunches and tea parties with no measurable outcome. There are a couple of issues here that need to be highlighted.
Currency Union
First, the issue of monetary union has started to cause a serious case of currency fatigue amongst even the most ardent supporters of this fantastical idea. Doubts have been cast now that two countries have more or less officially pulled out of the currency union[3]. GCC nationals are wondering when the other four are going to admit that they have failed in the most basic of agreements. The sad fact that seems to have been overlooked is that before our esteemed officials realized the obvious necessity of a common GCC currency the region actually had one for over a century that was working perfectly well. It was called the Indian Rupee (it still exists today). A currency that was universal in every meaning of the word, accepted as legal tender from Iraq to Yemen even though India is thousands of miles away and without the assistance of the European Union, IMF, World Bank, countless consultants, research papers, and investment banks that have ultimately contributed to this collective failure that is evident today. There are very few excuses that could be presented to the people of the GCC other than simple apathy and the lack of conviction on the part of the officials. Some might argue for maintaining the status quo in which Mr. Ben Bernanke effectively plays the part of the GCC Central Bank Governor as he knowingly or not dictates the monetary policy of six independent nations from his good offices in Washington DC.
Customs Union
Second, as the GCC approaches the sixth year of the so called customs union many of us dread yet another announcement from the secretary general of the GCC that the temporary “trial phase” will be extended by another year or two[4]. As one “brotherly” country accuses another of dumping products[5] and the lack of agreement on tariff sharing[6] illustrate, the dream of a customs union has yet to materialize.
The idea of the GCC unifying its customs tariffs and regulations came from non other than the European Union who insisted in the 1980’s that there would be no free trade agreement (FTA) with the GCC unless the latter establishes one supranational entity that it could sign with[7]. The USA, the appointed guardian of the Gulf oil reserves, has deliberately followed a “divide and conquer” policy of signing with individual countries[8] that has cost its signatories dearly (see MoneyWorks April 2007 by same author). The UAE has fortunately escaped for another two years as President Bush’s fast-track negotiating powers have expired as of June 30th this year[9]. Two decades after the EU floated the customs union idea no GCC-EU FTA seems to be on the horizon with the Gulf Arab nations now seeking new partners most of whom are energy hungry Asian countries that would accept to sign FTA’s with what the EU regards as a flawed customs union[10].
In reality there have been very few success stories as a result of the establishment of the GCC. These include a semblance of freedom of labor movement as well as permitting expatriate residents who have lived in a member state for more than six months to visit another for a short stay. The GCC wide electricity grid which comes into effect in 2010[11] seems to be another practical and positive step forward.
What could be done?
The GCC needs to make up for lost time and implement a strategy with preset milestones and dates to reach an agreement on unifying its laws and regulations concerning foreign direct investment, banking and financial services and the legal system amongst other issues. The currency union cannot be salvaged at this point, however the customs union can be brought back to life with new rigor and if the GCC countries agree on unifying their laws there may be hope yet for the currency union sometime in the future.
Currency Union
First, the issue of monetary union has started to cause a serious case of currency fatigue amongst even the most ardent supporters of this fantastical idea. Doubts have been cast now that two countries have more or less officially pulled out of the currency union[3]. GCC nationals are wondering when the other four are going to admit that they have failed in the most basic of agreements. The sad fact that seems to have been overlooked is that before our esteemed officials realized the obvious necessity of a common GCC currency the region actually had one for over a century that was working perfectly well. It was called the Indian Rupee (it still exists today). A currency that was universal in every meaning of the word, accepted as legal tender from Iraq to Yemen even though India is thousands of miles away and without the assistance of the European Union, IMF, World Bank, countless consultants, research papers, and investment banks that have ultimately contributed to this collective failure that is evident today. There are very few excuses that could be presented to the people of the GCC other than simple apathy and the lack of conviction on the part of the officials. Some might argue for maintaining the status quo in which Mr. Ben Bernanke effectively plays the part of the GCC Central Bank Governor as he knowingly or not dictates the monetary policy of six independent nations from his good offices in Washington DC.
Customs Union
Second, as the GCC approaches the sixth year of the so called customs union many of us dread yet another announcement from the secretary general of the GCC that the temporary “trial phase” will be extended by another year or two[4]. As one “brotherly” country accuses another of dumping products[5] and the lack of agreement on tariff sharing[6] illustrate, the dream of a customs union has yet to materialize.
The idea of the GCC unifying its customs tariffs and regulations came from non other than the European Union who insisted in the 1980’s that there would be no free trade agreement (FTA) with the GCC unless the latter establishes one supranational entity that it could sign with[7]. The USA, the appointed guardian of the Gulf oil reserves, has deliberately followed a “divide and conquer” policy of signing with individual countries[8] that has cost its signatories dearly (see MoneyWorks April 2007 by same author). The UAE has fortunately escaped for another two years as President Bush’s fast-track negotiating powers have expired as of June 30th this year[9]. Two decades after the EU floated the customs union idea no GCC-EU FTA seems to be on the horizon with the Gulf Arab nations now seeking new partners most of whom are energy hungry Asian countries that would accept to sign FTA’s with what the EU regards as a flawed customs union[10].
In reality there have been very few success stories as a result of the establishment of the GCC. These include a semblance of freedom of labor movement as well as permitting expatriate residents who have lived in a member state for more than six months to visit another for a short stay. The GCC wide electricity grid which comes into effect in 2010[11] seems to be another practical and positive step forward.
What could be done?
The GCC needs to make up for lost time and implement a strategy with preset milestones and dates to reach an agreement on unifying its laws and regulations concerning foreign direct investment, banking and financial services and the legal system amongst other issues. The currency union cannot be salvaged at this point, however the customs union can be brought back to life with new rigor and if the GCC countries agree on unifying their laws there may be hope yet for the currency union sometime in the future.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Why Arabs will go to Annapolis
Why Arabs will go to Annapolis
This is one of those moments when the old adage, "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade," applies. It's easy to find fault with the Bush Administration's many failures.
But anger at the many messes they have created won't bring the needed change. Finding a way forward is a responsibility we all share.
Let me explain.
I've long criticised this administration's foreign policy, arguing that its trademarks have been that:
- they neglect a problem when they might have taken action to solve it;
- they let ideology trump reality when they have become engaged; and
- they "spin" when they have failed, or try to change the subject by moving on to another front.
We are seeing all of these trademarks and their consequences playing out this week in the crises in Israel-Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Pakistan.
Past performance
Responding to so many crises at once can be a trying affair for even the most skilled of US administrations. And, given past performance, it is right to be concerned. But, at least in one of these crisis areas, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Bush Administration appears to be promoting a diplomatic initiative. Given seven years of neglect and/or blindness to Palestinians realities, and the lateness of the hour, chances for success may be slim. I'm not optimistic, but still want to be supportive of the effort.
I say this because the consequences of failure can only compound the devastation and trauma experienced by so many innocents.
It was the hubris of ideologues that brought on these crises. Neglect of diplomacy, a victor/vanquished mindset that placed emphasis on force over negotiations and reconciliation, and a failure to recognise the history and social realities in each of the countries in which they meddled - these have brought the region to where it is today.
The Bush Administration's maddening response to the chaos created by their meddling was to label it "the birth pangs of a new Middle East". But to the tens of thousands who have paid the ultimate price, and the millions whose lives and fortunes have been crushed, it was something else.
Nothing good has come from this state of affairs, and prolonging it will only make matters worse.
There is justifiable pique throughout the Middle East, and a deep frustration in the US. But there is too much at stake to let pride, anger, spite, or ideology rule our responses.
I have been critical of the Bush Administration's efforts in the lead-up to Annapolis. Given what is at stake, their performance has not equalled the seriousness of the moment. The meeting has been ill-prepared and is somewhat half-baked. Nevertheless, it is deserving of support on some level. The United Nations, the Arab League, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, and the European Union can each find a role to play, and have decided that the responsible thing to do would be to accept the challenge. If Israeli-Palestinian peace is required for regional movement on other issues as well as in its own right, and it is; and if Lebanese, Palestinian, Iraqi and Pakistani national reconciliation are needed, and they are - then efforts to address them must be pursued, by any and all who can play a role.
Uncomfortable
That is why I salute the Arabs who, despite their misgivings, will come to Annapolis next week. Some will come, simply to lend support to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Others will be there because, after pressing the US to become engaged, they feel uncomfortable disengaging themselves. They will offer aid and political backing - both needed ingredients to success. The burden will then be on the US to do, after Annapolis, what it failed to do before: to press Israel to deliver meaningful concessions in the interests of peace.
This effort may not perfect, but it is the lemons we have been given, and out of which we must make the best we can.
The lives of millions cannot wait 14 months for the outcome of an unpredictable American electoral process. I learned a long time ago that believing "it had to get worse before it got better" only ever resulted in "it getting worse".
It would be indecent to hope for failure, and shameful to stand by and let it happen.
/D.P.
This is one of those moments when the old adage, "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade," applies. It's easy to find fault with the Bush Administration's many failures.
But anger at the many messes they have created won't bring the needed change. Finding a way forward is a responsibility we all share.
Let me explain.
I've long criticised this administration's foreign policy, arguing that its trademarks have been that:
- they neglect a problem when they might have taken action to solve it;
- they let ideology trump reality when they have become engaged; and
- they "spin" when they have failed, or try to change the subject by moving on to another front.
We are seeing all of these trademarks and their consequences playing out this week in the crises in Israel-Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Pakistan.
Past performance
Responding to so many crises at once can be a trying affair for even the most skilled of US administrations. And, given past performance, it is right to be concerned. But, at least in one of these crisis areas, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Bush Administration appears to be promoting a diplomatic initiative. Given seven years of neglect and/or blindness to Palestinians realities, and the lateness of the hour, chances for success may be slim. I'm not optimistic, but still want to be supportive of the effort.
I say this because the consequences of failure can only compound the devastation and trauma experienced by so many innocents.
It was the hubris of ideologues that brought on these crises. Neglect of diplomacy, a victor/vanquished mindset that placed emphasis on force over negotiations and reconciliation, and a failure to recognise the history and social realities in each of the countries in which they meddled - these have brought the region to where it is today.
The Bush Administration's maddening response to the chaos created by their meddling was to label it "the birth pangs of a new Middle East". But to the tens of thousands who have paid the ultimate price, and the millions whose lives and fortunes have been crushed, it was something else.
Nothing good has come from this state of affairs, and prolonging it will only make matters worse.
There is justifiable pique throughout the Middle East, and a deep frustration in the US. But there is too much at stake to let pride, anger, spite, or ideology rule our responses.
I have been critical of the Bush Administration's efforts in the lead-up to Annapolis. Given what is at stake, their performance has not equalled the seriousness of the moment. The meeting has been ill-prepared and is somewhat half-baked. Nevertheless, it is deserving of support on some level. The United Nations, the Arab League, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, and the European Union can each find a role to play, and have decided that the responsible thing to do would be to accept the challenge. If Israeli-Palestinian peace is required for regional movement on other issues as well as in its own right, and it is; and if Lebanese, Palestinian, Iraqi and Pakistani national reconciliation are needed, and they are - then efforts to address them must be pursued, by any and all who can play a role.
Uncomfortable
That is why I salute the Arabs who, despite their misgivings, will come to Annapolis next week. Some will come, simply to lend support to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Others will be there because, after pressing the US to become engaged, they feel uncomfortable disengaging themselves. They will offer aid and political backing - both needed ingredients to success. The burden will then be on the US to do, after Annapolis, what it failed to do before: to press Israel to deliver meaningful concessions in the interests of peace.
This effort may not perfect, but it is the lemons we have been given, and out of which we must make the best we can.
The lives of millions cannot wait 14 months for the outcome of an unpredictable American electoral process. I learned a long time ago that believing "it had to get worse before it got better" only ever resulted in "it getting worse".
It would be indecent to hope for failure, and shameful to stand by and let it happen.
/D.P.
Putin's flawed democracy
Putin's flawed democracy
In a Yekaterinburg university classroom in Russia's snowy northern Urals this week, Grigory Yavlinsky was in full flow. Students listened attentively to his message that President Vladimir Putin was re-creating a one-party state.
The only problem was he should have been giving a different speech.
For six months, Yavlinsky had expected to be keynote speaker at a conference on Russia's declining population being held on the same premises.
The night before, organisers called him to say his presence was not required. As a consolation, he could address an economics class. Such is life for an opposition leader campaigning for Russia's parliamentary elections on December 2 - even one who, unlike some more radical groups, remains within the system of "approved" parties that has emerged under Putin's Kremlin.
It is a life where meetings and appearances can suddenly be cancelled, election leaflets confiscated, or advertising yanked at the last moment. Yavlinsky said his Yabloko party had just had 100 billboards in St Petersburg taken down, apparently after official pressure on the site-owners.
The fiercely intelligent economist seems an unlikely bogeyman for the authorities. He has twice been a presidential candidate, though winning at best 7 per cent of the vote in 1996. He is wittily persuasive in public appearances, but hardly a rabble-rouser.
Meanwhile, splits in the liberal camp, and its associations in the public memory with the depredations of the 1990s shift to a market economy, mean Yabloko will almost certainly not pass the 7 per cent of votes needed under new rules to get into parliament this time.
With Yabloko set to have no representation for the first time since 1993, pollsters say some former supporters are shifting to United Russia, the pro-Kremlin party expected to win 60 per cent-plus, rather than waste their votes.
Mobilised
But such an array of what Russians call "administrative resources", or support from media, law enforcement and officialdom, has been mobilised behind United Russia that even marginal parties like Yabloko say they cannot campaign in peace.
Party aides say Yabloko's banned St Petersburg billboards had already been toned down under official pressure. A veiled swipe at plans by Gazprom, the gas monopoly, to build a controversial skyscraper in the historic city was swapped for the anodyne "A vote for Yabloko is a vote for St Petersburg". Yavlinsky said vehicles carrying its campaign leaflets in the Urals were repeatedly stopped for up to three hours by police who misused their legal right to check the contents.
Yabloko complained to Russia's central electoral commission and interior ministry this week about a series of alleged violations, including pressure on its voters in some areas.
In Russia as elsewhere TV exposure is a potent campaign tool. Yavlinsky managed three TV interviews in Yekaterinburg, Russia's fifth-biggest city, and got on to the air in several other cities. Aides say they tailored his campaign programme to avoid locations where it had been made clear he would not be welcome on TV.
Yet if Yabloko is finding it difficult to get its message across, United Russia, even with Putin heading its candidate list and the lion's share of TV time, seems to be struggling to excite Russians. On Yekaterinburg's streets this week, as many as three in four citizens expressed little interest in the elections.
At the local ESTV station, Elena Savitskaya, editor-in chief, said voter apathy, perhaps a byproduct of the lack of real competition, now seemed the authorities' biggest concern.
/D.P.
In a Yekaterinburg university classroom in Russia's snowy northern Urals this week, Grigory Yavlinsky was in full flow. Students listened attentively to his message that President Vladimir Putin was re-creating a one-party state.
The only problem was he should have been giving a different speech.
For six months, Yavlinsky had expected to be keynote speaker at a conference on Russia's declining population being held on the same premises.
The night before, organisers called him to say his presence was not required. As a consolation, he could address an economics class. Such is life for an opposition leader campaigning for Russia's parliamentary elections on December 2 - even one who, unlike some more radical groups, remains within the system of "approved" parties that has emerged under Putin's Kremlin.
It is a life where meetings and appearances can suddenly be cancelled, election leaflets confiscated, or advertising yanked at the last moment. Yavlinsky said his Yabloko party had just had 100 billboards in St Petersburg taken down, apparently after official pressure on the site-owners.
The fiercely intelligent economist seems an unlikely bogeyman for the authorities. He has twice been a presidential candidate, though winning at best 7 per cent of the vote in 1996. He is wittily persuasive in public appearances, but hardly a rabble-rouser.
Meanwhile, splits in the liberal camp, and its associations in the public memory with the depredations of the 1990s shift to a market economy, mean Yabloko will almost certainly not pass the 7 per cent of votes needed under new rules to get into parliament this time.
With Yabloko set to have no representation for the first time since 1993, pollsters say some former supporters are shifting to United Russia, the pro-Kremlin party expected to win 60 per cent-plus, rather than waste their votes.
Mobilised
But such an array of what Russians call "administrative resources", or support from media, law enforcement and officialdom, has been mobilised behind United Russia that even marginal parties like Yabloko say they cannot campaign in peace.
Party aides say Yabloko's banned St Petersburg billboards had already been toned down under official pressure. A veiled swipe at plans by Gazprom, the gas monopoly, to build a controversial skyscraper in the historic city was swapped for the anodyne "A vote for Yabloko is a vote for St Petersburg". Yavlinsky said vehicles carrying its campaign leaflets in the Urals were repeatedly stopped for up to three hours by police who misused their legal right to check the contents.
Yabloko complained to Russia's central electoral commission and interior ministry this week about a series of alleged violations, including pressure on its voters in some areas.
In Russia as elsewhere TV exposure is a potent campaign tool. Yavlinsky managed three TV interviews in Yekaterinburg, Russia's fifth-biggest city, and got on to the air in several other cities. Aides say they tailored his campaign programme to avoid locations where it had been made clear he would not be welcome on TV.
Yet if Yabloko is finding it difficult to get its message across, United Russia, even with Putin heading its candidate list and the lion's share of TV time, seems to be struggling to excite Russians. On Yekaterinburg's streets this week, as many as three in four citizens expressed little interest in the elections.
At the local ESTV station, Elena Savitskaya, editor-in chief, said voter apathy, perhaps a byproduct of the lack of real competition, now seemed the authorities' biggest concern.
/D.P.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
El. Venizelos Athens International Airport
What do you think of our International Airport?
Have you ever noticed that our International Airport is almost in a sleeping mode between hours 00:00am all the way through 04:00am and sometimes even during noon-hours in weekdays. I strongly believe that the airport is a great barometer of a country's economy-and a busy airport reflects a country that is booming. Greece is certainly not booming but is there a chance to transform Athens to an International Hub? A Hub that will be easily promoted through mandatory night stops from all guest airlines between all transits/transfer flights. - Let the big brains of this country contemplate the Hub's fate now...
/D.P.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Greeks Work Longer Than Other Europeans if not Harder. . .
Greeks work longer hours than their European Union counterparts said a report released by the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO) covering the year 2000.
The EIRO report said that Greeks officially worked 42.3 hours weekly last year but the real figure was considered higher given the tendency of people to under-report their work hours.
The average working hours in Europe during 2000 was estimated at 38.1 slightly down from 38.6 in 1999, due to the extension of the standard 35-hour week in France. The standard work week in Greece was 40 hours in 2000 - reduced to 39 earlier this year.
European countries are divided into two groups, regarding the maximum permitted number of work hours weekly. The first group, with an upper limit of 48 hours, includes Greece, Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the U.K. The second group, where the limit is very near to the standard number includes Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Austria.
/D.P.
The EIRO report said that Greeks officially worked 42.3 hours weekly last year but the real figure was considered higher given the tendency of people to under-report their work hours.
The average working hours in Europe during 2000 was estimated at 38.1 slightly down from 38.6 in 1999, due to the extension of the standard 35-hour week in France. The standard work week in Greece was 40 hours in 2000 - reduced to 39 earlier this year.
European countries are divided into two groups, regarding the maximum permitted number of work hours weekly. The first group, with an upper limit of 48 hours, includes Greece, Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the U.K. The second group, where the limit is very near to the standard number includes Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Austria.
/D.P.
THE KOMBOLOI
The komboloi
A recent popular song used to declare: "I shall throw away my watch and buy a set of worry beads", which is exactly the symbolism of the komboloi. Even today you can see, usually, an elderly man dawdling along the pier, his hands behind his back playing around with the beads. Or men (usually) sitting around the kafenion table, arguing, and playing on their beads with a greater degree of agitation as the argument heats up. These beads are not religious, they are not some kind of Orthodox rosary (though you will see many priests swinging them along as well), they are just a way of passing the time, keeping your hands occupied, which is why in recent time they have been promoted as an excellent way to give up smoking. In recent times also, more and more women have taken up the habit of swinging around a set of worry beads which was never done before, but that is why more sophisticated fashion conscious (even designer?) sets of worry beads are being produced more and more. As to whether they do help give up smoking...? Well, another dismal statistic is that Greek women have started to smoke more than ever before!
/D.P.
A recent popular song used to declare: "I shall throw away my watch and buy a set of worry beads", which is exactly the symbolism of the komboloi. Even today you can see, usually, an elderly man dawdling along the pier, his hands behind his back playing around with the beads. Or men (usually) sitting around the kafenion table, arguing, and playing on their beads with a greater degree of agitation as the argument heats up. These beads are not religious, they are not some kind of Orthodox rosary (though you will see many priests swinging them along as well), they are just a way of passing the time, keeping your hands occupied, which is why in recent time they have been promoted as an excellent way to give up smoking. In recent times also, more and more women have taken up the habit of swinging around a set of worry beads which was never done before, but that is why more sophisticated fashion conscious (even designer?) sets of worry beads are being produced more and more. As to whether they do help give up smoking...? Well, another dismal statistic is that Greek women have started to smoke more than ever before!
/D.P.
THE KAFENION
The kafenion
The English gentleman has his club, the Greek, gentleman and peasant alike, have their kafenion. This is literally the coffee shop but which offers so much more than just coffee. It is of course, the local debating society, where newspapers are read and opinions loudly exchanged. It is also the local "exchange", where business is discussed and deals are made. It is also the gossip exchange center and the source of all rumours, true or false, but perhaps above all, it is a sanctuary, where a man can come and let off steam and unwind. And it is his gaming hall, where he will find people to play cards and, above all tavli with. Whether these are relaxing pursuits or in fact tiring endeavours is a different matter.
/D.P.
The English gentleman has his club, the Greek, gentleman and peasant alike, have their kafenion. This is literally the coffee shop but which offers so much more than just coffee. It is of course, the local debating society, where newspapers are read and opinions loudly exchanged. It is also the local "exchange", where business is discussed and deals are made. It is also the gossip exchange center and the source of all rumours, true or false, but perhaps above all, it is a sanctuary, where a man can come and let off steam and unwind. And it is his gaming hall, where he will find people to play cards and, above all tavli with. Whether these are relaxing pursuits or in fact tiring endeavours is a different matter.
/D.P.
CHINA WORKERS
They have no social or medical insurance, no unemployment or housing benefits,
no trade unions, no education rights for their children, and no written contracts with employers.
They live in monitored and controlled compounds...must beg permission to go outside.
They sleep in crude dormitory rooms of 20 square metres, usually shared with 15 to 20 workers.
They earn as little as $1 for a 12-hour day, far below the supposed minimum wage.
They work for six or seven days a week, sometimes for days and nights without a break...
More than 70 per cent of migrant workers are owed money by their employers
who hire thugs to assault those who demand their wages.
/Dimitris
no trade unions, no education rights for their children, and no written contracts with employers.
They live in monitored and controlled compounds...must beg permission to go outside.
They sleep in crude dormitory rooms of 20 square metres, usually shared with 15 to 20 workers.
They earn as little as $1 for a 12-hour day, far below the supposed minimum wage.
They work for six or seven days a week, sometimes for days and nights without a break...
More than 70 per cent of migrant workers are owed money by their employers
who hire thugs to assault those who demand their wages.
/Dimitris
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Go for a new system of stability
For some time the conventional wisdom about the Middle East has claimed that we are in a restaurant with a two-item menu.
One item is Pax Americana, a balance of power shaped in Washington and imposed by the United States' economic and military power. The other, under the label Pax Iranica, is devised by the radical Khomeinist regime in Tehran.
Without implying moral equivalence between the two, one must note that both emerged in response to a real need: a new system of stability in the region.
With the Khomeinist revolution in Iran, the end of the Cold War, and the collapse of the Taliban in Kabul and the Baathists in Baghdad, the traditional equilibrium shaped over decades was destroyed, leaving in its place instability, chaos and war.
The situation has been further complicated by divisions among the Palestinians, now effectively carved into two mutually hostile camps, and the threat of a new civil war in Lebanon.
The recent diplomatic tour of several European and Middle Eastern nations undertaken by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz and hailed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel as "the emergence of a voice that deserves to be heard all over the world", was designed to convey a different message.
What was the message that seems to have attracted attention in places as far apart as Britain, the Vatican, Germany and Turkey?
The heart of the message consists of two assertions.
The first is that the Middle East is a far more complicated place. The second is that options for evolving a new balance of power in the region are less limited than the choice between Pax Americana and Pax Iranica might suggest.
At a joint press conference with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez in Tehran last week, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed that the attempt to impose a Pax Americana had failed, implying that time was coming for the Pax Iranica.
Tehran and Washington are already engaged in what could be described as a lukewarm war. They are fighting through proxies in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Transcaucasus, Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories among other places. Some analysts even expect the two adversaries to come to direct blows before President George W. Bush leaves the White House in January 2009.
The truth, however, is that neither of the two rivals has what it takes to impose a new status quo in what is the world's most conflict-ridden region.
Despite its economic power and military might, the US is hampered by its internal divisions and evident lack of popular support for any peace-making scheme on the grand scale. Building stability is a long-term job, unsuited to the current American mood of impatience not to say fickleness.
To complicate matters further, there is no evidence that the US could mobilise enough popular forces within the region to back whatever it has to offer. Iran's claim of leadership is equally open to question. Although Tehran has the means to wage low intensity war in many theatres at the same time, it lacks the wherewithal for major conflict for any length of time.
More importantly, perhaps, the Khomeinist ideology has failed to win any significant level of popular support in the region, outside Lebanon.
Lack of ability
The Saudi sovereign's tour reminded many that a majority of the region's states and nations do not wish to be drawn into a Manichaean conflict that could lead to war.
The US maybe the last remaining "superpower" but, alone, it does not have the ability to decide the fate of the Middle East. Iran, for its part, may be a mini "superpower" in terms of the mischief it can make. However, it, too, lacks the staying power required for building empires.
To be stable, any new equilibrium in the greater Middle East would have to reflect the diversity of the region. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, plus Yemen which has drawn closer to them in recent years, could provide one piece of the new jigsaw.
To these must be added other pieces of stability, notably Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Anxious to reclaim its historical role in the region, Turkey would provide another piece.
In time, new Iraq, which seems to have halted its slide into chaos, would also add an important piece as will Afghanistan under its new system. There is even the hope that Pakistan, currently passing through a major crisis, might become a contributor to stability under a new government.
The Saudi sovereign invited his hosts to pay attention to the fact that the forces of moderation still represent the largest constituency throughout the region.
In almost all parts of the region, the politics of moderation, economic development and reform enjoy much wider support than presumed. Every country in the region needs reform, albeit at its own pace and in accordance with its own moral and political potentials. Fear of change would only play into the hands of those preaching a cult of violent rupture.
Despite their obvious shortcomings such structures as the GCC, the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Conference, and the less formal ones such as the Group of Eight Muslim nations, can and must be considered as so many bricks in building a new stability in the region.
At the same time, The European Union, China, India and Russia can, and must, also make their distinct contributions to building a new status quo in a region that is vital to them all.
The Middle East has been called an "Arc of Crisis". Changing its appellation to an "Arc of Peace" cannot be achieved by a single power or "superpower." The mischief of the few might be sufficient to provoke war. To make peace, however, the efforts of the many are needed.
OMAN
Sultan Qaboos waives fees for land
Muscat: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed has exempted disabled citizens from paying fees for plots allotted by the government.
The Royal Grant by the Omani leader was done during Oman’s 37th National Day celebrations on Sunday.
Under the grant, the disabled Omanis have been exempted from the fees payable for the ownership of government land plots granted to them.
The grant exempts the disabled who receive less than 200 Omani riyals per month, while the disabled whose monthly salaries range between 200 and 300 riyals are exempted from 50 per cent of the fees.
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC)
Basic Data
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC)
Member states: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates
Secretary-general:
Abdul-Rahman Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah
Population 32,9 million (2003)
Surface 2,476 million km²
GDP €370 billion (2004)
GDP per capita 11.244 euro
Real GDP 5% growth) 5,7 (2004)
Kingdom of Bahrain
Head of state:
King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, since March 1999
Population 0,77 million (2004 official estimate)
Illiteracy among adults 9,5 % male/ 17,8 % fem.
GDP / real growth rate €9 billion / 5,5 % (2004)
GDP per capita €11.133 (2004)
Surface 695 km2
State of Kuwait (emirate)
Head of state:
Emir Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber since 1977
Population / growth rate 2,6 million / 3,5 % (2004)
Illiteracy among adults 16 % male/ 20.6 % fem.
GDP / real growth rate €42 billion / 7,2 % (2004)
GDP per capita €15.724
Surface 17.818 km
Sultanate of Oman
Head of state:
Sultan Qaboos bin Said al-Said since 1970
Population / growth rate 2.4 million / 3 % (2004)
Illiteracy among adults 20.9 % male/ 40.4 % fem.
GDP / real growth rate € 20 billion euro / 2.5 %
GDP per capita growth rate2 € 8.312
Surface1 212.000 km2
State of Qatar (emirate)
Head of state:
Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani since 1995
Population / growth rate1 0.75 million / 1.8 % (2004)
Illiteracy among adults 19.9 % male/ 17.4 % fem.
GDP / real growth rate €23 billion / 9,9% (2004)
GDP per capita2 €30.235
Surface1 11 km2
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Head of state:
King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, since 2005
Population / growth rate 25 million / 2,4% (2004)
Illiteracy among adults 16.5 % male/ 34.1 % fem.
GDP / real growth rate2 €200 billion / 5,3 % (2004)
GDP per capita2 €8.016
Surface1 2.150.000 km2
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Federation of seven emirates
President of the Supreme Council:
Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan
Population / growth rate1 4,3 million / 5,5 % (2004)
Illiteracy among adults 26.2 % male/ 22 % fem.
GDP / real growth rate €77 billion / 5,7 % (2004)
GDP per capita €17.700 (2004)
Surface 84.000 km2
Sources: DG Trade (statistics), UNDP
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC)
Member states: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates
Secretary-general:
Abdul-Rahman Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah
Population 32,9 million (2003)
Surface 2,476 million km²
GDP €370 billion (2004)
GDP per capita 11.244 euro
Real GDP 5% growth) 5,7 (2004)
Kingdom of Bahrain
Head of state:
King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, since March 1999
Population 0,77 million (2004 official estimate)
Illiteracy among adults 9,5 % male/ 17,8 % fem.
GDP / real growth rate €9 billion / 5,5 % (2004)
GDP per capita €11.133 (2004)
Surface 695 km2
State of Kuwait (emirate)
Head of state:
Emir Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber since 1977
Population / growth rate 2,6 million / 3,5 % (2004)
Illiteracy among adults 16 % male/ 20.6 % fem.
GDP / real growth rate €42 billion / 7,2 % (2004)
GDP per capita €15.724
Surface 17.818 km
Sultanate of Oman
Head of state:
Sultan Qaboos bin Said al-Said since 1970
Population / growth rate 2.4 million / 3 % (2004)
Illiteracy among adults 20.9 % male/ 40.4 % fem.
GDP / real growth rate € 20 billion euro / 2.5 %
GDP per capita growth rate2 € 8.312
Surface1 212.000 km2
State of Qatar (emirate)
Head of state:
Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani since 1995
Population / growth rate1 0.75 million / 1.8 % (2004)
Illiteracy among adults 19.9 % male/ 17.4 % fem.
GDP / real growth rate €23 billion / 9,9% (2004)
GDP per capita2 €30.235
Surface1 11 km2
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Head of state:
King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, since 2005
Population / growth rate 25 million / 2,4% (2004)
Illiteracy among adults 16.5 % male/ 34.1 % fem.
GDP / real growth rate2 €200 billion / 5,3 % (2004)
GDP per capita2 €8.016
Surface1 2.150.000 km2
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Federation of seven emirates
President of the Supreme Council:
Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan
Population / growth rate1 4,3 million / 5,5 % (2004)
Illiteracy among adults 26.2 % male/ 22 % fem.
GDP / real growth rate €77 billion / 5,7 % (2004)
GDP per capita €17.700 (2004)
Surface 84.000 km2
Sources: DG Trade (statistics), UNDP
The Secret to Business Success: Diligence
Everyone enters into self employment for different reasons. It is a tough but rewarding road to travel. There are numerous challenges along the way. If you have ever written a business plan or run a business for a long time, you know there are days that are just plain depressing. Do not lose heart! There is light at the end of the tunnel. In the meantime, you will need a full measure of entrepreneurial strength and diligence.
The Merriam - Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary states that diligence is the attention and care legally expected or required of a person (as a party to a contract)
No doubt you will enter into a number of contracts over the life of your business, so this is an important concept. I have to admit that there are days when I do not ‘feel diligent’ and it is tempting to take a short cut. I have found that the shortcuts are really the longest trips, sometimes.
The above definition states ‘the attention and care legally expected or required’ which infers compliance with a set of standards of corporate behavior. Here is a short list of areas that have an expectation of diligence from business owners:
-Accounting records.
-Paying your taxes.
-Paying your bills.
-Hiring and firing of staff.
-Partners or shareholders.
I am sure that this list is actually much longer; however, the principle is the same. Owning and running a business is an endurance race not a sprint! You have to be in good shape and be willing to work hard.
All of your customers and prospects have expectations of performance. At a minimum they have certain things they require in order to feel they are getting value and being well treated. In my opinion, diligence is always thinking and working in your customer’s best interest. It is always easier to keep a customer’s trust and confidence than it is to try to earn it back after you falter or disappoint.
So how can an entrepreneur be diligent?
Avoid laziness and needless shortcuts.
Improve your skills: be willing to learn what you do not understand or know.
Be accountable: avoid blaming others.
Even when you feel tired or have conflicting priorities always do the right thing.
Invest in people, sow seeds of hard work and honesty.
Be a good manager: would you hire yourself to run your business? If not, shape up and hold yourself to the same standards as you expect of an employee.
Work hard.
The reward is a good nights sleep, satisfaction, pride and the knowledge that you are making a difference by being diligent. You just might be a great mentor or coach for someone else; be open to it!
The Merriam - Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary states that diligence is the attention and care legally expected or required of a person (as a party to a contract)
No doubt you will enter into a number of contracts over the life of your business, so this is an important concept. I have to admit that there are days when I do not ‘feel diligent’ and it is tempting to take a short cut. I have found that the shortcuts are really the longest trips, sometimes.
The above definition states ‘the attention and care legally expected or required’ which infers compliance with a set of standards of corporate behavior. Here is a short list of areas that have an expectation of diligence from business owners:
-Accounting records.
-Paying your taxes.
-Paying your bills.
-Hiring and firing of staff.
-Partners or shareholders.
I am sure that this list is actually much longer; however, the principle is the same. Owning and running a business is an endurance race not a sprint! You have to be in good shape and be willing to work hard.
All of your customers and prospects have expectations of performance. At a minimum they have certain things they require in order to feel they are getting value and being well treated. In my opinion, diligence is always thinking and working in your customer’s best interest. It is always easier to keep a customer’s trust and confidence than it is to try to earn it back after you falter or disappoint.
So how can an entrepreneur be diligent?
Avoid laziness and needless shortcuts.
Improve your skills: be willing to learn what you do not understand or know.
Be accountable: avoid blaming others.
Even when you feel tired or have conflicting priorities always do the right thing.
Invest in people, sow seeds of hard work and honesty.
Be a good manager: would you hire yourself to run your business? If not, shape up and hold yourself to the same standards as you expect of an employee.
Work hard.
The reward is a good nights sleep, satisfaction, pride and the knowledge that you are making a difference by being diligent. You just might be a great mentor or coach for someone else; be open to it!
The Lagoons
Dubai Megaprojects
From a desert oasis to an international metropolis - Dubai has every right to be dubbed the Gulf's most exciting city.The emirate is currently engaged in a multi-billion dollar building phase, which will transform its skyline, add hundreds of kilometres to its beachfront and push development way out into the desert. Click on the links above to find out more about each of the main projects currently taking place in Dubai.
"The Lagoons" project info...
Developer: Sama Dubai
Key dates: Completion: 2010
Size: 95 million square feet
Type: 61% residential; 24% offices; 5% hotels; 5% retail and 6% for community facilities/others
Estimated total population: More than 150,000
Key features: Seven detached islands, plus the Opera House Island
Investment figure: Dh65 billion
Land ownership: Freehold
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Mideast tourism revenues to hit $51b !
Middle East tourism revenues will more than double to $51 billion and visitor arrivals are expected to grow by 66 per cent in four years as the tourism sector continues its strong growth in the region, according to a study.
The UAE will be the second biggest earner of tourism revenues after Saudi Arabia, which is aided by a strong domestic travel sector and pilgrim spending.
Tourism revenue in the Middle East is expected to grow 108 per cent to almost $51 billion and domestic tourism 82 per cent to $24 billion in 2011, said the report on tourism trends, released on the opening day of the four-day World Travel Market exhibition in London (WTM) yesterday.
It forecasts the number of inbound tourists to the Middle East will grow 66 per cent to 55 million by 2011.
Dubai's success in establishing itself as a tourist destination is spurring other countries in the region to invest in diversifying their economies.
Last year, Dubai attracted about 6.5 million tourists, according to Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.
The travel industry should improve efforts to target visitors from within the region and create specific packages that take into account their religious and cultural values, the report prepared by market intelligence firm Euromonitor International said.
That's what happens if you maintain and "feed" your apetite for touristic development in your country. It's just a matter of will.
The UAE will be the second biggest earner of tourism revenues after Saudi Arabia, which is aided by a strong domestic travel sector and pilgrim spending.
Tourism revenue in the Middle East is expected to grow 108 per cent to almost $51 billion and domestic tourism 82 per cent to $24 billion in 2011, said the report on tourism trends, released on the opening day of the four-day World Travel Market exhibition in London (WTM) yesterday.
It forecasts the number of inbound tourists to the Middle East will grow 66 per cent to 55 million by 2011.
Dubai's success in establishing itself as a tourist destination is spurring other countries in the region to invest in diversifying their economies.
Last year, Dubai attracted about 6.5 million tourists, according to Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.
The travel industry should improve efforts to target visitors from within the region and create specific packages that take into account their religious and cultural values, the report prepared by market intelligence firm Euromonitor International said.
That's what happens if you maintain and "feed" your apetite for touristic development in your country. It's just a matter of will.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Let's talk about TRUST
Trust is fundamental to leadership, especially during times fo change and uncertainty. Leaders who have establish trust among their followers are able to direct them with less resistance. On the other hand, it is much riskier to follow a leader that you don't trust when you are in unfamiliar circumstances. Followers go above and beyond the line of duty for leaders they trust. Followers only do what they have to for leaders they do not trust.
You can see now, how valuable is to have a high level of trust throughout an organization? It is a very valuable intangible asset.For me it is part of an organization's "social capital". But it is difficult to gain trust among your organization, or among your team etc.
Several characteristics of a good manager engender trust from the individuals and teams that they lead. Such as...Integrity, Reliability, Caring, Openess, Competence and Loyalty. If you have the above characteristics and if you invest in employees, promote open communiaction, behave in an ethical and socially responsible manner and provide a certain degree of job security, then you have it. It's there and it's all yours! "T-R-U-S-T"-Once you get it you just have to look after it, preserve it and perfom business with the best possible outcomes. It is one of the safest ways to optimize business.
I know that some of you, will ask yourself "is he nuts? what job security is he talking about?"- Well yes. We all know that layoffs breed distrust. Correct?
-We invest a certain amount of our careers, psychological identity and personal lives in the organizations that we work for. Such investment leaves us vulnerable. It may be impossible or unwise for employers to offer employees lifetime employement. Nevertheless, reasonable efforts that need to ensure a degree of job security will promote trust. For the sake of trust, organizations that need to reduce their workforce should consider alternatioves to layoffs even if they are more expensive. Individuals who distrust the people they work with, tend to be less productive because they feel unsupported and alone. In addition, they don't believe what they are told and therefore often do not listen, and they must take time to corroborate what they have been told before they can believe it.
-A major advantage to interpersonal trust is information sharing and collaboration. When people trust that they will be given credit for their ideas and that sensitive information that they share will be kept confidential, they are more inclined to discuss their creative ideas and personal goals as well as personal concerns. Such an open environment is the ideal context for developing innovative ideas and resolving conflicts with "win-win" solutions.
Dimitris Papazisis
You can see now, how valuable is to have a high level of trust throughout an organization? It is a very valuable intangible asset.For me it is part of an organization's "social capital". But it is difficult to gain trust among your organization, or among your team etc.
Several characteristics of a good manager engender trust from the individuals and teams that they lead. Such as...Integrity, Reliability, Caring, Openess, Competence and Loyalty. If you have the above characteristics and if you invest in employees, promote open communiaction, behave in an ethical and socially responsible manner and provide a certain degree of job security, then you have it. It's there and it's all yours! "T-R-U-S-T"-Once you get it you just have to look after it, preserve it and perfom business with the best possible outcomes. It is one of the safest ways to optimize business.
I know that some of you, will ask yourself "is he nuts? what job security is he talking about?"- Well yes. We all know that layoffs breed distrust. Correct?
-We invest a certain amount of our careers, psychological identity and personal lives in the organizations that we work for. Such investment leaves us vulnerable. It may be impossible or unwise for employers to offer employees lifetime employement. Nevertheless, reasonable efforts that need to ensure a degree of job security will promote trust. For the sake of trust, organizations that need to reduce their workforce should consider alternatioves to layoffs even if they are more expensive. Individuals who distrust the people they work with, tend to be less productive because they feel unsupported and alone. In addition, they don't believe what they are told and therefore often do not listen, and they must take time to corroborate what they have been told before they can believe it.
-A major advantage to interpersonal trust is information sharing and collaboration. When people trust that they will be given credit for their ideas and that sensitive information that they share will be kept confidential, they are more inclined to discuss their creative ideas and personal goals as well as personal concerns. Such an open environment is the ideal context for developing innovative ideas and resolving conflicts with "win-win" solutions.
Dimitris Papazisis
Do we realise the cosequences of the Dollar collapse?
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Lately I am doing some serious thinking that, our "friends" (the Americans), had promised to hamper the continuation of the Dollar collapse. The result? Well....and there we go again! Today...the 22nd. of October the exchange rate of the Euro against the USD is.....1.42629 !!! Ho,ho,ho,ho!! Merry Christmas everyone... Don't laugh yet though. In peanut butter and jelley speaking, that means that all the European exporting goods are losing major grounds globally !!! Imagine the cost of the importer...For instance, if a company in the United Arab Emirates, is importing Greek oranges since 2005 at a rate of, $17per ton (p/t) (December 2005 rate was 1Euro=1.18USD), today this importer is facing an enormous dillema. Is he going to continue importing Greek oranges for a new rate of $20.6p/t (Rate 1Euro=1.43USD), or is he going to prefer importing oranges from Lebanon at a rate of $17 p/t and of equal quality? And that is only the beginning. Besides oranges we have to refer to many other goods such as, automobiles, wood, fruits, vegetables, olive oil, steel, water, cement etc. The only positive aspect of that terrible monetary state, is that the Euro currency is stiff enough, therefore it absorbs all the turbulance from the crude oil global raise. Please do consider that, oil reserves are going to face a severe shortage after 2016 in the UAE, Kuwait and KSA. But after all, believe me it is my pleasure to let you do the aftermath all by yourselves. Ciao :)
Lately I am doing some serious thinking that, our "friends" (the Americans), had promised to hamper the continuation of the Dollar collapse. The result? Well....and there we go again! Today...the 22nd. of October the exchange rate of the Euro against the USD is.....1.42629 !!! Ho,ho,ho,ho!! Merry Christmas everyone... Don't laugh yet though. In peanut butter and jelley speaking, that means that all the European exporting goods are losing major grounds globally !!! Imagine the cost of the importer...For instance, if a company in the United Arab Emirates, is importing Greek oranges since 2005 at a rate of, $17per ton (p/t) (December 2005 rate was 1Euro=1.18USD), today this importer is facing an enormous dillema. Is he going to continue importing Greek oranges for a new rate of $20.6p/t (Rate 1Euro=1.43USD), or is he going to prefer importing oranges from Lebanon at a rate of $17 p/t and of equal quality? And that is only the beginning. Besides oranges we have to refer to many other goods such as, automobiles, wood, fruits, vegetables, olive oil, steel, water, cement etc. The only positive aspect of that terrible monetary state, is that the Euro currency is stiff enough, therefore it absorbs all the turbulance from the crude oil global raise. Please do consider that, oil reserves are going to face a severe shortage after 2016 in the UAE, Kuwait and KSA. But after all, believe me it is my pleasure to let you do the aftermath all by yourselves. Ciao :)
Αντίστροφη μέτρηση για το Σκοπιανό
Ωριμάζει η σκέψη για συνομιλίες σε επίπεδο Γ.Γ. Υπουργείων Εξωτερικών.
Η αντίστροφη μέτρηση για την τελική προσπάθεια άρσης του αδιεξόδου στο Σκοπιανό ξεκινά σήμερα από τη Νέα Υόρκη. Ο ειδικός μεσολαβητής του ΟΗΕ, κ. Μάθιου Νίμιτς, αναμένεται να καλέσει τους διαπραγματευτές των δύο πλευρών κ.κ. Αδ. Βασιλάκη και Ν. Ντιμιτρόφ σε συνάντηση την 1η Νοεμβρίου. Σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες, θα πρόκειται για την έναρξη μίας διαδικασίας εντατικών διαπραγματεύσεων σε συγκεκριμένο χρονοδιάγραμμα, η οποία θα καταλήξει σε αναβαθμισμένες συνομιλίες πολιτικού επιπέδου.
Guys...are we playing or are we being "played"?- Give me a break now, will 'ya?
Η αντίστροφη μέτρηση για την τελική προσπάθεια άρσης του αδιεξόδου στο Σκοπιανό ξεκινά σήμερα από τη Νέα Υόρκη. Ο ειδικός μεσολαβητής του ΟΗΕ, κ. Μάθιου Νίμιτς, αναμένεται να καλέσει τους διαπραγματευτές των δύο πλευρών κ.κ. Αδ. Βασιλάκη και Ν. Ντιμιτρόφ σε συνάντηση την 1η Νοεμβρίου. Σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες, θα πρόκειται για την έναρξη μίας διαδικασίας εντατικών διαπραγματεύσεων σε συγκεκριμένο χρονοδιάγραμμα, η οποία θα καταλήξει σε αναβαθμισμένες συνομιλίες πολιτικού επιπέδου.
Guys...are we playing or are we being "played"?- Give me a break now, will 'ya?
UAE non-energy revenue to double by 2012 !
Non-energy revenue to the governments of the UAE could double in the next five years to $49 billion as the oil exporter reaps the returns on its investments, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.
The UAE has been investing its windfall from a quadrupling of oil prices since 2002 in industries ranging from real estate to financial services, while its state-controlled companies and funds are scouring the globe for assets.
The return on such investments will more than double to 97.4 billion dirhams ($26.53 billion) by 2012, accounting for around half the governments' non-energy revenue of 180 billion dirhams ($49.03 billion), the IMF said in its 2007 country report on the world's sixth-largest oil exporter.Oil and gas income will rise 25% in that time to 300 billion dirhams, the IMF said.
The study assumes oil price forecasts ranging from $63.75 per barrel this year to $66 per barrel in 2011. US oil prices hit a record high of more than $90 per barrel last week.
The UAE has been investing its windfall from a quadrupling of oil prices since 2002 in industries ranging from real estate to financial services, while its state-controlled companies and funds are scouring the globe for assets.
The return on such investments will more than double to 97.4 billion dirhams ($26.53 billion) by 2012, accounting for around half the governments' non-energy revenue of 180 billion dirhams ($49.03 billion), the IMF said in its 2007 country report on the world's sixth-largest oil exporter.Oil and gas income will rise 25% in that time to 300 billion dirhams, the IMF said.
The study assumes oil price forecasts ranging from $63.75 per barrel this year to $66 per barrel in 2011. US oil prices hit a record high of more than $90 per barrel last week.
Business Development Tips
Some Business Development Tips
Identify the appropriate market and target the appropriate segments within the market -- Deep pockets; ability to leverage core product from one segment to another without major design/development changes.
Make sure there exists a market problem/pain that currently demands a solution. Is the problem large enough to justify the price of your solution? Is someone with P/L responsibility willing to pay for the solution? Test: Are you able to clearly delineate a value proposition that gets a customer’s attention?
Solve the customers problem, don’t just build cool technology. Value is always in the application of the technology, not technology per se
Have a clear understanding of your value chain. Know who are your partners, competitors, and customers – it isn't always obvious
Understand where you are in the market cycle, from a timing perspective: new technology, competitors entering, segmentation, consolidation, solutions offering, commoditized, etc.
Don’t fight the market and where it is in its life cycle – you will lose
Price based on value of solution, not to undercut competitors. Compete first on functionality, not price. If you truly are the only one solving the customer’s problem, you should be able to price your offering based on value of your product/solution to the customer You compete on price only after the product/solution has become a commodity – end of the life cycle
Techies should never hire sales people; they don’t know what skill-sets and personality traits to look for. Test: If it's someone who is too aggressive and a person techies don't want to hang out with, it's probably a good sales guy
Identify the end user of your product or service before you start thinking about Business Development. Even if you do not sell directly to the end users, you should know as much as possible about them. Don't be fooled by the misconception that your target market is "everybody".
Write a detailed plan of action. Prioritize your opportunities and consider partnering with proven and profitable businesses first. It is very common to see announcements of strategic alliances between companies with so-called "ideas" and not solid business models. Don't invest much time talking to your suppliers or companies you have to pay money to. It is their job to give you the best deal. Always assign a monetary value to the deal before exploring it. Form alliances with companies that will bring you revenue first.
Learn as much as you can about the potential partner and their competitors before you contact them. Determine how your deal can make your partner's company more profitable. That is, list all the ways in which your proposed joint agreement adds value your partner's business. What holes does it fill in your partner's product/service line? How does the deal enhance your partner company's core business? How will your product attract more customers to your partner company's business? How does "doing the deal" brace your partner against the trends of the industry, for which they might otherwise be unprepared?
Identify the personal issues. What are the personalities of the people who will be influential in the decision to sign the agreement? What are their personal motivations? Growth/expansion? Hot buttons? Family? Loyalty and commitment to the company they represent? Business process simplification? Eventual merger/acquisition?
Identify the PR potential of the joint agreement. Why is it hot news? To whom, in particular? How can you leverage these PR possibilities in negotiating the deal? How do they add value to the overall equation? Be careful in announcing so-called "strategic alliances" where only a purchase of equipment or services was made.
To insure that the partnership will successfully evolve, commit the necessary resources to insure that the deal is implemented and periodically evaluated. Set guidelines and performance metrics as part of the deal. Involve senior management in every step of the way. Assign a single point of accountability for the deal.
Business development is much more than simply going to trade shows and being a wheeler dealer. Business development is hard work and you must stay focused on the long term. Hopefully the above tips will help you whether you are experienced in biz dev or if the role of business development was thrust upon you due to layoffs, firings or other factors.
-COMMON MISTAKES BY SMALL TO MEDIUM-SIZED COMPANIES
For a sound company able to withstand competitors, business development never stops but is an ongoing process.
Small to medium-sized companies often do not establish procedures for business development, instead relying on their existing contacts. Other times they assume that because they know people in high places that their business development problems are solved and that somehow new business will come to them. The ramifications of such thinking can be significant in the event they are unable to leverage those relationships, which very often are personal or weak. Then they will have no new business in the pipeline.
Identify the appropriate market and target the appropriate segments within the market -- Deep pockets; ability to leverage core product from one segment to another without major design/development changes.
Make sure there exists a market problem/pain that currently demands a solution. Is the problem large enough to justify the price of your solution? Is someone with P/L responsibility willing to pay for the solution? Test: Are you able to clearly delineate a value proposition that gets a customer’s attention?
Solve the customers problem, don’t just build cool technology. Value is always in the application of the technology, not technology per se
Have a clear understanding of your value chain. Know who are your partners, competitors, and customers – it isn't always obvious
Understand where you are in the market cycle, from a timing perspective: new technology, competitors entering, segmentation, consolidation, solutions offering, commoditized, etc.
Don’t fight the market and where it is in its life cycle – you will lose
Price based on value of solution, not to undercut competitors. Compete first on functionality, not price. If you truly are the only one solving the customer’s problem, you should be able to price your offering based on value of your product/solution to the customer You compete on price only after the product/solution has become a commodity – end of the life cycle
Techies should never hire sales people; they don’t know what skill-sets and personality traits to look for. Test: If it's someone who is too aggressive and a person techies don't want to hang out with, it's probably a good sales guy
Identify the end user of your product or service before you start thinking about Business Development. Even if you do not sell directly to the end users, you should know as much as possible about them. Don't be fooled by the misconception that your target market is "everybody".
Write a detailed plan of action. Prioritize your opportunities and consider partnering with proven and profitable businesses first. It is very common to see announcements of strategic alliances between companies with so-called "ideas" and not solid business models. Don't invest much time talking to your suppliers or companies you have to pay money to. It is their job to give you the best deal. Always assign a monetary value to the deal before exploring it. Form alliances with companies that will bring you revenue first.
Learn as much as you can about the potential partner and their competitors before you contact them. Determine how your deal can make your partner's company more profitable. That is, list all the ways in which your proposed joint agreement adds value your partner's business. What holes does it fill in your partner's product/service line? How does the deal enhance your partner company's core business? How will your product attract more customers to your partner company's business? How does "doing the deal" brace your partner against the trends of the industry, for which they might otherwise be unprepared?
Identify the personal issues. What are the personalities of the people who will be influential in the decision to sign the agreement? What are their personal motivations? Growth/expansion? Hot buttons? Family? Loyalty and commitment to the company they represent? Business process simplification? Eventual merger/acquisition?
Identify the PR potential of the joint agreement. Why is it hot news? To whom, in particular? How can you leverage these PR possibilities in negotiating the deal? How do they add value to the overall equation? Be careful in announcing so-called "strategic alliances" where only a purchase of equipment or services was made.
To insure that the partnership will successfully evolve, commit the necessary resources to insure that the deal is implemented and periodically evaluated. Set guidelines and performance metrics as part of the deal. Involve senior management in every step of the way. Assign a single point of accountability for the deal.
Business development is much more than simply going to trade shows and being a wheeler dealer. Business development is hard work and you must stay focused on the long term. Hopefully the above tips will help you whether you are experienced in biz dev or if the role of business development was thrust upon you due to layoffs, firings or other factors.
-COMMON MISTAKES BY SMALL TO MEDIUM-SIZED COMPANIES
For a sound company able to withstand competitors, business development never stops but is an ongoing process.
Small to medium-sized companies often do not establish procedures for business development, instead relying on their existing contacts. Other times they assume that because they know people in high places that their business development problems are solved and that somehow new business will come to them. The ramifications of such thinking can be significant in the event they are unable to leverage those relationships, which very often are personal or weak. Then they will have no new business in the pipeline.
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