Nakilat has been conferred with the ‘Ship Operator’ award and ‘The Hutchison Ports Environment’ award at the Lloyd’s List Middle East & Indian Subcontinent Awards 2016 held recently in Dubai.
Nakilat said the awards recognise the company’s “outstanding contribution” towards reducing its environmental footprint through implementation of green technologies onboard its LNG vessels, as well as its successful fleet expansion amidst challenging market conditions and ability to deliver value to its shareholders through prudent long-term strategies and agreements. 
Held annually, the Lloyd’s List Middle East & Indian Subcontinent Awards is one of the most prestigious awards in the shipping industry, recognising companies and individuals that have demonstrated outstanding achievements over the past year.  
Nakilat managing director Abdullah Fadhalah al-Sulaiti said: “As a leading company transporting LNG, we have a responsibility not only to ensure the safe working environment for our staff but also to the environment we operate in, which is in line with our corporate responsibility derived from Qatar National Vision 2030. This achievement serves as a great motivation for us as we embark on consolidating a fully-fledged ship operation for our wholly-owned vessels. 
“We are honoured to be in receipt of these two prestigious awards and be recognised for the hard work, dedication, and effort put in by our team, as well as the excellent co-operation and support by our partners. This is testament that the organisation is moving in the right direction of achieving our vision to be a global leader and provider of choice for energy transportation and maritime services.”
Taking a holistic and proactive approach towards sustainable development, Nakilat has successfully carried out the world’s first MEGI (Main Engine Gas Injection) conversion and BWTS (Ballast Water Treatment System) installation onboard its LNG carriers. 
In addition, a large majority of vessels in Nakilat’s fleet have been certified with the ‘Green Award’ as a testament to their clean and safe operating systems. The company has consistently delivered value to its shareholders despite challenging market conditions, and upheld excellent safety standards across its fleet to high customer satisfaction.





Redesigned QFC website offers easy access to
information


The Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) yesterday launched its newly redesigned website qfc.qa, offering improved layout that facilitates a straightforward and attractive user journey.
The compelling design and the optimised restructuring provide an engaging experience that directs users to vital information about setting up at the QFC with minimal clicks.
“We were driven and focused on creating a more user-friendly and inviting platform, one that provides easy access to information with minimal effort. With the redesign, visitors can obtain key information about the QFC and Qatar simply from accessing the landing page,” Yousef Fakhroo, QFC’s chief Marketing and Corporate Communications officer.
The website also integrates new components such as an enhanced public register that’s dynamic and user-friendly and a detailed enquiry page that connects users with the concerned department. Other new features include a section for QFC firms to share their success stories, news and updates.
“This launch is further proof of our commitment to offer the highest level of service to companies looking to expand to Qatar and the Middle East. Our new platform will enable us to complement QFC’s world-class infrastructure with innovative user-friendly technology,” Fakhroo said.


Fakhroo: Focused.


Have emerging economies geared up for Fed’s monetary tightening?


By Dr R Seetharaman




According to the IMF in October this year, China’s growth outlook is at 6.6% for 2016 and 6.2% for 2017 respectively. Chinese economy steadied in the third quarter, clocking in 6.7% growth fuelled by easy credit and other stimulus measures.
Chinese leaders have been sounding upbeat recently whose performance is on track to achieve the government’s annual growth target of 6.5% or higher. Inflation rose to 2.1% in October, which marked a six-month high.
India’s economy continued to recover strongly, benefiting from a large improvement in the terms of trade, effective policy actions, and stronger external buffers, which have helped boost sentiment. India’s growth was expected at 7.6% for 2016 and 2017 respectively. The growth in second quarter of fiscal year 2016-2017 was at 7.3%.
A sizeable dent is likely to the growth in the final two quarters of fiscal 2017, led by a sharp drop in consumption as a result of the government’s attempts to crack down on undeclared income and counterfeit notes. The pain may be short term; however, in the long term it is good for the economy.
Consumer prices rose 4.2% from a year earlier in October 2016. The Reserve Bank of India surprisingly kept the rates on hold this month ahead of the Fed meeting.
Brazil’s economy remains in recession. The 2016 recession is now projected to be a contraction of 3.3%, with a return to positive growth in 2017 of 0.5%. Brazil’s prolonged economic recession deepened in the third quarter amid political turmoil. Gross domestic product shrank 0.8% from the second quarter, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of contraction. Brazil Inflation fell in October to a 20-month low of 7.9%.
Russia’s economy is now projected to be at (-) 0.8% and 1.1% for 2016 and 2017 respectively. The Russian economy shrank 0.4% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2016. Russia’s inflation fell in October to 6.1%.
The South African economy is expected to grow by 0.1% in 2016 and 0.8% in 2017 respectively. The South African economy advanced 0.7% year-on-year in the September quarter of 2016, on increase in finance and real estates activities, construction and transport and communication offset a decline in the agriculture, mining and manufacturing. South Africa inflation was at 6.4% in 2016.
The Chinese yuan was at 6.9080 against the US dollar by the end of last week and has weakened by more than 6% YTD. Yuan as weakening as the US dollar strengthens on the back of rising interest rates. The Indian rupee was at 67.4175 against the US dollar by end of last week and has weakened by close to 2% YTD.
The Russian rouble was at 62.4636 against the US dollar by end of last week and has strengthened by close to 14% YTD. The revival in oil prices had contributed to recovery in rouble, however, in recent times the pressure on oil prices impacted the rouble.
The Brazil real was at 3.38 against the US dollar by the end of last week and has strengthened by close to 14% YTD. Brazil’s real strengthened as commodity prices recovered a bit and concerns of the government’s fiscal deficit eased.
The South Africa rand was 13.796 against the US dollar by end of last week and strengthened by more than 10% YTD on account of drop in current account deficit in South Africa.The Indian bond market had witnessed issues worth close to $66bn this year as against more than $71bn in the previous year.
The Chinese bond market had witnessed bond issues worth more than $1,278bn this year as against more than $1,196bn in the previous year.
The Russia bond market had witnessed bond issues worth more than $49bn this year as against more than $38bn in the previous year.
The Brazil bond market had witnessed bond issues worth close to $12bn this year, as against more than $21bn in the previous year.
The South Africa bond market had witnessed issues more than $11bn this year as against close to $10bn in the previous year.
The Russian stock market had surged by more than 43% YTD on recovery in oil prices.
The China stock market is down by more than 8% YTD on concerns of slowdown in the economy.
Brazil’s stock market is up by more than 39% YTD as concerns of economy have eased.
India’s stock market is up by close to 4% YTD on hopes of the passage of GST and a revival in monsoon.
South Africa stock market is flat YTD. Market participants, including the emerging economies, seem to have factored in a 25 basis point rate hike when the Fed meets this week. It is expected that the central bank will increase the rates.
However, we need to watch more closely the commentary that the Fed will provide and any indications of its stance on the rate hike trajectory, going forward.
We also need to see how emerging economies are geared up for further rate hikes by the Fed in 2017. 


n Dr R Seetharaman is Group CEO of Doha Bank.