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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

There was a steep increase in patent applications in some GCC countries, even though the overall level is still low

Pace of patent filings shows a leap in GCC innovation

Patent applications filed by residents of Saudi Arabia have more than doubled in the past eight years, from 3,213 in 2016 – when Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman launched his Vision 2030 programme – to 6,510 in 2023. Saudi filers submitted 86.3 patent applications per million inhabitants last year, up from 39.4 in 2016. However, […]

Gulf UAE Saudi PPPs

Gulf still struggling to attract private cash for public projects

Lower oil prices are driving Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to involve private companies in financing critical infrastructure projects worth tens of billions of dollars. Despite some successes, the expansion of public-private partnerships (PPPs) is being hampered by inconsistent project delivery and changing regulatory frameworks that are holding back investor confidence, experts […]

US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP in May 2019

Trump tariffs: Middle East braces for pain after gain

Middle East exporters to the US are likely to see a short-term increase in business ahead of the much talked about trade tariffs which are expected to be announced when Donald Trump returns to the White House this month. The US president-elect campaigned on a protectionist America-first agenda, promising to introduce sweeping tariffs globally. Trump […]

Jumeirah will open Marsa Al Arab in Dubai this year, along with Jumeirah The Red Sea in Saudi Arabia

Jumeirah appoints acting CEO to lead expansion plans

Jumeirah Hotels Group, the owner of Dubai’s Burj Al Arab hotel, has appointed Thomas Meier as CEO to lead the luxury hotel chain in its global expansion push.  Swiss national Meier has been acting CEO for the past 10 months following the departure of Katerina Giannouka in late February last year.  Meier, who has been chief […]

Rahul Tikoo, vice president at chip designer AMD, holds HP's AI-capable Zbook Ultra G1a laptop at CES 2025 in Las Vegas

US PC makers bank on AI to regain Gulf market share

US technology majors Dell and HP have launched a range of PCs featuring artificial intelligence capabilities. Industry analysts believe this may help them regain lost market share in the Gulf region and reverse the decline in demand for PCs. Global PC shipments, including in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, dropped 14.6 percent in the […]

Bahrain Bourse hopes traders will be encouraged by discounts on commissions

Bahrain bourse launches incentive scheme to revive trading

Bahrain Bourse will introduce various incentives next month to try to boost trading on a market that accounts for less than one-thousandth of daily turnover on Gulf stock exchanges. The scheme, which begins on February 2, aims to improve trading activity and increase the number of institutions investing in Bahraini stocks. Its launch comes amid […]

Saudi Arabia has spent billions on consultancy, including drawing on Western companies, but spending is likely to fall

End of ‘blank cheque’ culture for Saudi consultancy

Saudi Arabia remains a boom town for the global consultancy industry, but experts have warned it is no longer the land of milk and honey for international operators and there is now a tighter hold being placed on budgets. The Saudi consultancy market, the largest in the GCC, expanded by 18.2 percent in 2023 with […]

Gulf IPOs, GCC IPOs 2024, Gulf IPO, GCC IPO

Private companies lead Gulf IPOs to raise $12bn in 2024

Gulf initial public offerings raised a combined $12.1 billion last year as companies across myriad sectors including retail, healthcare, energy and financial services went public, deepening and broadening the region’s stock markets. High subscription levels for 2024’s diverse listings demonstrate strong investor interest in gaining exposure to the Gulf’s oil and non-oil economies.   There were […]

GCC healthcare tie-ups US hospital

Healthcare providers from Americas target GCC tie-ups

With the rise of chronic diseases and other complex medical needs, co-operation is growing between medical institutions in Gulf states and their counterparts in the US and beyond. Mass General Brigham Hospitals Network and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, both based in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Mayo Clinic of Rochester, Minnesota, are among the household names […]

Diago Lopez, Singapore-based managing director of Global SWF, says investment managers are increasingly exploring domestic markets as opportunities grow Video length: 04:13

Gulf sovereign wealth funds tilt towards emerging markets

In the past 12 months Gulf sovereign wealth funds invested almost $10 billion in China, the largest such volume in history, Diego Lopez, Singapore-based managing director of Global SWF tells AGBI. This reflected a growing bias among Gulf funds towards emerging markets and domestic economies. “Every time [investment managers] are coming across a good opportunity […]

Shoppers admire Huawei's Mate 70 smartphone series at a flagship store in Beijing, China. Huawei is is banned in the US but expanding 5G networks in the GCC

China-US tech tensions threaten GCC telecom strategy

Gulf countries risk being dragged into the great power “rivalry” between China and the United States when it comes to advanced technology, forcing them to pick a side. As high-tech restrictions are rolled out by Beijing and Washington, the days of buying state-of-the-art semiconductors from the US while installing China’s 5G networks might be over, […]

Ben Powell, chief investment strategist at BlackRock Investment Institute, says 'mega-forces' will be tailwinds for the GCC Video length: 03:59

Investors wary of inflation as Trump pursues ‘America first’ policy

When Donald Trump returns to the White House his “America First” policy is likely to increase inflation and global economic fragmentation, according to analysts. “We [the Middle East] need to be much more picky about particular geographies, asset classes and even themes that we favour,” said Ben Powell, chief investment strategist at BlackRock’s Investment Institute, […]

Chefs prepare food in a Dubai restaurant, where the sector is said to be close to saturation point

Gulf restaurants urged to keep it local

Restaurant operators and investors in the Gulf should open local, authentic outlets rather than imported high-end brands, experts say.  Saudi Arabia, where government-backed initiatives seek to double the number of restaurants, “is definitely a growth market”, according to Duncan Fraser-Smith, CEO of Craft Hospitality Group. But the establishment needs to suit the location. Craft turned […]

GCC real estate: the expat population of Riyadh grew under Vision 2030 projects but the Saudi government is also targeting domestic home ownership

Pricey homes and packed hotels: the year in GCC real estate

The story of the Gulf property market this year was about decreased housing affordability and a growing gap between top-quality properties and second-tier ones. Meanwhile, surging numbers of international visitors in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar brought thriving hospitality and retail sectors in the main tourist hotspots. Industry observers expect 2025 to bring more […]