The National Bank of Greece's acquisition of Turkey's Finansbank in 2006 faced much scepticism but the Turkish bank's chief believes that despite the countries' previous hostile relationship and Greece's recent debt crisis, it was a move that has paid off.

Thailand can no longer rely upon its exports or low labour costs to give it an edge in international markets. Instead, it must rebalance its economy to be more demand driven, and to have a greater domestic focus, something the Bank of Thailand is keen to help the country achieve.

Much has improved in Côte d'Ivoire since president Alassane Ouattara came to power last year, ending months of post-election turmoil. Although some parts of the country remain volatile, most of it is peaceful. And the economy is expanding quickly. The president even thinks its will soon attain double-digit growth. 

The Belarusian banking sector weathered the financial turmoil of 2011 with relative ease. However, increased competition, privatisation and a tricky economic climate means future growth will be tough.

Despite facing crisis conditions in 2011, the Belarusian economy has proven to be remarkably robust, boasting plenty of untapped potential, and there are hopes that its privatisation process will lessen the dominance of large state-owned companies on the country's business landscape.

New Zealand may have fared relatively well during the global financial crisis, but the difficult economic climate, combined with specific market failures, has served to raise some serious questions among policy-makers, banks and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand itself.

Turkey’s central bank has apparently achieved the impossible by successfully tackling inflation, stabilising the country's currency and combating speculative inflows through an unconventional mix of interest rate cuts and tweaking reserve requirements. But can these changes hold up against the changing economic climate?

The manner in which the Greek restructuring deals have been carried out, and the preferred investor status given to the ECB and the central banks of other European countries, has left the private sector badly burned. Will this lead to a reluctance from private investors to re-enter the country, or the eurozone in general, thus hindering its recovery?

The people of Scotland will have the opportunity to vote on the country's independence from the rest of the UK in 2014. But while the decision will inevitably be an emotive one, the financial, business and political ramifications cannot be ignored, and it appears that there is still a great deal of uncertainty surrounding them.