I'm working on some projects that require financing from the Middle East. It's undoubtedly more challenging than before to raise finance in that part of the world, as this article that was published on August 16, 2017 in Arabia Inc confirms.

Working capital metrics for firms have been weakening each quarter beginning from the fourth quarter of 2014.

The crash in oil prices and subsequent economic pressures have impacted the working capital performance for companies big and large, according to accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

If, like me, you’re wondering what is going to happen to US President Donald Trump, I was more convinced than ever that Trump could be impeached, sooner rather than later.

A few weeks ago I was listening to a talk by a former Professor of political science and international relations at the University of Delaware and he anticipated that Trump will hang on until the second half of his term in office. This is because it takes a long time to get the legal issues in place if impeachment is to happen. And enough Republicans votes would have been gathered to make impeachment possible.

I read this article about advice from top journalists that was published in the Columbia Journalism Review with interest. All had worked in America and were giving an American perspective. That’s fair enough. What is not, is for all readers to feel that they are failing if they do not obtain the source material to start with.

While it’s relatively straightforward to get information from Europe, or even Australia or New Zealand, as well as the US, it is not always easy in the Middle East, which does not have a culture of transparency or corporate governance. Most important, is that there is no Companies House. Moreover, few people in any of the Arab Gulf countries, Iraq or Egypt, or the rest of North Africa, will talk to the press, meaning that it is necessary to go through a press office. This all makes the job of being a journalist so much tougher.

For any body in Christchurch who wants to go to an art exhibition please go on 25 August.

17 August 2017: Two Christchurch artists are exhibiting their work from Friday 25 August until August 31, at Next Gallery in Christchurch. It will be an exhibition of portraiture, but with a difference.

Self-portraits by at least 80 participants will be on display, many by Fine Art students from Banaras Hindu University.  Consequently, it will be a kind of dialogue between New Zealand and Asia and will highlight the differences in gender and culture between the two regions and communities. Over time, the exhibition will include other countries, with the intention of encouraging further dialogue between communities.

I was amused to read this article in the the UK’s Daily Mail today. Billionaire? When I interviewed Hussein Sajwani a few years ago, he was still CEO of Damac, the Middle East’s largest private developer, but certainly not a billionaire. I also understand that at that time, the property developer had had some financial problems, and the Dubai Government helped out. Damac has always been a property developer that was too big to fail. Imagine what damage could be done to Dubai’s reputation.

When I was back in Dubai recently, Damac was advertising Trump villas, as well as his golf course. Clearly, local investors are not investing as Damac would have hoped so it is now looking further afield for investors.

This press release came across my desk today. It shows that the NZ Super Fund is reducing its investment in firms emitting greenhouse gases. Perhaps other funds around the world will follow.

NZ Super Fund shifts passive equities to low-carbon

Like many people. I've thought of self publishing. Somehow, it didn't appeal. Maybe it was because Penguin, which was part of Pearson, was in the same building in London. I think I'm now converted; I'm sure self-publishing is the way to go. Here are the reasons why.

Not so long ago, there weren’t many resources available that would enable an author to self-publish their writing. As the technology emerged, so did a stigma. It was thought that you only self-published if your book wasn’t good enough to be picked up by a publishing house.

There’s been a great deal of talk about fires recently- the Grenfell Tower in Kensington Borough, London and now the appropriately named Torch Tower in Dubai.

I know the building well, since I passed it most days and it was down the road from our office. Not an outstanding building, just a tall one.  And one where the rental price was high- fully furnished, good facilities (but that’s the norm in Dubai)- which was about 20,000 dirhams a month (USD 5,400 a month) for rent. Some of the people have moved back in, according to reports.

It was the second time it had caught alight within two years. It’s the external cladding that is to blame evidently. I interviewed the CEO

I came to documentary making from a journalistic background. This is a little unusual because most people come to it from a cinema-graphic background. I learned about videoing, sort up, about what cameras work, and what cameras don’t, mic-ing up, and editing- at least from a voyeuristic perspective.

 Briefly, I returned from the Middle East in February 2014, where I was head of a news service in Middle East and Africa. I knew that part of the world far better than I knew any other, so I wanted to produce something that used my knowledge of that area. That was difficult, not only because of the censorship laws operating in the region, which would have meant not filming there, but, as I found it later, any documentary had to be based in New Zealand and have a NZ perspective.

 I continue to argue that the feud between Qatar and the other Gulf Arab States- mainly the UAE and Saudi- is economic rather than political. The fact that Qatar is wealthier than either Saudi or the UAE, because of gas, and that it has worked hard to carve out a foreign policy that is distinct from the other Gulf countries- it has been accused of punching above its weight- has not gone down well with Saudi or the UAE.

All of these countries can be accused of either encouraging or supporting terrorist groups at some point, to some extent. It’s a well known secret that a number of the world leaders have ended up in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.

This article has been written as part of a research project that I'm undertaking on behalf of and in conjunction with the Canterbury Refugee Resettlement and Resource Centre (CRRRC). The research will come out in September. 

A case study of UNWRA working with Palestinian refugees

Between reading about the pros and cons of Brexit and the political intrigue at the West Wing it’s hard to know what’s more interesting. As far as I’m concerned, they both are. This time though I’ll stick to a survey about President Trump that came out four days ago. Even though the article focuses on the negative- that is only 27% of Americans think that Trump will serve a full term- the positive, from a Trump perspective, is that 27% of Americans think he will serve the full term.

I’ve spent a lot of time following, and writing, about private equity. It was especially important to do this when I was focused on mergers and acquisitions in the Middle East. Now that I’m back in New Zealand I follow what is going on here, although the market is necessarily much smaller. Below is an update on New Zealand’s Super Fund, NZ’s sovereign wealth fund, and how it has performed on the world stage.

Increasingly, we're hearing about the importance of personal branding. It shapes who we are and how other people see us, supposedly. It's hard finding a personal brand. But now we are told that we are better not to have a personal brand. People do not have a brand, says Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook. This is what she said, as recorded by the BBC.

I’m always intrigued to read about foreigners getting into trouble in Dubai. It must be easy to think that the emirate is so “Western”. On the surface, it is. Go beneath it, it is not.

 This article about an unmarried couple having consensual sex in the UAE is shocking by Western standards. It is true. The UAE has strict laws. But it’s not nearly as cut and dry as this story might suggest.

 In the first instance, the couple did not have sex in Dubai; it was Sharjah, an adjoining emirate, which has adopted Saudi rules. There is no way anybody would have allowed any hanky panky there.

Perhaps an unintended consequence of the row between Qatar and Saudi Arabia (and its allies) is the impact on the animals. Sheep and camels owned by Qataris are grazing on Saudi land, an area known as the Empty Quarter. It is the largest contiguous stand desert in the world. Qatar officials estimate that 15,000 camels and 10,000 sheep have already crossed the border. Some animals are dying, getting stuck at the border between the two countries where there is insufficient food and drink, according to the UK’s The Telegraph.

The diplomatic row between Qatar and Saudi Arabia and its allies, such as the UAE, shows no signs of abating. The latest story to come out is that the UAE is accused of hacking Qatar state media, an accusation that the UAE obviously denies.

Having been a journalist in the region for 8.5 years, I am fully aware that neither country is known for its propensity to be kind to journalists, and governments of both countries are prepared to become involved in the editorial process.

It is likely that this diplomatic argument is not only about “terrorism”. All countries involved are accused of that. It could be about money too; who has the most and will it continue? The falling oil price is not helping; meanwhile liquified petroleum gas (LPG) prices upon which Qatar is reliant are remaining steady.

The falling price of oil is not good for GCC economies, but this can’t be any real surprise? The question now is how this problem is going to be resolved in a region where there has been little attempt to diversify the economies?

Dubai, which has never been an oil-producing emirate, started to diversify earlier than other countries in the region. In this respect, the emirate has been very successful. Logistics is now the driving force behind the Dubai economy; tourism is probably number two. However, the emirate is still dependent on Abu Dhabi for its oil revenue.

There’s a lot of talk at the moment about how media and PR impact on brand, particularly politicians. Even though this study doesn’t look at politicians, the study can be translated to other fields. A recent study shows how it might be.

Measuring the Impact of PR on Consumer Brand Perception