But analysts say foreign direct investment is hampered by high corporate taxes and a legacy of socialist-era policies and bureaucracy.

VOA: standard.2009.11.09

Gulf States in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) are said to be considering plans for a value added tax (VAT) by 2015 while also lowering corporate tax rates to increase foreign direct investment, according to the Paying Taxes 2013 report conducted by the World Bank, IFC and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

CNN: UAB Chief: Gulf States will tax eventually

Third, reputation is an asset like any other asset and Wall Street along with its corporate brethren should persistently look at reputation in terms of competitive value and direct return on investment.

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Also, given that both GDP and employment are a direct function of capital investment, our economy will not recover strongly as long as our corporate income tax is globally uncompetitive.

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