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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

To enhance the Future Generations Reserve wealth fund, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has formally approved plans to increase contributions from oil revenues

Bahrain to increase oil revenue contributions to wealth fund

Bahrain has approved plans to increase its contribution from its oil revenues to its Future Generations Reserve wealth fund. King Hamad of Bahrain approved a new modified savings format, amending the 2006 law that dates back to when the sovereign wealth fund was established. The fund was created to allocate and invest amounts deducted from oil […]

Ooredoo GCC network

Ooredoo to build high-speed data network for GCC

Qatari telelcoms company Ooredoo Group has signed an agreement with French company Alcatel Submarine Networks to build a new submarine cable and fibre network connecting seven countries in the region.  The project, called Gulf in Fibre, will connect the six GCC countries — Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman — and Iraq […]

middle east air cargo

Red Sea attacks and ecommerce boost Middle East air cargo

Strong ecommerce growth and attacks on shipping in the Red Sea have resulted in a 13 percent rise in air cargo shipments in the Middle East. The International Air Transport Association said global air cargo demand increased by 11.3 percent last year.  The Middle East overperformed with 14 percent growth, while European carriers reported 11.2 percent growth and […]

Bahrain tax

Bahrain’s expat tax move ‘likely to be replicated GCC-wide’

Bahrain is proposing to levy a tax on expatriate remittances, a move an industry expert believes is likely to be replicated in other neighbouring Gulf countries. Members of parliament in the kingdom this week supported a revised proposal which would mean expat remittances face a two percent tax. “It would not surprise me if other […]

Saudi contracts Trojena dam

Contracts in Saudi Arabia rise 25% in value in 2024

The value of contracts issued by Saudi Arabia rose by almost a quarter year on year in 2024 to reach a record high of $146.8 billion.  The kingdom accounted for more than half of all contracts issued across the GCC, which reached a new high of $273.2 billion, according to a report by the Kuwait-based […]

Almasadam Satkaliyev, Kazakhstan's energy minister, told a briefing that Opec+ will meet to discuss a response to Trump's plans

Opec+ to take joint stance on Trump oil policy

The Opec+ group of leading oil producers is set to discuss President Donald Trump’s efforts to raise US oil production and take a joint stance on the matter, Kazakhstan said on Wednesday. Trump last week laid out a sweeping plan to help maximise oil and gas production, including by declaring a national energy emergency to speed up permitting […]

The Central Bank of the UAE. In December 2024, the GCC central banks cut interest rates by 25 basis points, mirroring the Fed's move

GCC central banks align with Fed to keep rates steady

The central banks in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have aligned with the US Federal Reserve to hold their interest rates steady. The Central Bank of the UAE will maintain its base rate on overnight deposit facility (ODF) at 4.4 percent, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported. No other central banks in the […]

Tax specialists in the GCC are curious as to how Trump's stance will affect their compliance

GCC weighs impact of Trump’s global corporate tax moves

Tax professionals in the Gulf are assessing how President Donald Trump’s pull-back of US support for an international corporate tax framework might affect GCC states’ implementation of it. In a day-one executive order last week, the returning US president repudiated “any commitment” made by the previous Biden administration toward the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and […]

GCC aluminium ingots Bahrain

No investment, more efficiency, say GCC aluminium smelters

Aluminium producers in the Gulf are not planning any fresh investments in 2025, despite a projected rise in global demand, an industry official said this week. Production in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries grew by around 120,000 tonnes to reach a record high of nearly 6.45 million tonnes in 2024, said Mahmoud Al-Daylami, […]

In a shift of policy, Dubai Land Department has converted 128 plots in Sheikh Zayed Road to freehold status real estate

Dubai real estate sector welcomes freehold drive

Dubai’s decision this month to convert the ownership of 457 plots to freehold status was welcomed enthusiastically by the emirate’s real estate sector, but industry experts are divided on whether this will lead to more restricted plots in prime areas becoming available to foreign freehold buyers. The policy shift – in which 128 plots in […]

Legal experts say the volume of projects in the Middle East is causing 'issues within joint ventures'

Mena construction industry braced for rise in disputes

Construction professionals working in the Middle East and North Africa are bracing themselves for a surge in disputes, driven by delays, cost overruns and changes in scope, research has found. In a survey of Mena businesses including contractors and developers, more than 80 percent of the 95 respondents said they anticipated a rise in disputes […]

China solar power Middle East

China renewables pivot to Middle East to avoid Trump tariffs

Chinese renewables manufacturers are looking to move some operations to the Middle East to avoid higher tariffs under US president Donald Trump, a senior executive from one of the sector’s largest players has told AGBI. Vincent Wu, vice president of sales at global solar panel manufacturer Trinasolar, said the region is the right place to […]

Mubadala Investment Company Group CEO Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak. Mubadala's spending overtook that of Saudi Arabia's PIF in 2024

Vast Gulf wealth funds splinter to make targeted investments

Sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf are increasingly doing business via wholly-owned or affiliated entities as they become too big to manage specialised investment efforts, industry watchers are saying. MGX, an Emirati artificial intelligence-focused vehicle founded last year by Abu Dhabi’s fund Mubadala and the artificial intelligence company G42, made a splash by being one […]

The railway will connect Kuwait to Saudi Arabia in the northern area of the GCC rail project and is scheduled to be completed by 2030

Kuwait awards railway contract to Turkish company

Kuwait has awarded the tender for the first phase of its plan to build 111 kilometres of railway.  The Central Agency for Public Tenders awarded the contract to Turkish engineering and consulting company Proyapi to carry out a study and detailed design to prepare tender documents for the railway.  The first phase is expected to […]