Justin Keay

Uncertainty about the UK's plan to leave the European Union is making Britain's business community nervous.

Cyprus is emphasizing sustainable growth and addressing problems such as high unemployment and nonperforming loans.

With the presidential referendum finally over, Turkish business wants to see its government get back to probusiness reforms.

After years of reform and a series of elections, the countries of Southeastern Europe are stable and starting to see a pickup in economic activity

Last year, after a difficult 2015, it seemed that just about everything that could go wrong for the South Caucasus actually did. In April, simmering tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the contested region of Armenian-occupied Nagorno-Karabakh exploded into renewed ...

Ever since Theresa May became Britain’s prime minister in the wake of last year’s fateful EU referendum, she has sought to define herself—and her government—as something more than just the executors of the “people’s will” in carrying out Brexit.

Even by the Balkans’ standards, the honeymoon accorded Romania’s new Social Democratic Party (PSD) government was brief after the party’s victory in the December 11 elections.

Negotiations in Geneva have resumed over the decades-old division of Cyprus.  

Romania’s voters gave an overwhelming endorsement to the Social Democratic Party (PSD) in the December 11 parliamentary elections. Now the challenge is to spur growth while keeping a lid on corruption. 

Western European banks and institutions are expanding financing for small and medium-sized companies in Turkey. 

Political turmoil is roiling markets abroad and at home, yet observers say fundamentals should leave the country well-placed to draw FDI when sunshine returns.

Cyprus offers some good news in the eastern Mediterranean, where good news has been scarce of late. 

Syria’s agony is imposing serious costs for neighbors in terms of refugees, lost trade and dampened investment.

If you think record-low interest rates are the result of years of expansionary monetary policices, think again. 

Despite the summer’s turmoil, Turkey’s economy retains appeal for investors, and its currency is holding firm.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev, new ruler of Uzbekistan, looks likely to be just as much a hard-line autocrat as his predecessor was. 

Turkey, a highly wireless nation, embraces mobile technology for financial transactions.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin seem to have mended fences. Will the alliance last?  

Regional Report: Central & Eastern Europe
Despite a host of challenges, Europe’s formerly communist countries are poised for strong, steady growth.

Turkey | It’s way too early to determine the long-term cost to Turkish democracy and society of July’s failed coup, and it is equally tricky to assess its immediate impact on Turkish investment and business.

British voters took a major leap into the unknown by voting to leave the European Union by the narrowest of margins. What does it mean for the economy of Britain, of Europe, of the world? 

Turkey
Every emerging economy has a tipping point beyond which investor sentiment turns negative, despite fundamentals.
 

Casting off a checkered past, the region’s diverse economies are resurgent, with a focus on investment and reforms—and sustaining their crucial small and midsize enterprises.

In April the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) commemorated a quarter-century of history, with president Suma Chakrabarti emphasizing how far the Bank had come since its first investment—to WBK Bank in Poland (now Bank Zachodni WBK).

Strong growth and other upbeat data in 2015 bucked the West’s collective vision of a nation in crisis. But without structural reforms, the picture may darken.

Not long ago, Romania was synonymous with sluggish growth, underperformance and corruption. Analysts acknowledged its huge potential but said it wasn’t being realized.

Few places on Turkey’s coasts have managed development quite as well as the former ancient Greek port city of Halicarnassus, today Bodrum.

During complex times for Turkey, banks, at least, can rest assured that their system is running smoothly, is well capitalized and well regulated.

Asian Development Bank Section: ADB Annual Meeting
Europe has much to gain from the fast-growing region, where per capita GDP is exploding—and vice versa.

Asian Development Bank Section: ADB Annual Meeting
Last year’s historic Asian Development Bank (ADB) annual meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan saw the bank and member countries commit to a wide range of goals and reforms.

Newsmakers | Slovakia
Since he first became prime minister 10 years ago, Robert Fico has been the great survivor of Slovakia’s febrile and unpredictable political scene.

Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia are not masters of their own economic destinies, with events in Russia and the rest of the region casting a shadow over these countries’ efforts to boost economic and investor confidence.

In November the European Investment Bank published its latest Bank Lending Survey for Central Europe and Southeastern Europe.

Unlike some of its Eastern European neighbors, the Czech Republic has shunned joining the eurozone and has surprised many with its stable and healthy levels of economic growth. However, progress is still needed on business transparency. 

Turkey
When the Justice and Development Party (AKP) swept elections in November, financial markets were focused neither on prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, nor on president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. All eyes were on new deputy prime minister Mehmet Şimşek, the former Finance minister, who may be the only reformer within the largely statist AKP.

Elections over, Turkey firms up plans to become a financial hub.

Central Europe and the Southeast revive, while the CIS struggles with low oil prices and sanctions.

Some green shoots lurk beneath the region’s raging civil wars, economic woes and political unrest.

Short-term risks have not dimmed the country’s economic prospects. That may explain why FDI from Asia and Gulf nations is surging.

Country Report | Turkey is roiled by political uncertainty and slowing growth ahead of November elections.

Mergers & Acquisitions | Slowing growth and severe stock market falls have raised fears that China is nearing some sort of crossroads. Some economists believe that, owing to tight central controls, Chinese corporations won’t hit their expected growth targets.

CEE Regional Report
The unorthodox policies of prime minister Viktor Orbán may be controversial, but they’ve helped kick-start the country’s economy. Most of the other CEE nations are also mounting turnarounds..

Newsmakers | Turkey
It has been said that ultimately all political careers end in failure, but until June 7, few observers were expecting this maxim to be true, quite yet, of Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

United Kingdom | Many questions are still being asked about David Cameron’s dramatic win on May 7. How did opinion polls, which predicted a tight race between  Conservatives and Labour and even a Labour win, get it so wrong?

Milestones | United Kingdom
As Britons prepare for elections on May 7, the only certainty appears to be uncertainty, which looks set to continue until polling day—and maybe for some time after.

Country Report | Turkey - Islamic Finance
Officials in Turkey have long declared their intentions to transform Istanbul into an international financial center. Islamic finance could be the key to making that goal a reality.

Country Report | Turkey
The country’s economy has stalled, just in time for a crucial parliamentary election.

Central Asia Focus
Western and Asian efforts to boost relations with the five Central Asia countries is good news for companies and banks wanting to penetrate these big, yet largely unexploited, markets.

Newsmakers | Estonia
Estonians handed victory to 35-year-old Taavi Rõivas and his center-right Reform Party in parliamentary elections on March 1.

Milestones | Greece
On March 3, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development approved a request from Athens to invest directly in Greece.