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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

Side view of professional female IT developer from Middle East coding at ease on laptop while sitting at workstation with several computers in office

Gulf digitalisation growth barely moving needle in productivity

Improvements in the availability and quality of digital infrastructure and services have yet to impact productivity growth in the Gulf economies in any meaningful way, according to IMF officials, past and present. The digitalisation of government services – through online portals for administrative tasks or e-procurement platforms – as well as the advent of tele-health […]

The tech-heavy Nasdaq exchange was rocked by the emergence of DeepSeek, and S&P and Dow Jones have fallen, too

The Gulf is not immune to global economic fluctuations

It has been a torrid week in the US markets. The S&P 500 has fallen 8 percent over the past month – close to correction territory – while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 6 percent. The dollar, too, has been hurt, which is of consequence to the Gulf’s dollar-pegged economies. The greenback has […]

Project finance is becoming ever more important in funding the growing number of major infrastructure projects across the Gulf region

Project finance central to funding Gulf infrastructure

Financing a project and project finance are not necessarily the same thing. Irrespective, project finance is as important as ever in the Gulf in funding billions of dollars of infrastructure projects, from energy and water schemes to data centres and battery storage facilities, according to experts.  Abbas Hussein, global head of infrastructure and development finance […]

2X5K4RN Multi-Ethnic Office Conference Room Meeting: Diverse Team of Top Managers, Executives, Share Digital Tablet Computer Talk. Businesspeople Discuss Strategy, do Analysis.

Growth-stage investment heats up as Gulf IPOs gain traction

Global investors are increasingly vying for stakes in later-stage Gulf startups, betting on the region’s economic expansion and stronger exit opportunities, as the regional IPO markets gain momentum. The region, long overlooked for growth-stage capital – minority investments in established companies aimed at accelerating expansion – is witnessing a surge of interest from giants such […]

Workers at a construction site near Riyadh. The need for project finance has grown as Gulf governments push ahead with mega-projects

The changing face of project finance around the Gulf

Contrasting trends are emerging in Gulf project finance, with deals increasing in duration but also more likely to be refinanced early. Project finance is a funding model often used for infrastructure, in which repayment comes from revenue generated by the completed facility rather than being guaranteed by the owners. “Repayment depends on the project succeeding,” […]

Wealthy investors have another asset to trade with securitisation

Asset securitisation in the Gulf takes its first baby steps 

Asset securitisation, a $14 trillion business in the United States, seems to be finally gaining ground in the Gulf. Last week the UAE lender Deem Finance sealed a $400 million asset securitisation deal with JP Morgan. Emirates NBD of Dubai and Rasmal Ventures in Qatar have also co-invested $7.6 million in the Turkish startup TeamSec, […]

A soybean farm in Brazil. Brazil's Agribrasil traded in 1.858 million tonnes of soybeans and corn in the first nine months of 2024

GCC companies vie for stake in Brazilian grain trader 

Brazilian grain trader Agribrasil has held talks with suitors interested in buying a stake in the company, according to two sources familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private, and GCC companies are reported in the mix. Two sources named Solaris Commodities, an independent commodity trader headquartered in Dubai, […]

The prospect of passing down wealth to the next generation is forcing families to rethink financial governance

Citigroup hiring to tap the Gulf family office market

Citigroup says it is expanding its presence in the UAE, the second-largest Arab economy, as it competes to manage more of the assets of wealthy Gulf merchant families. $1 trillion of these assets are expected to shift to the next generation by the end of this decade. To boost its capabilities, the US bank says […]

Workers carry fertiliser bags to be mixed with water at a farm in Sharjah: the World Bank’s fertiliser price index has rebounded to 124 from a three-year low last May of 108

Gulf investors urged to switch from petrochems to fertiliser

Gulf fertiliser companies are trading below their fair value, with investors not seeming to price in a rebound in product prices that analysts say is more than just a seasonal upswing. In the Gulf, fertilisers and petrochemicals are considered adjacent industries, since both rely on natural gas as a feedstock. While petrochemical companies’ earnings have […]

A busy Tokyo street full of neon signs and people. The Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro) said in its annual report this week that exports from the GCC totalled $84 billion in 2024

GCC exports to Japan slump by more than $10bn in 2024

Exports by wealthy Gulf nations to Japan, a major economic partner, plunged by $10 billion in 2024 following a decline in oil prices, according to a trade organisation. The decline combined with an increase in Japan’s exports to the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to depress the Gulf group’s trade surplus by nearly $11 billion. […]

The King Abdullah Financial District Metro Station in Riyadh. The $5.6bn subway contract accounted for nearly a third of Chinese construction investment in Saudi Arabia

Middle East is top recipient of Chinese Belt and Road deals

The Middle East was the top recipient of construction and investment deals under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2024, with the total value reaching $39 billion.  That may not go down well in Washington. Saudi Arabia and construction topped the list, according to a report by Griffith Asia Institute, based in Queensland, Australia. […]

President Donald Trump, pictured touring an LNG facility in Louisiana in 2019, has lifted a moratorium on LNG export permits

US energy push bodes well for GCC’s LNG interests

Since his return to the Oval Office, Donald Trump has moved aggressively to unleash a new era for the American energy sector.  Last month, he established a National Energy Dominance Council, tasked with expediting projects by cutting red tape and promoting private-sector investment.  He has also lifted a moratorium on liquefied natural gas (LNG) export […]

Staff at a Burjeel clinic in the UAE. Retaining skilled medical professionals is a major issue across the GCC

Gulf healthcare battling staff shortages as demand rises

Recruitment is the single biggest challenge facing the Gulf’s healthcare sector, according to industry experts. By 2029, the region will need around 12,300 additional hospital beds to serve a population that is not only growing in number but also aging and living longer, according to private equity group Alpen Capital.  That is equivalent to growth […]