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Corruption: Eating at the Fabric of Afghan Society

The total cost of corruption in Afghanistan has significantly increased over the past three years to $3.9 billion, according to a United Nations survey released this month, which says that in spite of fewer people paying bribes, the practice is

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Banque Misr Liban: Committed to Excellence in Service Poised for Strong and Sound Future Growth

A number of factors help Banque Misr Liban to stand out in Lebanon’s relatively crowded and competitive banking sector. It is one of Lebanon’s oldest banks as it was established in 1929 and ranks number 3 on the official historical

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CFI.co Meets Dr. Naseer Shahir Homoud

Born in 1963 at Irbid, Jordan, Naseer Shahir Homoud is a multi-dimensional personality – primarily a real estate developer but also well known as an author and philanthropist. A dentist by training, Dr. Homoud has made significant contributions in many

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Rethinking Economic Growth in Arab Societies

After decades of skewed development policies, social injustice, and poorly managed economic liberalization, Arab countries must rethink their growth strategies, says a United Nations report released on February 5th, stressing the need for improved governance to achieve progress. The report,

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CFI.co Meets Hisham Alrayes

Hisham Alrayes has been Acting Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Finance House since April 2012. He is responsible for overlooking the overall performance of the Bank, setting the Bank’s strategic direction, management of the Bank’s assets and liabilities, and managing

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Global FDI Recovery Stalls in 2012

Macroeconomic fragility and policy uncertainty for investors has led to an 18 per cent decline in global foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows last year, to an estimated $1.3 trillion, the United Nations said in a new report released on January

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IFC Study: Obstacles to Growth and Job Creation

A new study by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, finds that much-needed jobs in developing countries can be created at a faster rate if policy makers and development institutions make it a priority to remove the key obstacles to

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Unleashing the Economic Potential of the Maghreb – the Role of Foreign Investment

Excerpts of a speech given by Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund at a conference in Mauritania in January, 2013 We meet in the wake of the great Arab Awakening, that outbreak of social consciousness in which citizens from

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UN Downgrades Economic Forecasts for 2013/14

World economic growth has weakened considerably during 2012 and is expected to remain subdued in the coming two years, according to a United Nations report in late December, which calls for policy changes to spur growth and tackle the jobs

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Replacing Aid with Trade

Modern India, boasting its own space programme spends 70 billion pounds annually in fighting poverty and no longer needs British aid. Earlier this year, finance minister Mukherjee described Britain’s eight year, 1.6 billion pounds programme as ‘a peanut’. This peanut

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