In its first MENA Outlook Briefing of 2014, Arabia Monitor will build upon its overall views for the year: “2014 will be a pivotal year for the MENA region and for oil in more ways than one. Even as an interim arrangement, with a shelf life of six months, the P5+1 nuclear deal with Iran can provide relief to Iran’s battered economy, and has already impacted forward contracts for oil. If Iran fulfils its commitment milestones and the world rewards it, there will be incentive to craft a larger deal. Going forward, should sanctions be incrementally lifted, investment opportunities in this diversified and under-served market of almost 80 million people will abound. The question today is whether progress on the nuclear deal could help align Iran’s regional policies with those of the international community, to reduce tensions in Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey and end the war in Syria.”

8:30 AM (New York EDT) / 1:30 PM (London BST) / 5:30 PM (Dubai GST)

Registration is required and open to all ABANA members. RSVP to rsvp@arabbankers.org to receive dial-in details.

Arabia Monitor is a research firm that provides studies on the economies and financial markets of the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region, which it views as the new emerging market. Arabia Monitor’s perspective is forward looking and places recent developments in the region in a broader context, taking a long term view based on the macroeconomic and financial balance sheet of the Arab countries. A member of the World Economic Forum’s Regional Agenda Council on the Middle East & North Africa, Arabia Monitor was founded by Dr. Florence Eid, former Vice President and Chief Economist for MENA at JP Morgan. On the firm’s advisory council sits HRH Prince Turki Al Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, former Ambassador of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Kingdom and the United States; Mr. Victor Chu, board member of the World Economic Forum and former council member of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Dr. Richard Debs, founding president and advisory director of Morgan Stanley International and former COO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.