Posts Tagged ‘foreign investment’

Foreign Business Flees Egypt

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

cars-burnt-cairo.jpg
credit: Tom_El_Runi

The people have taken over the streets in Egypt and demanded change… but the change they’re getting is a military presence and a complete shutdown of Internet and mobile networks. What will all of this mean for the country’s economy?

  • Foreign companies are evacuating employees and shutting down plants in Cairo and around Egypt. They’re losing money every day, buy no one is sure when they’ll reopen.
  • Moody’s – a credit rating agency that tells investors which companies and countries seem safe to invest in – downgraded Egyptian bonds by 1 notch and changed its official country outlook to “negative.”
  • In response to the crisis, the price of oil went up – not because Egypt is an oil producer, but because it controls an important canal that bring Middle Eastern oil to the rest of the world.

Facts & Figures

  • Some of the companies evacuating Cairo: GM, Google, Coca-Cola, Heineken, Unilever, Citigroup, HSBC, Nestle
  • One of Google’s local marketing employees has been missing since the protests began

Best Quote

“The safety of our employees is our primary concern and we are taking all necessary measures to ensure everyone’s safety.” – Kenth Kaerhoeg, Spokesman for Coca-Cola

What do you think?

Did you know there were so many American companies with offices in Egypt? Do you think businesses have an obligation to stick around in countries where they earn money?

China Is The Biggest Buyer Of U.S. Treasury Bonds

Monday, October 18th, 2010

When you hear about the U.S. budget deficit, do you think about bond holders in China? Maybe you should…

  • For the second month in a row, the Chinese government is the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury bonds – bonds issued and backed by the U.S. government.
  • A report called TIC (“Treasury International Capital”) tracks sales of American securities to foreign buyers. It’s one way of seeing how easily the U.S. government can attract foreign investors when it needs to raise cash.
  • In the rank of foreign holders of U.S. Treasury bonds, Japan comes in right behind China.

Facts & Figures

  • China’s Treasury bond holdings total $868.4 billion.
  • Japan’s holdings total $836.6 billion.
  • In August, private foreign investors bought $85.5 billion in Treasurys. In July they purchased $21.4 billion.

Iranian Investment In Iraq…

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Complex financial and social connections make it nearly impossible for Iranians to extricate themselves from the quagmire that is Iraq.

  • Iran’s government supports firms with a huge stake in the pilgrimage industry, as well as those that renovate and maintain Shi’ite shrines in Iraq.
  • Shamsa, a private Iranian firm, chooses which Iraqi companies to utilize for the pilgrims’ transportation, protection, and accommodation; nearly all these firms are connected with political parties close to Iran.
  • Iranian pilgrims are well-received for their economic support to the shrine-cities. However, many suspect the Iranian government of meddling with Iraqi internal politics.

Facts & Figures

  • In 2005, Iraq agreed to allow entry to 5,000 Iranian pilgrims per day.
  • Karbala receives millions of pilgrims each year, but the city’s hotels have a maximum capacity of only 23,000.
  • Al Kawthar, an Iranian company, is part of a $100 million project to renovate the historic city center of Karbala.

Best Quote

“We are Arabs, we will not accept to be colonized by anyone. We do not take orders from the Iranians.” — Mr Ali al-Hayawi, a hotel owner in Karbala