European commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, told Le Journal du Dimanche in January 2022, “Existing nuclear plants alone will need 50 billion euros of investment from now until 2030. And new generation ones will need 500 billion”. This paper considers whether these values are realistic. Further, it asks whether these investments would yield an internationally competitive European nuclear power infrastructure given that the nuclear power industries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries have lost global nuclear market share to Russian and Chinese firms since 1995.The paper investigates whether the European nuclear industry even with massive investment can compete with the Chinese nuclear industries. It concludes that the European (in particular, the French) nuclear power industry will be unlikely to be cost competitive with the Chinese nuclear power industry unless financing and new plant orders are immediately forthcoming. To achieve carbon neutrality, the issue becomes whether European Union countries can afford indigenous nuclear technologies or will need to import nuclear power plants from Asia.

Innovation has always been a key driver of economic development, particularly in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Despite their significant contributions, many of these enterprises currently lack strong research and development capabilities, face challenges in innovation investment, and struggle to produce high-quality innovative results. To address these issues and overcome funding obstacles, many SMEs are turning to supply chain finance (SCF) as a supplementary financing method. This study utilizes stata16 and fixed effects models to analyze the impact and mechanism of SCF on enterprise innovation performance (EIP), focusing on companies listed on the SME Board and GEM in Shenzhen, China from 2011 to 2020. The findings reveal that SCF can effectively enhance enterprise innovation output, facilitating the conversion of resources into high-quality innovation results. Additionally, the study demonstrates that supply chain concentration acts as a mediator between SCF and EIP. Moreover, SCF is found to significantly boost EIP with low supplier concentrations and high customer concentrations. This suggests that SMEs encounter obstacles to innovation from suppliers and customers, and SCF may not fully address the challenges posed by these relationships. Overall, this research offers new empirical insights into the economic implications of companies adopting SCF, providing valuable guidance for enterprises in optimizing innovation decisions and for the government in enhancing supplier and customer information disclosure systems.

The operational performance of container ports is crucial for efficient logistics and trade. However, there is limited understanding of how external integration through Customer and Supplier Integration (SCI-CI and SCI-SI) impacts port operational performance (POP), particularly in emerging markets like Oman. This study addresses this gap by examining the relationship between SCI-CI, SCI-SI, and POP, and explores the mediating role of supply chain management (SCM) practices in this context. Using the Resource-Based View (RBV) as the theoretical framework, the study employed a quantitative cross-sectional survey method. A total of 377 questionnaires were distributed to managers at Sohar and Salalah ports, with 331 usable responses obtained, representing an 88 percent response rate. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that SCI-CI and SCI-SI have significant direct and indirect positive effects on POP, and they directly influence SCM practices. SCM practices, in turn, significantly enhance POP. Notably, SCM practices partially mediate the relationship between SCI-CI and SCI-SI with POP. These findings underscore the strategic importance of external integration and SCM practices as internal resources for improving port performance. This research provides valuable insights for decision-makers and policymakers in optimizing port operations.

The economy of Pakistan has faced many challenges due to COVID-19, leading to numerous systemic failures and leaving it struggling to recover. This research aims to shed light on the specific challenges faced by Pakistani textile companies during the pandemic. Comprehensive data was collected from one hundred fifty-three textile managers in Pakistan. Upon examining the impact of COVID-19 on businesses, it has been found that the most pressing issues revolved around working capital and strategies for generating new sales. Interestingly, many of these businesses were well-prepared in the digital realm, readily embracing digital knowledge and seizing opportunities by pivoting to the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) and N95 masks. This study aims to evaluate the early consequences of COVID-19 on Pakistan’s textile industry. Considering the scarcity of research on these challenges and opportunities, our work contributes to a better understanding of the hurdles the textile sector faces. Furthermore, it sets the groundwork for future research in this domain. It provides valuable insights for textile businesses, enabling them to align their strategies with the ever-evolving digital marketing landscape.

This study investigates the impact of supply chain agility on customer value and customer trust while investigating the role of price sensitivity as a mediating variable in the healthcare industry. A quantitative methodological approach was used. This was cross-sectional descriptive research based on a survey method, and data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The sample consisted of 384 respondents who had already used healthcare facilities. The sampling technique was convenience sampling and collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The study indicated that supply chain agility positively impacts customer value and customer trust, while there is no moderation role of price sensitivity in the healthcare industry. Previous scholars revealed that there is a strongly available association between supply chain agility and customer value. But no attempt was undertaken to investigate the impact of supply chain agility on customer trust while moderating the role of price sensitivity.

All sectors have an increasing interest in smart phone applications based on their many advantages that support business, especially the medical sector, which is constantly competing to develop the medical services provided, and accordingly in this research study we industrialized a mobile medical supplies and equipment ordering application (mobile medical app) classic and make an effort to authenticate it factually. When clients (hospitals doctors) create consumptions on the application, three dimensions can be identified: platform emotion stage, fear effect, and familiarity with product. This research designed to reinforce and brighten the most important magnitudes that improve a physician’s judgment of mobile medical app and the purpose to usage. Furthermore, this study inspected the availability of the model between hospital physicians in UAE. The classic ideal was observed by means of a model of 340 UAE clinic physicians and their personal assistant who utilize mobiles facilities in overall. The review technique, a calculable method, was applied; the fractional smallest cubes organizational calculation exhibiting systems was owned to inspect the planned agenda. The platform emotion dimension, especially fear and resistance to change, and the familiarity with the products were evaluated, and it was discovered that these factors positively influenced the objective to use the application. And the other side, the first dimension of emotion, fear, manifested as “apparent threat”, had no outcome on the purpose to using. These discoveries recommended that scholars should emphasis more on the facilities, merchandises, and the key task of the mobile medical app to control their inspirations on clients’ ordering purpose. This will progress the purchasing ways associated to acquiring medicinal materials utilizing mobile medical app and/or on other operational stages in unambiguously in UAE and the Central East at great.