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Read the latest news from around the Middle East Africa region.
Deals Stagnate in the Middle East
Foreign investments into the Middle East's hotels largely dried up during the COVID-19 pandemic, and HNN's Terence Baker reports the region is expected to continue to see more outbound than inbound investment.
Speaking at the Arabian & African Hospitality Investment Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Amr El Nady, head of hotels and hospitality, Middle East and Africa, and executive vice president of the global hotel desk for JLL, said the region continues to be driven by regional development.
“The Middle East has always been a net exporter of capital, although the last big deal was the Ritz London. Overall, Middle East capital sees itself competing in a very competitive market,” he said, referring to the approximately 800 million pounds sterling ($1.1 billion) Ritz London deal by an unnamed Qatari buyer in March 2020.
Saudi Arabia's Economic Growth Picks Up Pace
The Saudi Arabian economy grew at its fastest pace in seven years in September, pushing growth for businesses not attached to oil, Bloomberg reports.
IHS Markit's Purchasing Manager's Index grew to 58.6 from 54.1 last month, which marks the largest month-to-month gain on record.
“After two successive falls, the latest reading showed that the economic recovery has stamina, and the relaxation of pandemic measures will release new waves of demand,” David Owen, economist at IHS Markit, told the news outlet. Still, output prices “rose only slightly in September, reflecting firms’ worries that they could be priced out of a competitive market. Overall cost pressures have remained modest so far but could intensify if raw material price rises spill over to more parts of the economy.”
Israel Looking To Once Again Lead the Way on Vaccines
After setting the pace globally in the initial COVID-19 vaccine push, officials in Israel are now among the first to make a widespread effort to offer vaccine boosters, and the Wall Street Journal reports millions of doses were administered "within hours" of the boosters being approved.
Israeli officials decided to push the boosters after seeing the efficacy of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine wane over time.
"They were also willing to act quickly when they saw that data, among other things suggesting to extend the vaccine to younger teenagers and to adopt a Covid passport system to persuade holdouts to get their shots if they wish to visit cinemas, restaurants or other entertainment sites," the newspaper reported.