The property crash that hit Dubai in 2008 put an end to years of rapid growth. While these wounds are not yet fully healed, the emirate is returning to strength and is retaining its allure to investors as the safest of havens with the finest infrastructure in the Middle East.

The Arab Spring protests, and the months of political instability that followed, slowed FDI inflows into north Africa. But rather than pulling out of the region entirely, many investors simply put their projects on hold or moved into other more stable economies such as Morocco and Algeria.

South Korea has seen its export-focused economy slow in the global economic downturn, leading its government to launch a fiscal stimulus package to encourage growth and leaving investors hoping that the country can regain its momentum in the long term.