Turkey lifts veil on unemployment data, revealing bigger army of jobless A new, broader set of labor statistics has exposed a big gap between Turkey’s official unemployment rate and the actual joblessness in the crisis-hit country. Turkey
Rights group criticizes Jordan over debt imprisonment Human Rights Watch has highlighted the plight of poor Jordanians imprisoned for failing to pay back loans taken out to meet basic needs. Jordan
COVID accelerates evolution of Gulf economies The economic policy response to COVID-19 is an acceleration of specific trends already underway across the Gulf Cooperation Council members, variously affecting tax policy, labor market regulation and immigration policy. Saudi Arabia
Iran receives COVID-19 vaccine from Cuba Iran enjoys warm relations with the Latin American state and the two countries are also developing a coronavirus vaccine together. Iran
Egypt terror attacks fail to scare investors The Revolutionary Punishment Movement claimed responsibility for bombing banks that participated in the Egypt Economic Development Conference on March 13-15, in what seems to be a failed attempt at crippling investments in Egypt. Egypt
Imported goods crowd out local production in Iraq Flooded with imported goods, the Iraqi market is grappling with a serious lack of local products, due to the displacement of farmers, lack in government control and almost absent support for the domestic industry. Iraq
Iranian vendor dies after setting himself on fire Iranian activists are questioning why the self-immolation of a fruit vendor in Iran did not lead to mass protests. Regional
Egypt hopes economic conference will yield results Egypt's economic conference in Sharm el-Sheikh was considered a success in terms of agreements to foster Egypt’s economy, but some projects will only be implemented in the long run. Egypt
Growing mushrooms in Gaza Many families of the Gaza Strip have lost their conventional breadwinners, pushing women to tap into mushroom cultivation as a vital alternative. Palestine
Khamenei calls for greater domestic production In his New Year's speech, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, the Iranian supreme leader, urges greater national economic cooperation and says the country needs more domestic capacity building as part as being an "economy of resistance." Iran
Is there an Egyptian cotton conspiracy? Amid arguments chalking it up to global conspiracies and others to poor government management, Egypt’s cotton industry is on the decline, further crippling the country’s textile industry. Egypt
Number of working Orthodox women on the rise Over the past few years more and more ultra-Orthodox women are seeking work in the secular Israeli labor market, though not everyone in ultra-Orthodox society accepts this. Israel
Iran may turn to biofuels amid worsening pollution As pollution increases in Iran, Iran may finally turn to biofuels, despite previous failed attempts to do so. Iran
Inside the West Bank's homemade cigarette industry Palestinians increasingly smoke locally produced tobacco at cheap rates, causing a challenging situation for cigarette companies, tobacco growers and the Palestinian government. Palestine
Arab countries hope to influence G-20 agenda An Istanbul economic forum highlighted Arab countries' aims to be included in the G-20 summit to be held in Turkey in November 2015. Turkey
Egypt's election delay leaves foreign investors uncertain Economists say that the delayed Egyptian parliamentary elections might discourage foreign investors, whose first consideration is stability in Egypt. Egypt
