With the increasing climate change crisis, the ongoing global energy security challenges, and the prerequisites for the development of sustainable and affordable energy for all, the need for renewable energy resources has been highlighted as a global aim of mankind. However, the worldwide deployment of renewable energy calls for large-scale financial and technological contributions which many States cannot afford. This exacerbates the need for the promotion of foreign investments in this sector, and protecting them against various threats. International Investment Agreements (IIAs) offer several substantive protections that equally serve foreign investments in this sector. Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) clauses are among these. This is a flexible standard of treatment whose boundaries are not clearly defined so far. Investment tribunals have diverse views of this standard. Against this background, this article asks: What are the prominent international renewable energy investment threats, and how can FET clauses better contribute to alleviating these concerns? Employing a qualitative method, it analyses the legal aspects and properties of FET and concludes that the growing security and regulatory threats have formed a sort of modern legitimate expectations on the part of renewable energy investors who expect host states to protect them against such threats. Hence, IIAs and tribunals need to uphold a definite and broadly applicable FET approach to bring more consistency and predictability to arbitral awards. This would help deter many unfavourable practices against investments in this sector.
The current manuscript overviews the potential of inimitable zero dimensional carbon nanoentities, i.e., nanodiamonds, in the form of hybrid nanostructures with allied nanocarbons such as graphene and carbon nanotube. Accordingly, two major categories of hybrid nanodiamond nanoadditives have been examined for nanocompositing, including nanodiamond-graphene or nanodiamond/graphene oxide and nanodiamond/carbon nanotubes. These exceptional nanodiamond derived bifunctional nanocarbon nanostructures depicted valuable structural and physical attributes (morphology, electrical, mechanical, thermal, etc.) owing to the combination of intrinsic features of nanodiamonds with other nanocarbons. Consequently, as per literature reported so far, noteworthy multifunctional hybrid nanodiamond-graphene, nanodiamond/graphene oxide, and nanodiamond/carbon nanotube nanoadditives have been argued for characteristics and potential advantages. Particularly, these nanodiamond derived hybrid nanoparticles based nanomaterials seem deployable in the fields of electromagnetic radiation shielding, electronic devices like field effect transistors, energy storing maneuvers namely supercapacitors, and biomedical utilizations for wound healing, tissue engineering, biosensing, etc. Nonetheless, restricted research traced up till now on hybrid nanodiamond-graphene and nanodiamond/carbon nanotube based nanocomposites, therefore, future research appears necessary for further precise design varieties, large scale processing, and advanced technological progresses.
The tourism sector in the Aseer region of Saudi Arabia is experiencing significant growth and development, aligning with the country's Vision 2030 strategic framework. However, rapid growth can lead to strategic drift if not managed with vigilance. This study aims to examine the role of strategic vigilance in reducing strategic drift in the tourism sector. The study employs a quantitative approach, utilizing a questionnaire distributed to a sample of 220 staff and directors from the tourism sector. The questionnaire measures the level of strategic vigilance and the level of strategic drift. The study hypothesizes a statistically significant positive relationship between strategic vigilance and reducing strategic drift. Data analysis involves exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. The findings are expected to provide insights into the effectiveness of strategic vigilance in mitigating strategic drift and offer recommendations for enhancing the tourism sector's resilience and adaptability to accelerated environmental changes.
The golden visa is a regulation designed to facilitate foreign nationals through a residence permit scheme with an emphasis on investment and citizenship. This research aims to look at the development of the golden visa as an innovation policy, and find out how its implications for the flow of foreign investment into Indonesia. This research uses online research methods (ORM) to discover new facts, information and conditions through technology and internet searches. The aspects used to conduct analysis in this descriptive qualitative research are using innovation policy instruments which include regulatory, economic, financial, and soft instruments. The research findings show that the golden visa as an innovation policy has great potential to support national development through investment in priority sectors. However, its implementation needs to be done carefully with strict supervision and inclusive regulations so as to mitigate risks such as money laundering and property price inflation. That way, golden visas can encourage sustainable and inclusive economic growth through the smooth flow of incoming foreign investment.
The expansion of short-term rental platforms like Airbnb and HomeAway has reshaped the hospitality sector, introducing competitive pressures for traditional hotels and influencing local communities in Greece. This study examines perceptions among 343 hoteliers and 277 Airbnb hosts across Greece, focusing on economic, competitive, and social impacts of Airbnb-type accommodations. This cross-sectional study used structured questionnaires to assess views on Airbnb's contribution to tourism, competition, and economic performance. Results reveal significant differences in perceptions: hoteliers expressed concerns about increased competition and regulatory inequalities, often viewing Airbnb as a mixed or negative influence on local tourism. In contrast, Airbnb hosts perceived their accommodations as beneficial for tourism growth and local economic support. Key areas of divergence included perceived competitive pressures, impact on overnight stays, and pricing strategies, with Airbnb hosts reporting more frequent economic benefits. These findings emphasize the need for a balanced regulatory approach to ensure fair competition and sustainable growth in Greece's tourism sector. By comparing the perspectives of traditional and alternative accommodation providers, this study provides insights for policymakers seeking to address evolving challenges in the Greek hospitality landscape.
This paper investigates the factors influencing credit growth in Kosovo, focusing on the relationship between credit activity and key economic variables, including GDP, FDI, CPI, and interest rates. Its analysis targets loans issued to businesses and households in Kosovo, employing a VAR model integrated into a VEC model to investigate the determinants of credit growth. The findings were validated using OLS regression. Additionally, the study includes a normality test, a model stability test (Inverse Roots AR Characteristic Polynomial), a Granger causality test for short-term relationships, and variance decomposition to analyze variable shocks over time. This research demonstrates that loan growth is primarily driven by its historical values. The VEC model shows that, in the long run, economic growth in Kosovo leads to less credit growth, showing a negative link between it and GDP. Higher interest rates also reduce credit growth, showing another negative link. On the other hand, more foreign direct investment (FDI) increases credit demand, showing a positive link between credit growth and FDI. The results show that loans and inflation (CPI) are positively linked, meaning higher inflation leads to more credit growth. Similarly, more foreign direct investment (FDI) increases credit demand, showing a positive link between FDI and credit growth. In the long term, higher inflation is connected to greater credit growth. In the short term, the VAR model suggests that GDP has a small to moderate effect on loans, while FDI has a slightly negative effect. In the VAR model, interest rates have a mixed effect: one coefficient is positive and the other negative, showing a delayed negative impact on loan growth. CPI has a small and negative effect, indicating little short-term influence on credit growth. The OLS regression supports the VAR results, finding no effect of GDP on loans, a small negative effect from FDI, a strong negative effect from interest rates, and no effect from CPI. This study provides a detailed analysis and adds to the research by showing how macroeconomic factors affect credit growth in Kosovo. The findings offer useful insights for policymakers and researchers about the relationship between these factors and credit activity.
Copyright © by EnPress Publisher. All rights reserved.