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GCC

Business news and financial news, analysis, opinion and statistics covering the six Gulf Corporation Council members Bahrain, Kuwait,  Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE

Maersk says it will only return to sailing via the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden when the safety of seafarers and vessels is guaranteed

Red Sea disruption to stretch into Q3 says Maersk CEO

Disruption in the Red Sea is expected to stretch into the third quarter of 2024, making the situation challenging for carriers and businesses, Danish shipping major Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc has said. “For the time being, Maersk ships are continuing to divert around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa,” he said, […]

Students at England's Harrow School. Taaleem Holdings will own and operate Harrow International Schools

Taaleem signs deal with UK’s Harrow for GCC schools

UAE schools operator Taaleem Holdings has signed a deal with the UK’s Harrow School to own and operate Harrow International Schools across the GCC. The agreement marks Taaleem’s first foray into the super-premium school market. The first Taaleem Harrow School will open in the UAE, according to a statement on Monday, although no date was […]

Fans of Saudi team Al Hilal at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. Will Mena football clubs be as enthusiastic about the Club World Cup?

Mena football teams weigh appeal of revamped Club World Cup

Football teams from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia will compete alongside the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich at Fifa’s revamped Club World Cup next summer, potentially giving the Mena outfits unprecedented global exposure. The United States will host the 32-team tournament in June and July 2025. Yet less than a […]

Field, Nature, Outdoors In 2023, El Niño arrived early, impacting crops. The Indian government reacted by banning exports of non-basmati white rice

Weather and politics keep pressure on price of rice

The status of rice as a global food staple means that it is also a political minefield for producer nations. So all eyes are on India as rice prices fluctuate at around a 15-year high.  Different varietals and markets command different prices, but trading on “contracts for difference”, which track benchmark prices, saw the cost of […]

Gas flaring at a plant in Veracruz state, Mexico. The country is one of the biggest contributors to global flaring, along with Iran, Iraq and Libya

Iran, Iraq and Libya among worst offenders on gas flaring

Environmentally ruinous flaring of gas at upstream oil and gas facilities has risen to its highest level for five years, despite pledges to end the practice, the World Bank has said. Iran, Iraq and Libya were among the biggest contributors in 2023, according to a World Bank report published on June 20. Along with six […]

A miner inside a tunnel of the Parrilla silver mine, Mexico. Mexico is the world's biggest producer of mined silver.

Silver is riding high but the market remains volatile

With a gain in its spot price of nearly one-third since the start of the year, silver is now 2024’s best-performing precious metal.  It is a major industrial material with an important role in the green energy transition. Yet, while these factors are combining to give silver a moment, analysts are quick to warn of […]

A worker at a currency exchange in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The IMF said central bank digital currencies will lower the cost of financial services

IMF endorses Middle East interest in digital currencies

Countries in the Middle East can promote financial inclusion and boost cross-border payments by adopting central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the International Monetary Fund has said. A CBDC is a form of digital money, similar to cryptocurrency except that its value is fixed by a central bank and is equivalent to the country’s fiat currency.  […]

Saudi imports GCC

UAE dominates Saudi imports

Saudi Arabia’s imports from its neighbouring five GCC countries rose 5 percent to SAR21 billion ($5.6 billion) in the first quarter of 2024. Oman led the growth, but goods trade with Qatar suffered a steep decline, according to figures from Saudi platform Argaam, citing the Saudi General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). Goods shipped from the […]

Opec Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais says peak oil 'is not on the horizon'

Upstream oil and gas ‘needs more annual investment’

Annual capital expenditure for exploration and production in the upstream sector of the oil industry needs to increase by 22 percent by 2030 because of growing demand and cost inflation, experts say. A cumulative $4.3 trillion needs to be invested between 2025 and 2030, according to a report by the International Energy Forum (IEF) and […]

Private credit or non-bank lending has soared in popularity since the global financial crisis

Better terms and returns swell private credit demand

Private credit in the Gulf is attracting greater interest from borrowers and investors, fund managers say. For borrowers, high interest rates have depressed mid-sized, private company valuations and make selling equity to raise money less alluring. And for investors, private credit offers more regular returns than the likes of private equity. Private credit is non-bank […]

Adult, Female, Person

Private jets to flamingos: the personal shopping lists of the super rich

The luxury e-ommerce retailer Pastor & Co, which boasts it can supply clients with everything from Picasso paintings to swans, is aiming to pass $10 million in profits this year, buoyed by strong interest from the rich and famous across the Mena region. The personalised shopping service gets requests to source anything from a rare Fendi […]

Hotel franchising is a well established model in the West and is becoming more popular in the Gulf Video length: 07:12

Hotel franchising model takes off in the Gulf

Global hospitality brands are aggressively expanding across the Gulf, stepping up competition and giving disgruntled owners unprecedented freedom to choose how and by whom their hotels should be run. Some hotel owners are opting for franchising agreements and third-party management arrangements. “Operators have become more flexible when offering their brands under a franchise than they […]