-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning from cnn london i'm nina dos santos. >> and a very good afternoon to you from cnn hong kong, i'm a niece sha tank. these are our top stories fridays. brous are furrowed in brussels as european heads of government talk high unemployment and low economic growth. >> an unconfirmed blast could affect the u.s. economic recovery with higher prices. >> more compensations cost for costa cruises. the costa allegra ship are offered full reimbursement.

>> first off though, greece has made a lot of sacrifices to try and secure its second big bailout from the eu and the imf. unfortunately though, it seems as though it still hasn't made enough. eurozone members holding a meeting in brussels decided to withhold more than half of the $175 billion that athens so badly needs to stay afloat. that's the portion due to go straight into the government bank. while greece struggles, another aspect has been sealed. the finance ministers have approved the funds required to safeguard a $274 billion debt swap for greece's private creditors. they have lost more than 70% of their value on their bonds in real terms. early this week what we saw with standard and poors becoming the first of the big credit rating agencies to define in as a default. with them tasked with deciding whether default insurance should

be paid out on the swap, investors disagree. the international swaps and derivatives association has been saying no so called credit event has actually taken place. credit event usually means default. many would beg to differ with that assessment. however, if there hasn't opinion a credit event as yet, the delaying of a bailout decision for another few weeks to come will say that a default could be imminent. the problem is being nudged aside as eu leaders consider the macro economic issues. they focus away from austerity and look at growth. charles is live in brussels for a look at these talks as they continue. charles, we should talk about what happens next after this. we'll do that in just a minute's time, but never mind the crisis surrounding greece and its deficits. it sounds as though the broader economic crisis really has been

putting some of these leaders under pressure and you'd been speaking to them, i gather? >> reporter: absolutely, but i think let me just bring you right up to date with what's been going on in the last hour or so, nina. we've seen the signature by all the parties, it's being fed in to us here live in the press room of the eu treaty on financial stability. the treaty on stability, coordination, and governance in the european monetary union. this is the treaty which it's hoped will head off the possibility of any crises concerning debt and deficit such as the one that has affected not only greece but also ireland and portugal which have also required bailouts. greece here for its second bailout. but i think though to return to the macro economy to the broader economic picture, it has been a change of emphasis. i think rightly so from the point of view of the average european because the average european is being hit on so many fronts at the moment.

we eve we're looking at higher taxes, lower government benefits, rising unemployment in the eurozone. we heard about that yesterday. also higher prices, inflation hitting 2.7% in the eurozone as against an ecb target of only 2%. there is a general sense of gloom and lack of hope, particularly among the youth and particularly in the south of europe. well, it has been tackled in earnest at this summit though there have been some differences with, for example, prime minister david cameron of britain preferring more an approach of deregulation supported by such nations as the netherlands but perhaps a more measured pace on that being set by germany and france who are increasingly ruling the roost at eu summits to the discomfort of messrs. cameron and others. but in terms of that change in emphasis, denmark currently holds the presidency of the

european union. their prime minister told me she's glad of that change of focus. >> i am very confident that if we want to have solutions for the european economy, we need to meet, we need to take decisions and this is what we have done over the last few months. we have had a lot of crisis meetings in the eu and for the first time this is not a crisis meeting. this is a meeting where we do not only discuss what has happened in the past but we are also trying to look to the future and discuss how do we create new growth in europe, how do we create more jobs in europe? we have been bogged down in the crisis for a very long time. now i wouldn't say we have passed the crisis, but we have the energy to focus on other things. >> reporter: clearly crisis management has been taken up with greece and greece is not out of the woods yet. there are still certain conditions that have to be met. are you confident that this is all going to go through, that it will happen, and that greece will cease to be a problem for

the eurozone? >> i'm confident that the decision that the greeks have to take will be taken. i am very confident that the fire wall that we built on will be sufficient for now and these are important decisions. people tend to take these decisions lightly. they are very important decisions that shows the solidarity between the member states of the eurozone. they have been solid with the greek people and i hope with this new fire the greeks will have the opportunity to pass the laws that they have to pass and get through to the other side. >> reporter: will the germans play along in terms of increasing that fire wall, getting together the $2 trillion which is envisioned by the g 20 and the imf. >> first of all, the germans have played along until now. they have taken a huge responsibility in terms of solving the crisis in europe, and i think we all have to rate that. but will they play along in the future? i hope so. and this is one of the discussions that we have said we will have this discussion if more is needed, we will have

that discussion again. >> reporter: so that was the danish prime minister who holds the presidency of the european union. the minister -- sorry, the heads of government are back in session. they're discussing political matters such as syria. nina? >> charles, it must be a very difficult time to be holding the rotating eu presidency because this crisis seems to be snowballing from one day to the next and very few of these issues realistically remain firmly tackled in investors' points of views. tell us what happens next when it comes to greece? because that is the elephant that is in the room. >> reporter: yes. i hope you don't think i'm being roundabout if i answer it this way. i'll come back to greece. i think the most important issue that needs to be tackled now is something that's been pushed off the agenda here, and that is the issue of increasing the permanent rescue fund, the

european, esm which will come into effect on the 1st of july. what stands in there at the moment is 500 billion euros. that's $667 billion. now there is pressure both from the g 20 and from the international monetary fund on the european union to increase that, but the people who are standing out against that at the moment are the germans. chancellor angela merkel and her finance minister. however, the pressure that they're under is great. what they have said is that they want to see the greece issue resolved. they want to see all of the conditions met and the key one there is the private sector involvement. that is, the private sector bond holders have to agree to the deal that was sput in place by the european union last week. once that happens and the deadline of that is the 9th of march, then i suspect that the germans without losing face will agree to that increase in the european stability mechanism's funding and the permanent rescue

fund. at that point put that together with the g 20 in a bubble, imf money, you'll be looking at the most awesome top fire wall fund of some 2 trillion. there are a lot of ifs. >> if rather than when at this point. charles in brussels, many thanks for that. in light of everything that charles was just saying, we're seeing this playing out on the markets today. take a look at this. a lot of these markets basically flat. obviously the news coming out on the greek front, ministers deciding to withhold a portion of those really badly needed bailout funds. as charles was saying, the lack of decision about creating a fire wall to ring fence these issues. these are the issues that have these markets pausing for thought. we have the ecb loans helping things along. as you can see, only the markets like the cac are up .2. the athens composite is doing

better. it was up earlier by .59%. it's weakening a little bit. it's still up .6%. greece remains in focus. >> it does. that seems to be, nina, a little bit of relief. i don't know how long that's going to laf. i think we have to bear some of those comments that charles made very much in mind. here in asia, not a bad day for the leading regional stock markets indices. banks, financials, these in particular were higher. this was picking up on what we saw in the u.s. overnight. their counterparts moving in a positive direction. we had that drop in the weekly jopless claims in the u.s. that was important. it can be an erratic weekly number but still encouraging so far as the jobs picture goes. a fall in the value of the yen against the dollar. that has helped in japan. we didn't see any move on the index. looking much better, up .75%.

interesting story that's developing is about the shipping industry. shippers, those stocks moving up, particularly in korea. you can't see the cosby here, but this because container freight rates on asia to europe routes in particular have soared and some shipping stocks have gained in south korea, also in japan to the order of between 6 and 8%. investors are very hopeful about next week. it's the china national people's congress. they're looking for proposals perhaps from the government about supporting growth and what is the world's second biggest economy. we have the shanghai composite moving up this session. the focus as we head into friday and the open on wall street, nina, is going to be the dow and whether we can break new levels or not. >> it certainly will be. i'm going to be telling you about that right now. in the united states all three of the major indices gained on thursday's session. it wasn't the dow that hit a record, it was the s&p 500 which hit its highest level since back

in 2008. thoughts were boosted by jobless claims falling to a four year low. after a stormy start it seems as though a number of these stocks gave up some of their early momentum following data showing a slower pace of growth particularly in the manufacturing sector. the session finished on an upbeat note with financial and material stocks in the vanguard of the advance as you can see. we have the likes of the nasdaq up by .75%. jpmorgan chase ended 2.5% higher. bank of america ended to have a gain of nearly 2%. car makers gained off the back of strong vehicle sales. ford rose 2.5% and general motors ending just shy of 2%. so what does it mean when trading gets underway on friday? here's how the markets like. the s&p interesting, just above

that 1300 mark. moving lower fractionally some focus on what's going on in europe. a flat performance from the european markets. as always, nina, things can turn on a dime, can't they? >> they can but you're wearing green there given the fact that you're standing next to a chart full of red. still to come on "world business today," will they make up for a crippled cruise ship. things may be looking up for now for the u.s. economy. analysts still say that there's one thing that could derail it. guess what it is? we'll give you two minutes to find out because we're back after this. [ female announcer ] want to spend less and retire with more? then don't get nickle and dimed by high cost investments and annoying account fees. at e-trade, our free easy-to-use online tools

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caused passengers to have a couple of days at sea under grueling conditions. they've offered full reimbursement as well as up to two weeks worth of vacation time in the seychelles all expenses covered there. costa said that about 70% of passengers have taken them up on this offer. for those who didn't want to stay on the islands, the company has offered free vouchers for future cruises within the next two years. there was another payment offered to all passengers which they described as an indemnity. that means that those who accept it have to give up the right to sue the company. >> dan rivers was there in the seychelles when the crippled costa allegra finally docked on thursday. he spoke to am so of the passengers as they made it to land. >> reporter: emerging from the sweltering haze of the tropics, the costa allegra was towed into the seychelles by a french fishing troller, a rather ig nam

min yous end to what should have been a luxury cruise. for the last three days life aboard has been anything but luxurious. passengers forced to camp on deck after a fire knocked out all powers. helicopters had to drop food. for an american couple, gordon and elner bradwell, the whole experience was summed up in one word. >> unpleasant because we did not have sewers, showers, no access to water, fresh food. we ate cold sandwiches for four days. the intense heat was a problem. >> after three days with no electricity, limited food and water, the passengers are now finally ashore. some of them describing their time on board as horrific. >> it's complete incompetence described by very, very good luck. that's what's happened. that's the only reason why there's people still walking around. >> we were up on the deck. it was extreemgly black smoke and so we knew something was

going to happen. so -- excuse me. they sound the alarm. then we went out to our room to get our life jackets. >> happy to be ashore? how do you feel now? >> yes. yes. a little bit emotional because i prefer to go home. i am not in the mood to stay on holidays. >> reporter: 2/3 of the passengers are taking costa's offer and' refund with a cash payment. cost at that cruises is already facing a problem when it went aground in italy leaving 21 dead. they must be hoping this latest incident won't also result in litigation. >> it's been a pretty bad start for 2012 for costa. can your brand recover?

>> i am sure. the other one was a human error. here we have the opportunity to show the world in case of an emergency like that, you know how we handle. >> reporter: but it's all prompted more questions, how did the fire start? why did a backup generator fail? and was poor maintenance rather than human error to blame this time? dan rivers, cnn on the seychelles. representatives of the company trying not to be pessimistic there, but it is still hard to tell what sort of impact this recent crisis will have on the company's actual business. after the concordia's disaster their bookings dropped by 1/3. shares of its parent company, carnival corporation, also plunged. if we take a look at the share prices, you can see the steep selloff. that was after january 13th. that was when the concordia wrecked off the coast of italy and killed 21 people. carnival shares then, let's take

a look at how they stand. you can see down 12% since the 13th of january. doesn't look too good at all and it's going to take quite a recovery effort, i'm sure, neeb in a. >> it certainly will. it's so difficult to quantify the disastrous loss for the brand there which obviously is partly reflected in the share price but not entirely. still to come on "world business today," almost a year since japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami, we'll take a look at the world's third biggest economy and its pulse as it tries to recover. that story and plenty more to come on "world business today." oo

you're watching "world business today" live on cnn coming to you from hong kong and also london. welcome back to the show. now it's almost a year since a double disaster battered japan exacerbating existing economic problems and forcing the country into crisis mode. while there have been several signs of recovery in the months since, economic data out this friday shows there's still a very long way to go. we can start here with japan's traditionally low unemployment rate. it crept up again to 4.6% in january from a revised 4.5% in

december. meanwhile, would he can look at household spending which dropped far more than expected in the same month, down 2.3% from a year earlier. analysts had expected a fall near 0.8%. quite a difference there in the expectation. and then there's the country's core consumer price index. that reflected ongoing deflation ri pressure dropping .1%. that cpi figure excludes fresh food but it does include energy costs. of course, japan's economic worries have been overshadowed by the terrible human cost of last march's tragedy. images of the tsunami in full force have lost their power 12 months on. this video shot by a 16-year-old in the miaga prefecture has been viewed online more than 2

million times. the teenager actually saved the life of the man whose ordeal he captured forever. getting japan back on its feet after scenes like that was never going to be easy. one of the country's leading business men believes that the government must do more to help. tadashi ana sat down with andrew stevens and told him that japan doesn't just need a recovery, it needs a reinvention, and fast. >> translator: i'm extremely disappointed in the current state of japan. the japanese economy hasn't grown much in the last 20 odd years. in fact, we're becoming poorer, but since last year's earthquake, we've all realized that we can't continue on like this. we must have hope in the future and rebuild japan. to rebuild doesn't mean to go back to where japan was before but, instead, to create a new future without depending on the government.

every citizen and every company must commit to rebuilding the country. because we've been in stagnation for more than 20 years, we don't have time to waste to think about how to rebuild the country, we must act immediately. >> watch that interview in full. it's on talk asia. that's coming up about an hour from now. 10:30 a.m. in london. nina? >> certainly interesting stuff. i will be tuning in myself if i can. coming up next on "world business today," americans frequently complain about petro prices that on the other hand is still the envy of the rest of the world, but as the u.s. economic recovery appears to be gaining traction, could their concerns be a sign of trouble ahead. stay with us here on cnn.

. from cnn hong kong, i'm manisha tank. >> and i'm nina does san toss. welcome back to "world business today." let's take a look at how the european stock markets are fairing. there's plenty for investors to look at. the question is what kind of direction should they be taking. obviously a lot of people keeping a keen eye on what's going on at the eu leaders summit in brussels. we've got the ecb decision to give cheap financing to some of these banks over the course of the last couple of days. that has been keeping the markets afloat. we do have lower bond yields reassuring investors. countries like italy and spain where perhaps many people are concerned could be the next

greece type situation. in light of that it's a by the of a mixed picture. cac 40 holding nicely and the zurich up 2%. the uncertainties haven't gone away. here in asia, the main indices ended in positive territory. financials pushed higher. their counterparts doing rather well. the likes of jpmorgan up 2% overnight. weekly jobless claims in the u.s., we had the major markets here moving up by the close. also the yen, some downward pressure on that. that's helped some of the big japanese exporters. always a good thing for the my kay. it's pushing up about .75%. >> the price of crude oil has been falling again ever so slightly after spiking to a ten month high in trading on thursday's session. that was largely because of a report of an oil pipeline blast in saudi arabia, one of the world's biggest oil-producing

nations, sent the price of crude oil surging above $110 a barrel. all of this came from iran's statement, english language channel press tv. it has not been substantiated by other media. saudi arabia has been denying this report. it has kepd nymex up towards $110 a barrel. now it's trading down. about 68 to 70 cents on the barrel at a price of 108 point. >> petros: $1 $108.16. as ali velshi reports, it doesn't mean more pain at the pump for consumers, it may pose a larger economic threat to the recovery in the united states. >> reporter: signs that the u.s. is well into a recovery are clear. grows domestic product, the broadest measure of the country's economy, grew 3% between the third and fourth

quarters of 2011. consumer spending was up more than 2% over the same three-month time frame. the u.s. unemployment rate dropped to 8.3% in january and more importantly, the u.s. economy has been adding jobs for almost a year and a half. more than 1.8 million net new jobs were created in 2011 alone. new weekly fielgts for unemployment benefits are at lows not seen since 2008. and the s&p 500, the broadest measure of major u.s. listed companies, and the best reflection of invested u.s. retirement portfolios, has rallied 25% from its low in october. the problem is oil is up 40% over the same period. economists and money manager steven looeb is an expert on money and economies. >> these green shoots could turn brown if oil made a run to 140, 150. >> this ee con mow mist tracks

economic cycles has a proven track record of forecasting economic cycles. he says the signs of economic recovery are fool's gold. he predicts another u.s. recession possibly by summer. >> if we have another shock, like a spike in oil, what that can do is take what right now my best case scenario is, say, a relatively mild recession. if we have a new shock on top of that scenario it could take a mild recession and make it worse. we saw an example of that in the last recession. >> reporter: so far u.s. gasoline prices are up 14% or 46 cents per gallon in 2012 alone. deutsch bank says everyone cent costs americans $1.4 billion a year. in a political season that talks about inequality, steven leeb says higher prices at the pump will make that problem worse.

>> there are a massive number of people in this country, i would guess around 40% now, that are really making choices involving food versus gasoline. the price of oil has risen 15% since the start of the year, and you might think that would spell economic disaster for countries dependent on oil imports for their industrial and energy needs. here in asia, for example, japan and south korea are completely dependent on oil imports. an oil price spike doesn't necessarily mean financial gloom for this region, at least as of yet. >> let's look to japan first and find out about this fact. all of japan's 54 nuclear reactors which it relies on for electricity will likely be off stream. this is still the fallout from the march 11 quake and tsunami which happened pretty much one year ago. despite this, analysts agree that today's higher oil prices will have a very minor impact on

japan's growth. i spoke with jpmorgan. they explain that we have to look at the reason for the rise in the price of oil. >> oil is rising because global demand for goods and services is actually accelerating. japan is a big beneficiary of that because japan is such a powerful exporter. bad news would be a supply shock if you did have a blockade of the strait of hormuz or a war in the middle east and you'd have a big supply disruption, that would be cost push and japan would get a double punch with declining global growth as well as an increase in costs really squeezing profits. >> koll added that global growth last year was 1.8 to 1.9%. this year it's expected to be between 3 to 3.5%. this is a result of a strengthening global economy and not a weakening one. as for japan's growth, if oil

stays at around $120 a barrel or so, koll says its gdp will stay where it is now probably, but at $160 a barrel people may take notice, then we might see japan's gdp fall. as for oil's affect on japan, inflation, koll says that the country actually needs for that to happen. >> japan is a little different because we are in deflation. when prices go from minus one to plus one, that's a good thing. that means a bit of a return to pricing power and from that perspective japan needs to get out of deflation and in increasing the oil price just might be the final push to get us there. >> and a reminder that japan has been mired in deflation for the last ten years. higher oil prices don't herald a financial fallout, neither for

japan, china, or for south korea. as long as prices don't go past the 150 to 160 mark. oil did hit an all time record under that mark at $147 a barrel back in 2008. remi, cnn, hong kong. will, if worries about oil and the economy have put you off investing in the stock markets, you wouldn't be alone. the question is where do you park your money. we've been looking at the less conventional opportunities out there for adventure rouse investors. she's found that there is some money to be made. >> reporter: in this diamond workshop in antwerp they cut, and polish to give the best possible price for the finishes they get. diamond sales around the world net around $60 billion a year, but while there is a global

diamond price index, diamonds aren't traded like silver and gold on the financial markets. so investors add precious gems to their portfolios through very specialized funds. when it comes to diversification, there's plenty of opportunity out there for a quirky trade. >> the people who trade these markets definitely have a bit more specialized experience. they are more about what makes these markets move. things like corn, wheat, soy beans are and have been in the last few years very exciting. >> reporter: it's important to know your stuff. if you're trade willing corn or wheat, keep an eye on the weather and get a feel for who the big producers are and what their harvests yield. the u.k. housing index also is worth a look. liquidity is low. look for hints on which way the market will move by monitoring interest rates, consumer confidence, and industry

statistics. and, no, we're not here drowning our sorrows after a trade gone wrong. wine has been outperforming equities of gold and oil. you don't have to connect wine to traders. whether it helps to have a nose for the latest trend. even your country's banks are worth a look. in the uk the ftse 350 is good for getting a diverse spread across that whole sector. beware of news from the big players who are overweight here as that could cause a spike in a generally falling market. last year classic car prices beat returns on equities and gold. >> once upon a time a car like this would have probably represented twice the value of the owner's home, but all of these cars have now been sold for these life changing amounts of money to proper bona fide or international investors now and that's where cars like these are going. much like you would buy a

picasso or important piece of english furniture for investm t investment, you have people buying these cars who might not be enthusiasts, and they might just buy one. >> trading all that is weird and wonderful gives investors more exposure, makes portfolios more diverse and can be more exciting than standard stock picking and trades. >> reporter: park your cash in the right assets and investors could drive up their return. it's more exciting than investing in stocks and shares and foreign exchange currencies, manisha. it looks more exciting than shooting any other story. >> especially if you can go to a wine tasting. i'm sure that didn't write off the day. >> certainly. that's it for this edition of

"world business today." thanks ever so much for joining us this week. i'm nina dos santos at cnn london. and i'm manisha tank in hong kong. "marketplace middle east" is up next.

this week on "marketplace middle east" is the boom back in dubai? we take a look at the once

thriving market. growing ambitions. we talk about the development plans in the region and beyond. oil prices hit a ten month high this week triggered by increased tension between iran and the west. the uptick is not only causing petro prices to climb but may prompt the largest exporter, saudi arabia, to open its tanks of iranian oil not reaching world markets. the strait of hormuz is the main artery for gulf oil, where in this region nearly 2/3s of the world's proven oil reserves sit offshore or beneath the desert sands. like the human heart, the strait can't operate if it's plugged. >> the market would go towards 150, 200 if we saw that. i think it's in everybody's interest to try to avoid getting there. >> as the u.s. military steps up

its maneuvers in the gulf, the racheting up of tensions has pushed crude prices to a ten month high feeding right into prices paid at the pump. at the high security operations center in eastern saudi arabia that controls the flow of crude at the world's biggest oil company, saudi aramco, they are well aware of the high stakes. they signaled that it is prepared to open its taps to add to its 10 million barrels a day of production and replace any loss of output from iran. >> i believe we can easily get up to 11.4, 11.8 almost immediately, in a few days, because already it's turn valves. now to get to the next 700 or so we probably need about 90 days. >> reporter: that action would reposition the kingdom as the swing producer. the same role it played during the 1991 gulf war, after

hurricane katrina, and when oil spiked to $147 a barrel in july 2008. >> reporter: rising texts here in the gulf hit an already tight oil market. for the first time in history oil prices averaged $100 or more in 2011 for the international benchmark which pushed up prices for gasoline in the u.s. and europe. those in the market call this the new normal or the new reality for oil prices. >> reporter: analysts point to the rides of china and india and their higher demand counterbalancing slower growth in the u.s. and europe. >> under those circumstances the oil can stay parked above $100 a barrel. one would indicate that's probably the floor unless we do have kind of an arm ma get done moment, another lee mon moment. >> when the investment bank collapsed in 2008, so did oil prices. for now the only discussion in the gulf is about higher prices for crude and that can only mean

one thing. the cost of filling up at the pump could rise sharply as well. >> so tensions around iran keeping pressure on oil prices and the global economy. the building boom in dubai has taken its own hit during the global financial downturn but the market may be picking up again. according to ventures middle east, more than $15 billion worth of construction contracts are likely to be awarded this year in the united arab emirates. an increase of 27%. leone lacani has that story. >> reporter: it was once a pillar of dubai's economy. the emirates booming real estate sector made millions for some but in the global financial downturn the lucrative property market came tumbling down. now the buyers are slowly coming back to the market, often in search of stay fwilt amidst the

stability of the region. >> dubai is still seen as a relatively safe haven. buyers are still unlikely to come back in the same numbers as dubai's boom years. >> reporter: the number of sales in the fourth quarter of last year shot up by 64% from the previous quarter. according to the real estate advisory group, cvre. agents say today's buyers are more selective looking for premium properties. >> reporter: explain to me again what a lifestyle project is. >> a lifestyle project in dubai is an area that has all the facilities, the leisure, hotels, retail, high quality residential and even here in downtown with the office space. somewhere which encapsulates everything that people want within their life at their fingertips. >> reporter: green says prices in the premium areas may rise slightly but they're expected to remain relatively stable. elsewhere there are many barring

gains to be had. the market is sill bloated. that's likely to keep a downward pressure on devices. >> we have about 18,000 new units coming onto the market in 2012. these will be predominantly apartments with only a small allocation of villas. that will help sustain the growth within villa prices. apartments may see some downside. >> reporter: when the property bubble burst residential prices fell by 40 to 60% in some areas. adding to its whoas, dubai was engulfed in a debt crisis after one of its main producers nearly defaulted on a loan. the government is choosing to focus not on real estate but on its core businesses, trade, travel and tourism. >> our expectation for dubai's growth is 2.4% in 2012. we're seeing a strong rebound in the tourism sector. hotel occupancies have reached

87%. we expect in the last quarter they'll be around 85%. the flow of tourists into the airport in 2011, 50 million passengers. >> reporter: that's inspurring buyers to invest in dubai and its properties. analysts say the embattled real estate sector is still unlikely to return to its glory days. leone, marketplace middle east, dubai. >> up next on "marketplace middle east" rising above with the construction mogul on his company's strategy in an unstable region.

one person keeping a close eye on regional developments is simon curry. he has helped turn the almost 60-year-old family business into a multi-billion powerhouse. i asked him what impact the arab spring has had on his business.

>> many countries like two nearby yeah, like egypt, like syria, with this affecting them much of the projects stopped. for example, case in point, doing triple airport. huge job. it stopped. however, i feel at a certain point that these jobs will come back. maybe they'll not come back tomorrow, but in the short term these are strategic jobs that they cannot put them away. they will come. these governments have to put their act together first and then they will start looking at these projects. >> reporter: the irony is that syria, libya, egypt, tunisia, morocco, the big growth drivers for the gcc money, the gulf money to go into north africa, what's going to bring that money back in post arab spring in your view? >> i think these countries, gc countries, want to see these countries succeed. for that reason they will keep pouring money into it. >> reporter: security purposes? >> for security purposes and because they want to set an

example. i think the sprer national cumulatikmu cumulatikmu cumulative international community, they want them to succeed. as they help libya during the war, they will continue and they will give funding in order to have it on the right path for growth. >> reporter: it's amazing you say that because the word that we're getting out of libya is it's unraveling, not stabilized. are we looking at a three to five-year horizon for true stability where nonarab investors say it's safe enough to come back in? >> i think if you look at the private sector, whether it's arab or not arab, they will not go into there unless they have first political stability, they have clear guidance how the investment will be spent. they have to have legislation. they have to have enough legal framework. until they have these three factors they will be shy to go. >> you're in 50 countries now and operating across four couldn't nenlts. where do you see the geographical growth for ccc, say

in the next decade from here? >> definitely the middle east will remain the center of our work. we are looking for expansion in the cis countries because they have a lot of oil and gas resources. they're underdeveloped to a certain extent in infrastructure. other area where i see growth is definitely in africa. you see now, africa has a huge amount of natural resources. everybody is going to africa. the third area is australia. >> reporter: what's in the dna of ccc that you feel comfortable, very comfortable in the middle east, but take that expertise and go into central asia and klein in a. it's like a silk road company. >> basically two factors, that you have to know how to work with the locals. we feel comfortable working whenever we go, we don't just parachute from outside. we would like to understand the culture, would like to understand the people.

we hope that we try and maximize the local content. in kaz zik stand, have those workers. in china we have a training center in china that trains welders, fabricators. now we open a drafting center. the idea is to maximize the local content and the technical transfer know how from yourself to the countries you operate in. >> samer at the marina in abu dhabi. that's it for cnn "marketplace middle east." we'll see you next weekend.