THE GLOBE INVEST

Israel is both one of the oldest and newest wine making countries in the world: a global leader of quality wine thousands of years ago, a young and identity-searching industry in the present. But the challenges it faces are many: a hot climate, limited rainfall, a lack of indigenous wine grapes, local consumers that rarely drink wine – and, when they do, mainly for sacramental purposes – and a world that, in general, is not familiar with Israeli wine.  Collectively, these factors did not create the easiest starting point for Psagot Winery. Despite this, our wines are getting more and more recognition, awards and positive reviews. Winemaking to us is not an ongoing tradition, but rather an attempt to rejuvenate an ancient one. In a hot climate, you are always facing a conflict of interests: harvest early and you might not have enough ripeness; wait too long and your alcohol levels may be too high An inspired vision Before we began our long-term planning, we first came u...

The feel-good news of this summer is that Greece has entered the final throes of its economic nightmare. The country’s beleaguered economy is finally showing signs of a turnaround, and a sense of opt imism has tentatively returned.  In 2017, the country witnessed three consecutive quarters of growth for the first time since 2006, while growth has surpassed expectations for several quarters. But most significantly, the start of this year saw a landmark decision from international creditors that the Greek Government has completed almost all of the necessary reforms, and is close to unlocking the final slice of bailout funding. Despite evidence of a turnaround, the Greek unemployment rate remains above 20 percent and the costs of the crisis will be present for years to come The decision puts an exit date in sight for the country’s painful string of bailout programmes. As  World Finance  goes to press, there is just €1bn ($1.23bn) of bailout funds that have yet to ...

Unveiled in a flurry of publicity and goodwill in 2003, the Kimberley Process was designed to bring an end to the excesses of the bloodstained trade, bringing key actors together to hammer out an international certification process for the rare stones.    With NGOs and over 80 countries signed up, the high-profile venture appeared to offer a fresh start for the shamed industry, promising “to ensure that diamond purchases were not financing violence by rebel movements and their allies seeking to undermine legitimate governments.”  Just 15 years later, that optimism has disappeared. In December, Canadian NGO Impact – previously nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for its work on conflict diamonds – became the latest international observer to abandon the Kimberley Process, arguing that buyers had been given “false confidence” that their diamonds were conf...

The US retail sector is licking its wounds from one of the worst years on record, with 2017 marking a series of retail bankruptcies and shop closures, Toys “R” Us and Macy’s among them. Yet, as the rise of e-commerce triggers an existential crisis for the US shopping mall, the fate of the Chinese mall is moving entirely in the opposite direction. There is a shift in consumer behavior in China, as well as Asia more broadly, which has seen the retail sector being driven by fast-growing consumption  Lim Ming Yan – President and Group CEO of Capital Land Group, one of Asia’s largest real estate companies. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, the company owns and manages a network of over 80 malls in Singapore, China, India, Japan, and Malaysia, and is continually on the lookout for more retail investment and management opportunities.  Last year, Capital land opened a record 1 million square meters of retail space across eight developments in Asia – its largest retail ...

Trading is a profession with a long history, but modern technology has caused it to experience profound changes. This is particularly the case when it comes to day trading, which has seen a significant demographic shift. Recent has shown that 18-to-34-year-olds now account for 65 percent of all online traders in the UK, a figure that has increased year-on-year since 2015 Recent research from BrokerNotes has shown that 18-to-34-year-olds now account for 65 percent of all online traders in the UK, a figure that has increased year-on-year since 2015.  At the same time, the proportion of traders over the age of 45 has dropped, marking a clear shift towards a younger demographic. Another interesting shift is that women are gradually becoming better represented in the industry, with statistics showing that one in 10 of all traders are female. This change cannot come fast enough, especially considering recent research by behavioural economists, who have found that men’s hyper...

Kuwait International Bank has placed customer prosperity at the heart of its business model as it helps to drive the digital transformation of the nation’s financial services sector As with many nations in the Gulf region, a dramatic push towards economic diversification has remained a key focus for governmental organisations and businesses in Kuwait. The necessity of such an overhaul became all too apparent following the fall in oil prices since 2014 (see Fig 1). Since then, Kuwait’s banking industry, its strongest non-oil sector, has developed and grown to become a frontrunner for the entire region. To keep up with the market, banks must be dynamic, adapting in real time to meet the demands of their increasingly tech-savvy clientele In large part, this is due to the sector’s digital transformation – a conscious move on the part of financial institutions to meet the evolving needs of a tech-savvy society. Indeed, given that – according to the UN Development Fund – over 70 per...