Economic Development

A Common Wealth: Building Gulf-CIS ties

February 16, 2016

Middle East

February 16, 2016

Middle East
Melanie Noronha

Principal, Policy & insights

Melanie is a principal at Economist Impact. She has over ten years of experience delivering consulting and thought leadership projects to public, private and not-for-profit organisations. Based in Dubai, she leads the Middle East and Africa team on research across a range of sectors including food sustainability, recycling, renewable energy, fintech, trade and supply chains. She is a specialist in advanced recycling technologies and international trade. She is a seasoned moderator, having chaired numerous panel discussions and presented Economist Impact's research at global in-person and virtual conferences.

Before joining The Economist Group, she was a senior analyst at MEED Insight, a research and consulting firm serving Middle East and North Africa. At MEED, she developed expertise in bespoke market studies and financial modelling across a range of sectors spanning construction, finance, power and water, oil and gas, and renewable energy. She held previous posts at the Office of the Chief Economist at the Dubai International Financial Centre and at the San Francisco Center for Economic Development. Melanie has an MSc in International Strategy and Economics from the University of St Andrews and a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

Contact

“A Common Wealth: Building Gulf-CIS ties” is an Economist Intelligence Unit report, commissioned by Dubai Chamber. It examines trade and investment between the Gulf countries and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and maps the existing and potential role of Gulf-based investors in the CIS region. The findings are based on desk research and interviews with experts, conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit.

Key findings include:
 
- In recent years there has been an uptick in high-level diplomatic visits in both directions, as well as legislative alignment in the form of treaties on investment protection and double-taxation agreements. Key bilateral pairings for trade and investment include the UAE and Russia, Abu Dhabi and Kazakhstan, Dubai and Turkmenistan, and Qatar and Tajikistan
- Gulf transport and logistics companies, particularly low-cost airlines, are playing a vital role as regional connectors
- The development of a north-south trade corridor should facilitate more physical trade. Opportunities for greater trade exist in agriculture—primarily wheat—and aerospace and defence
- Gulf firms are engaged in the hospitality, retail and real-estate sectors in the CIS. This includes direct project investments from
public- and private-sector companies as well as co-investment from the Gulf’s sovereign wealth funds
- Sizable opportunities may emerge in the coming years with privatisation programmes in the CIS, particularly in Kazakhstan and
Russia.
- While the economic slowdown in the region has reduced the number of CIS tourists in the Gulf, it has increased migration. Fewer job prospects in their home countries have led some CIS migrants to turn to the Gulf states, where the currency is pegged to the US dollar, in search of better economic opportunities
- The CIS is undergoing an expansion in Islamic finance. Gulf banks have been involved primarily in an advisory capacity, but new entrants will need to take a long view of their investments
 

Enjoy in-depth insights and expert analysis - subscribe to our Perspectives newsletter, delivered every week