Importance of Gulf prompts FT Mideast edition

GROWING IMPORTANCE: Khalaf said the FT's Middle East edition would bridge the gap between global markets and the region.

The emerging international importance of the Gulf region has sparked the launch of a dedicated Middle East edition of the Financial Times (FT), the newspaper’s regional editor said on Monday.

News of the launch of the FT’s Middle East edition was exclusively revealed on ArabianBusiness.com on Sunday.

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Roula Khalaf told ArabianBusiness.com the introduction of the Middle Eastern edition would bridge a gap between global financial markets and the region.

“The Gulf is becoming a financial and business hub, and is of increasing interest to other financial centres. The region itself is also becoming more and more interested in international markets so we’re bridging a gap there,” she said in an interview.

Khalaf said the newspaper did not compete with local media, since it was a global newspaper, and she was confident the new edition would be well-received.

“We’ve been printing in Dubai for a long time, so we’re familiar with the region… we have readership targets that we are confident we can meet,” she said, without revealing the paper's circulation targets.

The FT would provide coverage of regional companies, markets and interviews with leading business people, she said.

Online coverage would also be boosted to include video content and slideshows, she added.

Khalaf said the growing number of media outlets expanding within the Gulf underlined the emerging interest and importance of the region.

The first full edition of the FT's Middle East edition will be available on Tuesday, with a dedicated Middle Eastern page to be inserted every Tuesday and Thursday.

The newspaper’s regional editorial and commercial teams will be based in Abu Dhabi, with Khalaf managing three full time journalists in the UAE capital, including Middle East correspondent Andrew England and Gulf news editor James Drummond. Gulf business correspondent Simeon Kerr will be based in Dubai.

The FT already has offices in Cairo, Tehran, Jerusalem and Beirut.

Stringer journalists will also be recruited in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Khalaf said.

The newspaper will offering training and lectures to local students studying journalism and will host three internships every year, she added.

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