Technology

Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) has doubled the maximum value of Letters of Credit it allocates to the private banking sector in Iraq. Last year alone, 945 Letters of Credit were allocated to private banks, at a value of approximately US$500mn. The total number allocated to private banks by TBI is 2,446, at a value of about US$3 billion.

Syrias Prime Minister Muhammad Naji Otri has called upon Arab investors to invest in Syria and help create an Arab economic bloc capable of competing with other economic blocs and confronting the challenges posed by globalisation.

DAIMLER IS TO divest its 30 per cent stake in an engine company in Iran as part of a wider review of links to the country. The German carmakers chief executive, Dieter Zetsche, said Tehrans political policies were behind the move.

Islamic finance has emerged relatively unscathed from the global economic crisis but there is a need for tighter regulations and higher standards.