Special Reports

Global art sales saw a decline of 4% last year, totaling around $65 billion, as ultra-wealthy buyers exercised more caution, revealed the Art Market Report released by Swiss bank UBS on Thursday, October 24. The UBS wealth management team, which advises clients on art acquisitions but refrains from classifying these...

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a key financial hub across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA), has revealed plans for the second edition of the Future Sustainability Forum. Set for December 4-5, 2024, at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai, the event aims to promote sustainable practices and facilitate...

The Office for North Africa of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) recently concluded a two-day high-level policy dialogue in Rabat, Morocco, focused on strengthening small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across the region. The event marked the culmination of a two-year initiative led by the ECA Office for North Africa,...

Global public debt is projected to surpass $100 trillion this year, with the debt-to-GDP ratio expected to approach 100% by the end of the decade, surpassing the levels seen during the pandemic. This warning was delivered by Vítor Gaspar, Director of the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department, during a briefing in...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has upheld its growth forecast for India, projecting a 7% expansion for FY25 and maintaining its estimate of 6.5% for FY26. These predictions were outlined in the IMF's latest "World Economic Outlook" report. This 7% growth estimate marks a slight improvement of 0.2 percentage points...

The New Development Bank (NDB) is set to intensify its support for economic development in emerging economies while tackling critical challenges like climate change, according to its president, Dilma Rousseff. She emphasized that the bank’s growing membership will further enhance its capacity to foster progress. Rousseff, speaking after receiving China’s...

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has published its latest annual report, Review of Maritime Transport 2024, which sheds light on the significant challenges poorer nations face in meeting their shipping needs. According to the report, disruptions fueled by climate change and geopolitical tensions are severely affecting...

The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), in collaboration with Everlaw, a cloud-based litigation and investigation platform, has released a new report highlighting the transformative impact of Generative AI (GenAI) on corporate legal departments. Titled "GenAI and Future Corporate Legal Work: How Ready Are In-house Teams?," the report explores the rapid...

Environmental leaders from nearly 200 countries have gathered in Colombia to review the progress on global commitments to halt and reverse nature loss. The two-week United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP16), which began on Monday, follows the 2022 Montreal meetings, where 196 countries signed the ambitious Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework aimed...

Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in Southeast Asia is growing rapidly but remains concentrated in tertiary industries such as finance, construction, and real estate, particularly in less-developed economies like Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. A recent study by Guanie Lim and Chengwei Xu, published on 10 September 2024, suggests that China’s...