Economy GCC economic data The latest economic indicators for the Gulf Co-operation Council countries: the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain – plus links to in-depth pages on each country April 29, 2025
Economy Saudi Arabia economy The latest economic indicators and demographic trends for Saudi Arabia, including GDP, inflation, oil prices, trade, population, expats, unemployment and more November 20, 2024
Economy United Arab Emirates economy The latest economic indicators and demographic trends for the United Arab Emirates, including the UAE's GDP, inflation, oil prices, trade, population, expats, unemployment and more November 20, 2024
Economy Oman economy The latest economic and demographic indicators for Oman, including GDP, inflation, oil prices, trade, population, unemployment and more November 20, 2024
Economy Qatar economy The latest economic and demographic indicators for Qatar, including GDP, inflation, oil prices, trade, population, unemployment and more November 20, 2024
Opinion Economy Gulf investors may gain from UK pound recovery Shifts in currency position the pound to benefit from US dollar index falls May 15, 2025
Trade Qatar takes centre stage on Trump’s Middle East mission Major deal announcements kept rolling in on Wednesday as Donald Trump travelled from Riyadh to Doha on the second day of his visit to the Gulf. Qatar Airways agreed to purchase up to 210 Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X jets for $96 billion in what the White House described as Boeing’s “largest ever wide-body order”. […] May 15, 2025
Analysis Aviation Flynas to test appetite for airline IPOs as Gulf rivals look on Low-cost carrier Flynas is preparing to go public on the Saudi Exchange this month in a deal that is being watched not only by investors but also by Gulf rivals considering their own listings, analysts have told AGBI. Among them is Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways, whose long-anticipated initial public offering could be shaped by Flynas’ […] May 14, 2025
Opinion Tech The US should launch a Gulf biotechnology partnership Biotech leaders stand to benefit from deeper integration with Gulf capital, infrastructure and markets May 14, 2025
Opinion Trade Trump in his happy place: Purple carpets and big deals in Saudi Arabia The challenge now is to maintain the momentum and atmosphere of the trip May 14, 2025
Trade Why Oman is off Trump’s travel plans Oman may have negotiated a ceasefire between the US and Yemen’s Houthis, and is the go-between the US and Iran in negotiations around nuclear weapons capability. But it is not among the countries President Donald Trump is visiting in the Arabian Gulf this week. “These Gulf countries Trump is currently visiting are offering trillions of […] May 14, 2025
Analysis Finance VC funding in decline for female-led Mena startups Startups led by women in the Middle East and North Africa are at risk of being left far behind when it comes to raising venture capital funds, data shows. Since 2020 their share of the total has declined every year from 2.2 percent to less than 0.5 percent in 2023, before bouncing back up – […] May 12, 2025
Analysis Artificial Intelligence Dubai’s hottest new job title: chief AI officer Three years ago, finding a single person in the Middle East and the Gulf with the job title “chief AI officer” was rare, if not unheard of. Today, however, with the help of the world’s biggest technology companies and their complicated artificial intelligence tools, chief AI officers – or CAIOs as they are also known […] May 12, 2025
Analysis Trade Big money, big deals – but Gulf needs FDI clarity from Trump US President Donald Trump arrives in the Saudi capital Riyadh tomorrow on the first leg of his three-country Gulf visit that will also take in Qatar and the UAE. His overwhelming objective is money and big deals: to sell American goods and secure their investment to the US economy. With that in mind, the US […] May 12, 2025
Finance US moves to fast-track deals with Middle East nations The US is setting up a fast-track process to ease greater investment from the Middle East ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to the Gulf next week. Trump is slated to visit Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar from May 13-16. The fast-track process includes launching a portal to collect information from foreign investors before […] May 9, 2025
Editor's Insight Economy Taking on the almighty dollar There is much to discuss during President Trump’s visit to Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia next week. Oil and gas, investment into the US and tariffs, technology transfers and nuclear power, weapons sales and security guarantees, Yemen and Iran are all likely to feature. By way of welcome, Qatar has said that it will buy a fleet of […] May 8, 2025
Opinion Markets GCC investors need a multi-currency mindset to survive Investors are scrambling to reduce exposure to erratic US policies May 8, 2025
Trade US might ease chip export curbs on some Gulf nations President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he will soon have an announcement on whether the US will ease microchip export restrictions to some Gulf countries. “We might be doing that, yeah,” Trump said. “And it will be announced soon.” Trump is preparing for his first major diplomatic trip next week that includes a three-country Middle […] May 8, 2025
Analysis Trade Gulf funds weigh risk and reward in Trump’s new trade world order Gulf sovereign wealth funds, including Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala and Saudi Arabia’s Neom Investment Fund, see both risk and opportunity in the heightened global trade tensions linked to US tariffs. “We know what an economic recession looks like – here we’re dealing with something slightly different,” said Oscar Fahlgren, chief investment officer at Mubadala’s alternative asset […] May 7, 2025
Trade Malaysia continues GCC trade talks that began in 2011 Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has said that talks on closing a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Gulf Cooperation Council are continuing, 14 years after they first began. The deal will deepen commercial partnerships and expand economic growth, Kuwait’s state-run Kuna news agency reported, quoting Ibrahim. The GCC and Malaysia agreed on a trade […] May 7, 2025
Opinion Renewable Energy GCC states bet big on renewables in Central Asia Green energy deals are the foundations for closer trade relationships May 6, 2025
Opinion Oil & Gas Opec+ throws the car into reverse, but keeps its grip on the wheel It is a stretch to see how the current market can be regarded as anything but uncertain May 5, 2025
Analysis Leisure & Hospitality UAE hotels absorb rising costs at expense of profit Many UAE hoteliers are reluctant to raise prices to compensate for rising operational costs, even as intensifying global competition and geopolitical volatility tighten profit margins. According to data from CBRE Middle East, growth in UAE hotel revenue per available room (RevPAR) has slowed over the last two years, from 6 percent in 2023 to 3 […] May 5, 2025
Media & Advertising Ad spend in Mena among world’s lowest thanks to digital media Early and widespread adoption of digital media means countries across the Middle East and North Africa are spending less on advertising per capita than almost any other region. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are among the economies with the lowest ad spending as a percentage of GDP in the world, according to data from […] May 5, 2025
Opinion Artificial Intelligence No matter where you are, it pays to be nice to AI Polite and intimate, or businesslike and rude – which approach is best? I asked the expert May 2, 2025
