Health Secret records found of alleged NMC fraud, court told Administrators for Abu Dhabi-based NMC Health found internal “cheat sheets” showing the true condition of the company’s finances and detailing “significant payments” to people including founder BR Shetty, a UK court has heard. NMC collapsed in 2020 with debts exceeding £3 billion ($4.1 billion). Administrator Alvarez & Marsal is suing big four accountancy firm EY […] June 10, 2025
Analysis Education International business schools enter Gulf to plug skills gap Demand for executive education in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Gulf states is growing as local governments and corporations seek to train the next generation of leaders to support economic and enterprise development goals. Several business schools and universities offering professional development programmes are expanding in the Gulf region. These include the London Business […] May 29, 2025
EXCLUSIVE Finance Qatari state faces UK legal action over $6bn debt Swifthold Foundation, a Panama-registered Anglo-Spanish family office, is mounting legal action against the state of Qatar over a $6 billion debt owed by a member of its royal family, the latest stage in a dispute that dates back more than a decade. Swifthold, whose individual founders or beneficiaries are not publicly known due to the […] May 19, 2025
Analysis Trade UK urged to seek standalone trade deals with Gulf states Trade experts, including a former UK government senior advisor, are questioning why talks between the UK and GCC to secure a free trade agreement are taking so long. Many recommend that London pursue bilateral deals with Gulf countries if and when a wider GCC deal is signed. “[The negotiations] have been going on for yonks […] May 2, 2025
Real Estate Kuwait wealth fund sues over London tower project Kuwait Investment Authority, the world’s fifth-biggest sovereign wealth fund, is suing global investment company Axa Investment Managers in connection with a planned tower in London’s financial district that risks blocking light to a KIA building. St Martins Property, the investment authority’s property development unit, is suing Hygie, a special purpose vehicle controlled by Axa Investment […] April 29, 2025
Lifestyle UAE sets up music copyright agency to distribute royalties The UAE government has set up an organisation to collect and distribute royalties on behalf of music copyright holders in what has been called a “new era” for the country’s music industry. Emirates Music Rights is the first licensing body for songwriters, composers and music publishers in the Gulf. It was set up by the […] April 17, 2025
Real Estate Middle East buyers’ share of UK property demand grows Prospective buyers from the Arabian Gulf and the wider Middle East are taking up a larger share of total international interest in UK real estate, the property broker Hamptons has found. However, total overseas demand for property in the British Isles appears to be falling, Hamptons said. International applicants as a share of the total […] April 9, 2025
Aviation Mid-East passenger demand keeps rising but cargo slows Middle Eastern carriers have reported a yearly increase in passenger demand in February, albeit slightly down on the previous month because of factors including trade tensions, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata). The latest monthly figures from Iata showed a 3 percent year-on-year increase in demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, in February, […] April 1, 2025
Construction Review deals latest blow to Sidara’s takeover of John Wood UAE construction consultancy Sidara is facing another setback in its planned takeover of British oil services firm John Wood Group, which this week said it had to restate its financial results and probably suspend its shares after a review found information had been withheld from auditors. Dubai-based Sidara, formerly Dar Global, was in discussions last […] April 1, 2025
Real Estate UAE dominates UK overseas mortgage market Property buyers from the Middle East – particularly the UAE – are among the top international clients for UK mortgage brokers, according to new research. About 30 percent of 300 brokers surveyed by investment company Raw Capital Partners said they had arranged mortgages for clients from the Middle East and UAE over the past five […] March 25, 2025
Education Mena reaches for tech to upgrade results in education Demand for education technology, or edtech, is growing in the Middle East and North Africa as countries seek to bolster learning to drive economic growth. However, experts warned against excessive use of technology in classrooms, saying it could affect the attainment of basic skills such as reading and writing. Examples of edtech include interactive whiteboards, […] April 8, 2024
Real Estate Real estate broker licence numbers in Kuwait rise by 17% Almost 230 new licences were issued to land and property sales agents in Kuwait in 2023, bringing the total to 1,594 by the end of December, a 17 percent rise on 2022. Kuwait’s property sector is hoping that a new law allowing foreigners to buy will lead to increased business opportunities. A total of 228 […] March 21, 2024
Construction Sharjah developer launches Syria home-building campaign The Sharjah developer Arada has launched its third annual Ramadan charity campaign, pledging to build homes for displaced families in Syria. For every house sold at Arada’s real estate developments during the holy month, the company will build a home for a Syrian family affected by recent conflict and the February 2023 earthquakes. NewsletterGet the […] March 19, 2024
Economy Oman posts $220m budget surplus in January Oman’s budget surplus reached nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in January, helped by public income from state investments, according to its state-owned news agency. The surplus was OR85 million ($220 million) by the end of January, down just over 40 percent on the OR145 million surplus registered in the same month of 2023, […] March 18, 2024
People & Lifestyle UK’s non-dom shake-up to attract high earners to Gulf There is likely to be an influx of expats and returning nationals to the Gulf as a result of the UK’s abolition of non-domicile tax status from April 2025, experts told AGBI. ‘Non-doms’ live in the UK but claim to have a permanent residence in another country, so they do not pay tax on overseas […] March 15, 2024
Industry Qatar’s non-oil companies optimistic despite higher costs Higher output and strong demand for goods and services helped Qatar’s non-oil private sector to record a faster improvement in business conditions in February than in the previous month, a survey shows. The latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey by Qatar Financial Centre and S&P Global registered 51 in February, up from 50.4 in January. […] March 7, 2024
Aviation Etihad posts soaring net profit and anticipates IPO Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways grew its net profit more than fivefold to AED525 million ($143 million) in 2023, helped by a 40 percent increase in passengers and AED20.3 billion ($5.5 billion) of revenues. The emirate’s state-owned airline gave staff a heads-up about its 2023 financial performance in an internal memo sent on January 25, AGBI […] March 6, 2024
EXCLUSIVE Health For those who want ‘IVF and a holiday’ … Dubai’s next hotel A fertility clinic-resort is opening soon, thanks to changes in UAE law on assisted reproduction March 6, 2024
Finance Asset manager Offset8 invests in Indonesia carbon project Asset manager Offset8 Capital, which specialises in financing climate mitigation projects, has facilitated an undisclosed early-stage investment in a waste management scheme in Indonesia. The project, run by Singapore-based sustainable waste management company Sawa EcoSolutions and its Indonesian operating arm Legasi Alam Indonesia, is expected to generate around $50 million of carbon credits over the […] February 29, 2024
Tourism Saudi Arabia hits tourism target seven years early More than 106 million tourists visited Saudi Arabia last year, surpassing the kingdom’s 2030 target and prompting it to set a new goal of welcoming 150 million annual visitors by the end of the decade, according to the Ministry of Tourism. Achieving the milestone target of the Vision 2030 economic roadmap seven years early cements […] February 28, 2024
Sustainability UK’s Solent Cluster courts Gulf for green investment The Solent Cluster, a network of 114 companies with interests on the English south coast, is considering working with Gulf companies to deliver $15 billion of green investment. The group is prioritising decarbonisation and among its proposals are a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant for which Dubai’s national carrier Emirates and other airlines could become […] February 26, 2024
Construction Dubai Science Park reveals expansion plans Dubai’s biotechnology free zone is adding 60 percent more offices, laboratories and warehouses over the next few years to cater for an influx of new companies, its senior vice-president told AGBI. Dubai Science Park, part of Dubai-listed Tecom Group, is planning an expansion of 200,000 sq ft of additional storage and logistics facilities at the […] February 23, 2024
