This study offers a comprehensive analysis of the e-commerce ecosystem in Yemen, identifying key opportunities and impacting factors to growth, and suggesting suitable strategies for e-commerce startups. The study employs an integrated methodical approach, combining a literature review, and data analysis using Grey Analytic Hierarchy Process (Grey AHP) and Grey Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (Grey TOPSIS). The literature review identifies opportunities, challenges, and strategic solutions. The Grey AHP assesses the relative importance of opportunities and challenges. The Grey TOPSIS ranks the best strategies that e-commerce startups in Yemen can adopt to leverage these opportunities and manage the negative effects of the barriers. The results show that large market potential, the underserved market, and the growing middle class represent the most significant opportunities. In contrast, economic and political instability, logistical challenges, and the lack of trust in online payments are the most significant impacting factors. To overcome these challenges, the top three strategies recommended are building strategic partnerships, offering secure payment and delivery options, and targeting the underserved market. By implementing these strategies, the e-commerce ecosystem in Yemen can prosper, take advantage of opportunities, and contribute to the country’s economic development.

The present study is an investigation into beekeeping activity values as land use types practiced in Sudanese forests. The main objectives of the study are to estimate honey yield produced per unit area from four tree species, namely: Acacia seyal, A. nilotica, Ziziphus spina-Christi and Eucalyptus spp. Furthermore, the study aims at estimating its economic value and financial return (US$/hectare) using Return On Investment (ROI) as a decision criterion. In addition, the study aims at identifying the obstacles and constraints which this activity faces. The data were collected through interviews with 96 beekeepers in six selected production areas and a survey of market-related data. A structured questionnaire was used, and a descriptive and comparative analysis carried out. The results indicated that the average annual yield of honey/bee hives is 13 kg, ranging between 10 and 16 kg, and A. seyal showed the highest productivity. Furthermore, the results showed that 15 bee colonies/hectare is more suitable with a return rate of 780 US$/hectare annual income. This result indicates that the productivity of honey yield from forest trees has a considerable economic value and financial return. Thus, these results could be a great incentive to encourage local communities to integrate forest management.

China has developed many strategies to promote sustainable trade, including accelerating the signing of free-trade agreements (FTAs). However, there is a lack of studies examining the impact of FTAs on the sustainable growth of foreign trade from a holistic perspective. This paper applies an augmented gravity model to verify the trade creation and diversion effects of China’s FTAs that are currently in effect. A panel data analysis over the period of 1995–2019 is conducted on 34 countries and regions, including China, and Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood (PPML) is employed to test three different fixed-effects models. The results show that the trade effects differ across FTAs, with nine FTAs generally making positive contributions to China’s trade and social welfare growth, and the remaining five FTAs exhibiting varying degrees of trade diversion or contraction effects. Empirically, it is clear that participation in FTAs has contributed to the sustainable trade of China, but China still needs to take prudent action to pursue further trade liberalization in order to counter the potential threat of trade diversion.