Webremix Articles

Kenya: Firms See Opportunity, Risk in Rapid Urbanisation

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:24:59 GMT

Producers of consumer goods were on Wednesday scouring the just released census results for new market opportunities or major shifts in demand for specific goods and services with the changing demographics.

Frelimo Appeals for Calm

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:25:04 GMT

The ruling Frelimo party on Wednesday launched an appeal for people to remain calm, after a serious outbreak of violence left at least three people dead and dozens injured. Rioting broke out in protest at the recent price rises of water, energy, bread and other consumer goods.

Mozambique: Vandalism By Protestors in Benfica

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:23:00 GMT

Protestors angry at the rising prices of water, electricity, bread and other consumer goods on Wednesday morning attacked the food distribution warehouse "Sasseka" and an office of the electricity company Electricidade de Mocambique (EDM) in the neighbourhood of Benfica, in the outskirts on Maputo.

Panasonic shows 1080p 3D Blu-ray home theater systems

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:50:00 GMT

Panasonic today showed off its first 108p 3D Blu-ray home theater systems, including the SC-BTT750 and SC-BTT350. Each is Viera Cast-compatible and allows access to Netflix, Amazon VOD, YouTube, Picasa, Bloomberg TV, weather and other services. The BTT750 has a Wi-Fi adapter while a DY-WL10 adapter needs to be purchased separately for the BTT350....

Electronics - Home Theater - Business - Consumer Goods and Services - Arts

Booming Africa: An Opportunity for Europe

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:29:15 GMT

With the 2010 FIFA World Cup well over, the international sports spotlight has moved on, from South Africa to other tournaments in other lands. Still, European companies and investors should keep their eyes on Africa because competition in commerce is heating up across the continent.

A new report from the McKinsey Global Institute shows that Africa is now among the fastest-growing economic regions in the world, creating significant business opportunities in a wide range of industries. Early entrants onto the field can seize the advantage.

Africa's collective gross domestic product rose at a 4.9 percent annual rate from 2000 through 2008, twice the pace of the preceding two decades. In our report, Lions on the Move: The Progress and Potential of African Economies, we show that this growth surge was broadly based, with roots extending far beyond the global commodities boom.

Looking ahead, we project that at least four groups of industries on the continent could together generate as much as $2.6 trillion in annual revenue by 2020, or $1 trillion more than today, measured in 2010 dollars. The biggest business opportunity of the four lies in consumer goods and services, followed by natural resources, agriculture, and infrastructure.

These projections reflect Africa's recent economic advances and strong long-term prospects. The continent's combined economic output, valued at $1.6 trillion in 2008, is now roughly equal to Brazil's or Russia's. Several factors suggest that this economic momentum can be sustained.

A Surge of Peace and Economic Reform

To start, Africa's growth acceleration was widespread, with GDP rising more rapidly in 27 of its 30 largest economies -- both in countries with significant resource exports and those without. Rising revenues from oil, minerals, and other natural resources accounted for just 24 percent of growth from 2000 through 2008. All the other sectors contributed as well, including finance, retail, agriculture,...

Urban women catch shopping fever: Survey

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 01:37:28 GMT

Urban Chinese women are spending more and saving less as they poured 63 percent of their incomes into consumer goods ranging from clothes to cosmetics last year, a poll has found. Also, women saved only 24 percent of their incomes last year, according to the survey released on Tuesday by the Women of China magazine. By contrast, in 2006, urban Chinese women spent only 30 percent of their incomes on consumer goods and saved 55 percent. The survey showed that urban Chinese wom ...

WATCH: Could This Be the Next Snuggie?

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:59:02 GMT

The Snazzy Napper offers a fashionable twist on the popular Snuggie.

Snazzy Napper - Business - Consumer Goods and Services - Recreation - Arts

WTO Tells Europe to Can Tech Tariffs

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:53:00 GMT

The World Trade Organization in Geneva has told the European Union to lift its tariffs on flat-panel displays, multi-function scan-fax-copy printers and TV set-top boxes that deliver the Internet. They violate the WTO’s 1996 Information Technology Agreement (ITA). The EU continues to resist, claiming they’re merely gussied-up consumer goods, not an innovation tax on truly high-tech goods. It has 60 days to appeal. The EU imports upwards of $11 billion worth of the stuff and charges a 6%-14% tariff to the consternation of Taiwan, Japan and American companies like HP and Dell. The three countries filed a case against the EU two years ago.

Cartier Calibre Watch With Diamonds Hands-On

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:01:00 GMT

If the standard Cartier Calibre watch (new for 2010) that has an in-house made movement isn't enough for you - and the gold version is also not enough for you - I am pretty sure I have the watch for you. This is the diamond studded, solid 18k rose gold version of the very attractive Cartier Calibre watch. For more on the Cartier Calibre watch itself, read more here .

Cartier always uses high-quality diamonds, and it shows with the large, good color diamonds on the bezel - and the massive diamond set into the crown. The rounder cut diamonds on the bezel each display a very good sheen and sparkle, and are set quite nicely. You can see the image of the diamond in the crown in the gallery below. Otherwise the watch is the same Calibre in rose gold - but this one is for the diamond lovers out there. Plus, given the good looks of the watch itself, and the tasteful arrangement of the stones, I would not consider this to be a "blingy" watch. Pretty much as tasteful as "solid gold with diamonds" gets. Price is $43,400 - and production is likely limited.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: Cartier Calibre Diamonds watch

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Cartier Calibre Watch With Diamonds Hands-On originally appeared on Luxist on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Diamond - Jewelry - Gold - Cartier SA - Consumer Goods and Services

WATCH: Must Have Tech Gadgets

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:54:11 GMT

Katie Linendoll shares her top summer tech products.

Business and Economy - Shopping - Gadgets - Business - Consumer Goods and Services

P&G promises 'full court press' in China

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:05:46 GMT

The world's largest consumer goods company Procter & Gamble Co (P&G) said that it plans to invest at least $1 billion in China over the next five years, in an effort to strengthen both its manufacturing and research and development capabilities. Bob McDonald, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of P&G told China Daily on Wednesday that "China is P&G's second-largest consumer market in the world following the United States, but per capita consumption is still far less than that o ...

Sustainability in the B2B World

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 03:37:51 GMT

Method. Whole Foods. Stonyfield Farms. These well-knownA consumer goodsA brands roll off the tip of the tongue when you think - sustainability.' However,A consumer goods companies aren't the only businesses that benefit from a focus on sustainability.

Indian stocks open flat

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:52:57 GMT

Indian main stock index Sensex opened at 18,169.80 points Monday, 2.77 points higher from previous close of 18,167.03 points, on slowdown of Japanese economy. The index gained 16.47 points or 0.09 percent after 53 minutes of trading in the morning session. Consumer durables, realty and fast moving consumer goods sectors gained 0.9 percent, 0.78 percent and 0.64 percent, respectively. Indian copper maker Sterlite Industries, Tata Steel, consumer goods producer Hindustan Unilever grew 1.6 ...

Bertolucci Bella Costa Casual Chic Sport Two Time Zone Watch

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:02:00 GMT

Bertolucci is a brand that continually provides me with things to write about. Whether it is a cool new watch, or a watch with a dial that reminds me of so many things (read about that here ). New this month is the Bertolucci Bella Costa Casual Chic Sport collection, and it comes in a few styles. My favorite is this two time zone model that has a small subsidiary dial for the second time zone. Really neatly integrated, and legible in orange. There is also a PVD black version with a black dial that is also available. Never straight forward in appearance, the watch plays with asymmetry that is symmetrical. The bezel is thicker on one side than the other, and is balanced out by the same treatment for the flange ring, and the Arabic numeral hour indicator ring. Interesting right?

The case is 41mm wide in steel, with brushed and polished surfaces. The bezel and inner links on the bracelet are in PVD black. The all black version of the watch is in... all PVD black. Dial is sapphire and domed with a good amount of AR coating for legibility. The dial is textured and done well. There is something almost Dali-esque to the look in my opinion. Inside the watch is a Swiss Ronda 4210.B quartz movement with two time dials and a big date indicator. If you really want to splurge, you can get the all black version with a diamond studded bezel. Overall this new Bella Costa Sport collection is fun, and useful, and should be available soon.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Bertolucci Bella Costa Casual Chic Sport Two Time Zone Watch originally appeared on Luxist on Sun, 15 Aug 2010 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Watch - Watches - Jewelry - Consumer Goods and Services - Business

Bellroy Wallets, It's All In the Details

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 20:01:00 GMT

Bellroy has a different approach than some to the idea of luxury : they think it's less about flash and bling and more about quality and perfectly designed function. They're a small company that for the time being is almost exclusively focused on men's wallets in an attempt to "improve the way we carry." Bellroy's line of wallets is made with thoughtful details like thinner leather for reduced bulk and strategically designed pocket and tab options for uber-convenient stashing of cards and cash. They have something for everyone, from the super sleek and efficient "Very Small Wallet " to the portfolio-sized "Take Out Wallet " and everything in between. $60-$130

Via Acquire

Filed under: Men's Style

Bellroy Wallets, It's All In the Details originally appeared on Luxist on Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leather - Wallet - Clothing - Business - Consumer Goods and Services

Eurozone industrial production down 0.1% in June

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 22:12:56 GMT

Industrial production in the eurozone dropped 0.1 percent in June, compared with the previous month, European Union (EU) statistics bureau Eurostat said Thursday. It was the first decrease after three months of rises. In May, industrial production in the 16 EU nations that use the euro increased by 1.1 percent, according to revised figures. In June, production of durable consumer goods in the eurozone dropped 0.9 percent on a monthly basis. Intermediate goods decreased 0.6 percent. Non-dur ...

U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to $49.9B in June

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:48:24 GMT

(AP) The U.S. trade deficit surged in June to the highest level since October 2008 and imports of foreign consumer goods hit an all-time high. But U.S. exports faltered, representing a setback for Ame...

"Mules" stretch limits of U.S. trade embargo on Cuba

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:38:14 GMT

She is describing the tactics of growing numbers of human "mules" who regularly travel between the United States and Cuba carrying in their bags loads of clothes, food, consumer goods, electrical appl...

"Mules" stretch limits of U.S. trade embargo on Cuba

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:38:14 GMT

"Mules" stretch limits of U.S. trade embargo on Cuba

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:38:14 GMT

U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to $49.9B in June

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 20:44:49 GMT

Govt cannot fix ruined economy

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:57:19 GMT

(Pictured: Food stuffs and many consumer goods are now available in most urban areas but are often unaffordable for the person-on-the-street) The National Economic Council, a think-tank that was supp...

Trade Deficit Widens As Exports Fall

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 13:02:00 GMT

The U.S. trade deficit surged 18.8 percent in June to $49.9 billion, the highest level since October 2008 and imports of foreign consumer goods hit an all-time high. But U.S. exports faltered, representing a setback for American manufacturers. Economists had forecast a smaller trade gap because of lower global oil prices.

Trade Deficit Widens As Exports Fall

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 13:02:00 GMT

Top Chinese products featured at China Brand Show 2010

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 04:58:54 GMT

Top-quality light manufactured products and consumer goods have been on display at the China Brand Show 2010 held in Las Vegas since Sunday, as part of China's bid to further enhance the profiles of Chinese-made products and promote closer Sino-U.S. trade and economic relations. Co-hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), and the Zhejiang and Fujian Provincial Governments, the exhibition is being held from Aug. 8 through Aug. 11. It has been staged in the United States for seven y ...

TABLE-Seiko -6-month group forecast

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 06:55:50 GMT

Seiko Corp is a maker of bottling machines and packaging plants. For latest earnings estimates made by Toyo Keizai, please double click on 6286.TK1. Cyclical Consumer Goods Reuters on Facebook Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, ...

Week in Review: Enterprise Collaboration Is Not Easy in Next Gen Enterprise 2.0

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 16:43:49 GMT

This week, we kicked off a theme focused on enterprise collaboration. With more exploration of the topic to come throughout August, let’s look at this week’s highlights:

Collaboration – If it Were That Easy We Would all Do It – Well. If collaboration sounds daunting, you are right. But there are ways to put a framework around your assessment.
Enterprise Collaboration: It’s About the Culture, Stupid. If we understand the importance of collaboration, then why do organizations have such a difficult time fostering it?
Collaborative Culture, or the Real Enterprise 2.0. The "real" Enterprise 2.0 is not a technology or marketing plan, but the reinvention of the enterprise itself.
Perspectives: How CMS Fits in an Enterprise Collaboration Environment. Let’s have a look at how to approach enterprise collaboration when thinking about a new Web CMS or Enterprise CMS implementation.
When Should Management Push Enterprise 2.0 Adoption? In considering adoption, we have the push strategy (by management), and the pull strategy (viral, organically spreads).
What Buyers of Enterprise 2.0 Solutions Need to Consider Before Making a Purchase. Large and small organizations display stereotypical differences in the way they handle process change.
Three Things to Consider in Your Enterprise Collaboration Strategy. A solid collaboration strategy encompasses 3 key things.

And in other industry news:

Editor’s Picks

Perspectives: What the Adobe + Day Software Deal Means, Part 2. A flurry of reactions, speculations and pontifications later, we’re having a second look at the Adobe + Day deal (Part 1 is here) and it’s impact on the industry.
Are Open Source Applications Really Less Secure? Ever wonder how secure your open source web application really is? Security company Qualys has a tool called BlindElephant that can tell you, and they have run some tests.
Goodbye Google Wave, Hello Facebook Killer? You heard it right! Google Wave, the collaboration/communication platform that was once postulated to be the Second Coming of e-mail, is getting the ax.
Have a Sneak Peek at SDL Tridion 2011. A community technology preview (CTP) of the upcoming SDL Tridion 2011 leaks of what it has improved upon and added are starting to surface.
When Web Content Management Systems Go Social. Despite the fear of being thrown rotten tomatoes at, here’s a new acronym: sCMS, which stands for social CMS.
Forrester: You’re Not Ready for the Cloud. A new report from Forrester Research says that most companies aren’t yet ready for the cloud.
Weceem: A Groovy Web CMS on Grails. Looking for a CMS that’s just a little bit different, why not give the latest version of open source Weceem, a new upcoming Grails-powered CMS a go.

Unilever Sales Miss Estimates on Slow Europe

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:33:00 GMT

Unilever, the world’s second-largest consumer-goods maker, reported revenue growth that missed analysts’ estimates as sales slumped in Western Europe and said commodity prices will rise in the second half.

Unilever Warns on Outlook

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:43:24 GMT

Consumer-goods company Unilever said it expects economic growth to remain slow in its Western markets, and warned that tough competition will hamper price increases.

Unilever pricing disappoints as profit rises 40%

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:45:43 GMT

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Consumer goods firm Unilever reported a 40% jump in second-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders Thursday, though the results still disappointed investors as lower sa...

Unilever Expects Growth To Slow And Prices To Rise

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:44:21 GMT

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Consumer goods company Unilever PLC (UN, UL) met expectations with second-quarter sales and profit growth Thursday but said it expects economic growth to remain slow in the second...

WATCH: Spirit Airlines: New Fees to Fly

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 06:26:52 GMT

Spirit Airlines now charges for checked and carry-on bags, and customer service.

Spirit Airlines - Business - Airline - Consumer Goods and Services - Luggage and Bags

WATCH: Himes Defends Stimulus Until 'Day I Die'

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:21:53 GMT

Congresman James Himes D-CT., talks about Congress and fiscal dicipline on "Top Line."

Business - Recreation - Consumer Goods and Services - Congress - Religion and Spirituality

South Africa: India's Titan Has Colossal Job to Sell Watches

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 07:58:26 GMT

IN THE consumer goods trade brands are titanic. They are big and they are strong. Sales ride high on them and sales fall when a brand stumbles.

Fred Segal Fun Debuts G-Bike and G-Bike Chopper

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:01:00 GMT

The new G-Bike at Fred Segal Fun lives up to the "Fun" brand moniker in a number of unexpected ways.

Firstly, there are the colors; this snazzy scooter-bicycle hybrid is available in the above yellow, a grassy green , dark blue, red, sleek black and white and several other shades, with new hues being developed all the time (or, for a premium, you can design your own). Also, like a hybrid should be, the G-Bike is an eco-friendly , zero-emissions vehicle.

This fully electric scooter-bike can run up to 20 miles per hour for 35 miles per charge (which takes four to eight hours). It's well-suited to students and professionals in urban environments -- people who could walk, but are too awesome to do so. Best of all, you don't need a license to drive it or a registration to have it. Additional features include removable pedals, a remote control alarm, brakes, rear-view mirrors, a horn and ample storage space for books , a work bag, groceries , shopping bags or whatever you have.

The G-Bike is available from the Fred Segal Fun store in Santa Monica (310-394-9814) for $1,100. Check out some of the other colors and the stylish G-Bike Chopper (a more bicycle-like motor-bicycle) in the gallery below.

Gallery: G-Bike Electric Bicycles Available at Fred Segal Fun

Filed under: Gadgets, Green, Men's Style

Fred Segal Fun Debuts G-Bike and G-Bike Chopper originally appeared on Luxist on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bicycle - Cycling - Business - Consumer Goods and Services - Sporting Goods

What has changed What's the impact

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:18:53 GMT

GAZA July 27 (Reuters) - Israel is allowing Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to import consumer goods and raw materials banned until recently under an embargo imposed on the territory for more than f...

What has changed What's the impact

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:18:53 GMT

Greek airports back to normal, but shortages of basic goods reported (2)

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:42:58 GMT

Greek drivers are seen queuing up to two kilometers at some petrol stations, hoping to fill up their vehicles. Truckers are also seen refusing to transport basic consumer goods, such as milk, to Greek islands which have been affected more severely. Threatening to continue "until the end", they argue that the reform represents a major blow to them, as they will lose almost two thirds of the value of the licenses they bought for up to 300,000 euros (390,000 U.S. dollars). On the other han ...

Arab Oil, a Blessing and a Curse

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:41:42 GMT

By Hasan Afif El-Hasan

While important transformations are taking place within the thinly populated oil producing Arab states (APC) due to their wealth, the capital-hungry nonoil producing Arab states are barely managing to feed their populations. The APC states invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the West and too little in the Arab nonoil states. And they are not using their political and economic influence with the industrialized nations to support a just solution to the Palestinian issue. Oil producing countries failed or refused to utilize oil as a strategic commodity for political advantage to back up the Palestinian cause. The 1973 Arab oil embargo supports the view that dependency on oil as the only industry and no national economic diversification limits the Arab states individually and collectively from exerting sustained political pressures on the oil users. When the APC spokesman coined the expression “oil and politics do not mix”, he meant that exploiting the oil as a weapon would very likely harm their own economies and they were not willing to sacrifice.

Only in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Arab oil-producing countries used oil as an instrument of economic and diplomatic pressure on the West for a while. They decided to reduce their oil output and imposed embargoes on oil shipments to the US, Holland, Portugal and South Africa to force a change in their policy toward the Israeli occupation of Arab lands. They demanded a total withdrawal of Israel’s military from all Arab territory occupied in the 1967 war and the restoration of the Palestinian’s rights. President Nixon proclaimed the US full support of Israel and granted Israel $2.2 billion in additional military assistance as a response to the Arab demands. The commitment of the Arab oil-producing countries to achieve political goals has faltered and lost credibility. They scaled down their demands in a December 8 of 1973 resolution by asking for only that the US guaranteed a promised phased Israeli withdrawal from the lands occupied in 1967. Then in March 1974, they decided to lift the embargo indefinitely without accomplishing any of their declared demands. Neither Israeli withdrawal nor restoration of Palestinian rights was achieved.

Arab oil-producing countries stood by and watched in 2008 when the Palestinians had been crying for help while Israeli tanks and jets destroyed Gaza Strip killing and injuring thousands. They promised billions of dollars to reconstruct Gaza but nothing has been forthcoming.

The industrial countries demand for Arab oil has increased significantly since 1973 and the US political and military actions in the Middle East suggest that oil has become a major factor in its policy formation. The US has strengthened its military, political and economic influence in its oil-producing protectorates and allies and created false pretexts to wage war against oil-rich Iraq in 2003. At the same time, the US has been strengthening Israel, its strategic ally and its military policeman in the region.

The discovery of oil has the effect of inaugurating the era of modern Arab economic and political dependency on the West, protectionism, the colonizing of Palestine, the Jihadists and the wars that took the lives of millions and de-stabilized the region. Oil is viewed by the West as a strategic commodity, and control of such a resource should not be left to the governments of the oil producing countries. The wars and interventions waged and the establishment of Israel by the West in the Middle East has been to establish themselves as the principle power to control the oil-rich region.

If Iraq and the Gulf region had no oil, the history and the geography of the region east of the Mediterranean would have been different. The dream of Sharif Hussein Ibn Ali of Mecca to establish one Arab kingdom in the Arab parts of Asia would have better chance to be materialized and Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan and the Emirates would have been one country. And Egypt would have been a prosperous industrialized country rather than dependant on remittances from the Gulf States and foreign aid from the West.

Since the end of World War I and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, the European imperial powers dominated all aspects of the Arab world including its political institutions and recast the role of its economies to be dependent on the colonial masters. Britain that had controlled Egypt since 1882 and converted the Gulf region into a British protectorate, extended its control to Palestine, Iraq and Trans-Jordan; then Britain planted the State of Israel in the Arab lands.

The strategic interest in the petroleum reserves in the Gulf and Mosul areas and the transportation of their oil through pipelines to the Mediterranean must have played an important role in the British policies to divide the area and create Israel. To meet the need for oil to run the newly installed combustion engines of the Royal Navy ships, “the British government formed a special committee, the Petroleum Imperial Policy Committee in 1918 to draw a plan for securing control of adequate world oil resources”, according to the historian Marian Kent. The plan that was later on implemented included the Balfour Declaration and building a modern port in Haifa with a large oil refinery to process the pumped oil from Iraq through the pipeline and facilities to export the refined oil to Britain. They believed then that the whole area east of the Mediterranean was floating on a vast pool of oil.

The politics of the big powers toward the Middle East since the twentieth century have always been for oil. For almost 100 years, the British, then the US, have declared wars, dispatched navy armadas, stationed troops, created, installed and supported friendly states and regimes and toppled others to secure the region’s oil.

Threat to oil sources by Iran nationalism in the 1950s and since the establishment of its Islamic Republic, and Iraq under Saddam Hussein in the 1990s brought the two Middle East states into conflict with the US. The false pretexts used by the US and Britain to wage war against Iraq in 2003 suggests that oil was the only reason behind the decision to invade it. Iraq had large reserves of oil and “the US was afraid that Saddam, who looked upon himself as the defender of the Arab political order, would control OPEC and turn it into a bona fide well-disciplined cartel.”

With the rising demand for the Arab only commodity by the international community, Arab countries became peripheries for the industrial countries which buy their crude oil and defend their national boundaries and territorial integrity. Middle East oil has undermined Arab independence, created a consuming culture of imported luxury goods, limited the economies of the Arab oil producing countries and their neighboring Arab states, and undermined their political and social development.

Oil created the APC political economy of dependency; it rendered them as a market for the military-industrial complex weapons that gave them false feeling of security. US officials declared in many occasions that military equipment sales to the Gulf States and even to Egypt “serve the interest of Israel and the US”. Arab nations that bought fighter airplanes had to abide by certain conditions that compromise their sovereignty over their own territories regarding the positioning and operation of the fighters. The US has the option of not providing spare parts should the buyers ignore the US stipulation, according to Abbas Alnasrawi. The AWACS intelligence-gathering airplanes that Saudi Arabia bought in the 1980s for six billion dollars had to be operated only by US personnel.

Another problem the Arab countries have to contend with in the post-oil-discovery period is the lack of industrial economy. A sustained competitive industrial development in the Arab world has lagged behind other developing countries. The most striking example is Egypt which had been the most developed Arab country since the nineteenth century. Forced peacetime industrialization in Egypt started in the first half of the nineteenth century when Muhammed Ali, the titular ruler of Egypt, tried to establish it as a powerful industrialized European-style state. Egypt had a college of engineering in early nineteenth century long time before India had a technical college, and Cairo University was officially established in 1908.

Industrialization is not a goal by itself, but it is a means for development that produces quality products demanded by the public at competitive price, provides employment to the work force and the necessary research facilities to continue productivity improvement. It requires planning, capital, trained labor, managerial skills, domestic and foreign markets, diversification as a means of compensating for the spent assets, and political stability for long-term industrial planning and for creating conditions conducive to attracting foreign investment.

The generations that governed Arab countries in the second-half of the last century were influenced by Pan-Arab nationalism, oil and the establishment of Israel. The alliance between middle class socialists and military officers in Egypt, Syria and Iraq adopted the development of Third World socialist policies and the Soviet Union management style where the inefficient public sector rather than the private sector was entrusted to accomplish their goals. It produced import substitute products that were sold locally and exported only to the Communist Block countries. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Arab products lost their markets in the Eastern block and could not establish markets in the West due to generally inferior quality of their goods. Arab regimes in these countries have rejected communism but failed to embrace real free-market economy in their major industries. Even the renowned Egyptian textile industry could not compete with the European and Japanese imports. Arab states failed to reform their industries including the agribusiness to meet the growing demand for food by their own people because of the structural constraints that had been inherited from their former centralized economy. Arab states are known for their cumbersome bureaucracy which controls many sectors of society and obstructs change and development.

The existing economic system in the Arab states can hardly be described as a real capitalist. The actual investment in the nonoil producing states has been mostly for importing consumer goods including those sought by the returning expatriates, commissions and accumulating profit by few rather than productive enterprises that may contribute to any tangible industrialization effort. The lack of sound management led to the spread of corruption and increased the gap between the rich and the poor.

If all Arab countries were considered collectively as one integrated economic base with population that exceeds 200 million and area larger than the US, their substantial needs for long-term development investment can be met by the oil revenues of the thinly populated states. Nonoil producing countries that rely on industry, agriculture and services have more diversified economies and manpower than those of oil-producing countries. Saudi Arabia failed to diversify by inviting foreign firms with experience in high technology to establish projects in the kingdom. The problem they faced was lack of Saudi labor force. They would have to depend on foreign labor, and with the high standards of living in Saudi Arabia due to the oil economy, using foreign labor would be too costly to develop competitive products. The salaries and the cost of accommodating foreign skilled and middle management personnel are outrageously high.

The oil economy attracted millions of skilled and unskilled workers from other Arab countries to attend to service and bureaucratic jobs that the indigenous natives do not have the skills or the desire to perform. The magnitude of the worker migration from nonoil states to the APC has significant impact on their economies. The migrants include teachers, medical doctors, engineers, architects, lab technicians, nurses, administrators, gardeners, machine operators, cooks, domestics and nannies. Egypt is an example. More than three million Egyptians have been employed in the APC countries at any time since 1973 except during the official censure of Egypt in the 1980s. Their remittances have become a major component of the Egyptian GNP, but the brain drain due to the migration of the millions of teachers, physicians and engineers means loss to Egypt’s human resources.

The complete dependency of the APC on the oil revenue and the increased derivative dependency of the nonoil countries on repatriates’ remittances from the oil states have precluded both groups from developing strong diversified economies.

Egyptian, Syrian, Jordanian, Lebanese and Sudanese engineers and architects helped building Gulf States cities, the most modern cities in the world, while the declining infrastructures in their countries need renovation and modernization. Their agronomists developed desert farming and irrigation in the Gulf States but they never had the opportunity to reclaim lands back home in their states. Thousands of Arab technical experts who were trained and excelled in the West and could not find market for their skills in Cairo, Damascus, Amman, Beirut or Jeddah are working in Canada, Texas, Washington State and California Silicon Valley high tech industry.

The flow of the remittances established a culture of consumption that demands products which cannot be supplied by the local economy. The migrant workers have been exposed to higher standards of living in the host countries and tried to maintain the same pattern of luxury consumption when returning back to their own countries. This meant more demand for more imported consumer durable and nondurable goods which impacted their countries’ foreign trade balance of payment, increased the external debt and worsened their economic conditions.

The APC overseas investment in the form of fixed interest bonds, direct investment in industry and property, portfolio investments, bank deposits in the oil consuming Western countries has become the destination for the APC surplus capital. The concentration of the petrodollar investment in the West forced the APC to have limited control over their wealth. During the US painful 1980-1986 recession, “the OPEC countries combined oil revenue declined from $287 billion to $77 billion.” Oil price dropped in 1991-92 and 2008 recessions. The 2008 financial meltdown caused by US banks deceptively mortgage investment has cost the APC economy untold billions of dollars.

The dependency on oil by both oil and nonoil producing countries led the Arabs to neglect the industrial and agricultural sectors, and became increasingly dependent in their growth, stability, defense and national causes on the policies of the US and Western Europe. It is the curse of the Arab-oil and the mismanagement of the Arab elites!

- Hasan Afif El-Hasan, Ph.D. is a political analyst. His latest book, Is the Two-State Solution Already Dead? (Algora Publishing, New York), now available on Amazon.com. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

ITC to invest Rs 23,000 crore

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:50:00 GMT

The investment would be mainly in three fastest growing sectors -- hospitality, consumer goods and paper.

ITC lines up Rs 23K cr investment plan

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:26:39 GMT

Tobacco-to-hotels major ITC Ltd has lined up a whopping Rs 23,000-crore investment plan for the next 7-10 years to scale up its fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), paper, paperboards & packaging and hospitality businesses.

Containers set for shipping, unloading in Montreal port

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:22:08 GMT

Containers full of consumer goods are set to be unloaded and others to be readied for shipping on Saturday when the lockout at the Port of Montreal is expected to end.

Containers set for shipping, unloading in Montreal port

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:22:08 GMT

Containers full of consumer goods are set to be unloaded and others to be readied for shipping on Saturday when the lockout at the Port of Montreal is expected to end.

Egyptian Steel Wall Cut by Gaza Smugglers

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:16:32 GMT

The underground steel wall that Egypt is building along the border with the Gaza Strip, is being cut by Gaza smugglers who sneak consumer goods, cash, and weapons into the blockaded Hamas-run territor...

Egyptian Steel Wall Cut by Gaza Smugglers

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:16:32 GMT

'Hundreds' of tunnels cut through Egyptian border wall

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:50:12 GMT

Last Updated: July 22. 2010 9:34PM UAE / July 22. 2010 5:34PM GMT RAFAH, GAZA STRIP // The smugglers who sneak consumer goods, cash and weapons into the blockaded Gaza Strip have cut hundreds of holes...

'Hundreds' of tunnels cut through Egyptian border wall

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:50:12 GMT

'Hundreds' of tunnels cut through Egyptian border wall

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:49:18 GMT

'Hundreds' of tunnels cut through Egyptian border wall

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:49:18 GMT

Gaza smugglers cut underground Egyptian steel wall

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:51:08 GMT

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) - The smugglers who sneak consumer goods, cash and weapons into the blockaded Gaza Strip have cut hundreds of holes in an underground steel wall Egypt is building along the bord...