MEED, formerly ''Middle East Economic Digest'', is a media publishing company founded in 1957 focused on economic and business news related to the Middle East. MEED also provides advertising and marketing services.

History

The first issue of Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) was published on 8 March 1957. MEED's founder and driving force for the next two decades was Elizabeth Collard, a champion of Arab causes who was to become an adviser to UK Prime Minister

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

on Middle East affairs and a friend of

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...

of Egypt and King Hussein of Jordan. She also helped to establish the Council for the Advancement of Arab British Understanding ( CAABU). With two part-time secretarial assistants, MEED was produced on a hand-cranked

Ronco HD Schulman International Trading LLC, doing business as Ronco, is an American company that manufactures and sells kitchen appliances. Ron Popeil founded the company in 1964, and infomercials for the company's products quickly made Ronco a hous ...

printing machine. Every Friday evening, friends and relatives would help staple and stuff envelopes with the 12-page newsletter. Lacking any editorial resources, the Middle East Economic Digest was a compilation from newspapers and other reports. Newspapers were flown in weekly from

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

and

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, translated and condensed. By the time MEED was acquired by Emap in 1986, it had a staff of 20 full-time journalists and 12 researchers and newsroom assistants to cover Middle Eastern business and project news. In 2006 Emap Middle East also acquired business website AME Info. In May 2002, MEED announced it would launch a trade delegation visit to Iran. MEED stated that top government officials and agencies had participated in the Tehran meetings. In March 2012, the owning company rebranded as Top Right Group, but retained the Emap name for its magazine's operation, which at the time accounted for around 18% of the group's turnover. In October 2015 Top Right Group announced it was scrapping the Emap brand and would stop producing print editions, and that over the next 12–18 months all titles would become digital-only. In December 2015 Top Right Group rebranded as

Ascential Ascential (formerly EMAP) was a British-headquartered global company, specialising in events, intelligence and advisory services for the marketing and financial technology industries. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acq ...

, who in January 2017 announced its intention to sell 13 titles including MEED; the 13 "heritage titles" were to be "hived off into a separate business while buyers

ere Ere or ERE may refer to: * ''Environmental and Resource Economics'', a peer-reviewed academic journal * ERE Informatique, one of the first French video game companies * Ere language, an Austronesian language * Ebi Ere (born 1981), American-Nigeria ...

sought". On 8 December 2017, MEED was purchased from

in a $17.5m cash deal by

GlobalData GlobalData Plc is a data analytics and consulting company, headquartered in London, England. The company was established in 1999, and, under different names, has been listed on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) since ...

, the London-listed company formerly known as Progressive Digital Media.

Current business activities

''MEED Magazine''

MEED publishes a business-to-business magazine for subscribers every Friday featuring news, analysis and commentary, features, and interviews and a weekly special report. Circulation, according to a 2009 audit by

ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations UK) The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) is a non-profit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (p ...

, was 6'338. ''MEED'' was launched in 1957. When Rafiq Hariri drew up plans to rebuild a war-shattered

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, MEED met the prime minister and asked him to explain them. When Colonel

Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until his assassination by Libyan rebel forces in 2011. He came to power ...

unveiled the first part of his Great Manmade River, MEED took a front-row seat at the ceremony and quizzed the engineers. While US tanks were still rolling towards

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

in March 2003, MEED obtained plans from Washington that described how the US was hoping to rebuild the country. Three months before going public, MEED revealed

DP World DP World is a multinational logistics company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It specialises in cargo logistics, port terminal operations, maritime services and free trade zones. Formed in 2005 by the merger of Dubai Ports Authority and ...

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

plans. Abdalla el-Badri announced

Opec The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC ) is an organization enabling the co-operation of leading oil-producing and oil-dependent countries in order to collectively influence the global oil market and maximize Profit (eco ...

's potential move from US dollar to euro pricing to MEED. MEED broke news of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

moving ahead with plans for a Mile-High Tower in

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

– which would make it the tallest tower in the world – and Nakheel's plans to create a tower over one kilometre high (then called

Nakheel Tower Nakheel Tower () was a planned skyscraper on hold in Dubai, United Arab Emirates by developer Nakheel. The project was previously called Al Burj ( "The Tower"). While the proposal changed over time, the tower was intended to be the tallest ...

, later announced as Dubai's Harbour Tower) to trump Emaar's

Burj Khalifa The Burj Khalifa (known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration) is a megatall skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft, or just over half a mile) and a roof height (excluding the antenna, but inc ...

. MEED is used as a source of Middle East information by the US and British government's –

Energy Information Administration The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and pub ...

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

and the British

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

. The dedication made by

Abdullah II of Jordan Abdullah II (Abdullah bin Hussein; born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of the Hashemites, who have been the reigning royal family of Jordan since 1921, and is traditionally reg ...

in 2007 demonstrates MEED's positive contribution to the Middle East for over 50 years. "The celebration of this milestone is a testament to the distinguished insight into the region MEED has provided to its readers for five decades. Your acuity has recorded the region's diversity and potential, not just its challenges and crises."

Editorial staff

* John Bambridge, features and analysis editorMeet the Editors
/ref> * Richard Thompson, editorial director * Colin Foreman, news editor * Andrew Roscoe, power and water editor * Jennifer Aguinaldo, transport and technologies editor * Indrajit Sen, oil and gas editor

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em

External links

MEED.comMEED Projects website
Mass media companies of the United Arab Emirates Ascential Magazines established in 1957 Business magazines 1957 establishments in the United Kingdom Weekly magazines Mass media in Dubai