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Middle East

Marriott to add 20 hotels across Middle East, including conversions

Marriott International will add more than 20 hotels and 5,000 rooms in the Middle East over the next 15 months. Announcing its expansion plans at the Future Hospitality Summit in Dubai this week, the hospitality group said its growth is fuelled by ongoing demand for its portfolio of hotel brands across Saudi Arabia, Qatar and […]

Abdulla Kalban, EGA’s Managing Director, right, welcomes Zhang Yiming, the Chinese ambassador to the company’s Jebel Ali site in Dubai

200 billion reasons why the Gulf is China’s hottest trading partner

When Deng Xiaoping, the former communist leader of China, started his modernisation drive in the late 20th century, he looked to the Middle East as the only place that could provide the enormous quantities of oil and gas that his country required to become a global powerhouse.  By the end of this decade, less than […]

Person, Human, Clothing
  • Arab Youth Survey 2022

Arab youth ‘trust Russia and China more than UK and US’

Arab youth see the United States and the United Kingdom as bigger enemies than Russia and China, with the majority blaming the US and NATO for the war in Ukraine, a new survey has said. Close to three quarters (72 percent) of young Arabs describe Russia as either a strong ally or somewhat of an […]

Altibbi plans healthcare expansion in North Africa and Pakistan

Altibbi, the largest AI-based digital health provider in the Arab world, is looking to expand into North Africa and Pakistan after “turbocharging” growth in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, its CEO has told AGBI. Jalill Allabadi said the proceeds from Altibbi’s latest funding round of $44 million – the largest ever single financing round for a […]

The tumbling currency in Pakistan has made property investment and buying in cities like Karachi, above, more favourable for Pakistani expats

Pakistan property sees surge in Gulf-based interest

Pakistan’s real estate sector has seen increased interest from Gulf-based investors over the last year, according to data from the country’s largest property portal. The Pakistan Property Show was held in Dubai’s World Trade Centre earlier this month. With over 60 exhibitors, it attracted around 20,000 attendees, including Sultan Butti Bin Mejren, director general of […]

Middle East royals and leaders to attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral

Royals and leaders from the Middle East will attend Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral at London’s Westminster Abbey on Monday (September 19). Britain’s longest-reigning monarch died on September 8 aged 96. Although no official guest list has been issued, media reports suggested invitations have been sent. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is likely to […]

Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, with Queen Elizabeth II during a private audience at Buckingham Palace in London in 2018

Middle East royals and leaders pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II

Middle East royals and leaders have paid tribute to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Thursday 8 September at the age of 96. Her eldest son Charles, the 73-year-old former Prince of Wales, was immediately declared King Charles III following the announcement of her death by Buckingham Palace. The world mourns Queen Elizabeth II: […]

Record profits for Gulf’s materials sector but growth set to slow

Profits among the Gulf’s listed companies in the materials sector reached their highest levels on record in the second quarter of 2022. However, industry experts believe supply chain issues and the Ukraine war will see growth begin to slow. Across the whole of the GCC, the total net profit of listed companies reached $77.3 billion […]

Anghami bets on Arabic music to deliver streaming growth

Abu Dhabi-based streaming provider Anghami is betting on Arabic content to deliver future growth as it announced a 41 percent increase in subscribers in the first half of 2022. With just one percent of Anghami’s content being Arabic, it is one area that the company is looking to grow significantly, Elie Habib, chief technology officer […]

Female startups face ‘bias’ over funding in Middle East

Startups founded by female entrepreneurs accounted for just 0.1 percent of the $105 million in funding raised in July, the lowest monthly level so far this year. Data compiled by Wamda, the largest early-stage investment fund in the Middle East, found that a total of $136,000 was raised by female-led startups last month, while those […]

Reforms draw North American investors to the Gulf

North America-based entities were the most active investors in Middle East and North Africa merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in the first half of 2022. Attracted by ongoing economic reforms in the region, US and Canadian firms took part in 30 percent of inbound M&A activity, with a particular focus on technology-related investments. The latest […]

How Ounass got the Gulf hooked on online luxury

Luxury fashion website Ounass is among the e-tail platforms credited with developing the momentum of online shopping in the Gulf region. A report by consultancy Bain and Company claims 70 percent of  GCC shoppers are now comfortable with digital retail, having always been better known for their love of malls, operated by the likes of Emaar […]

World’s richest families are shifting investments to Gulf

Qatar’s World Cup, Saudi’s Vision 2030 and UAE’s dynamism are all helping attract wealthy family investors to the region, says UBS Investments in the Middle East by ultra-high-net-worth family offices will increase by at least 50 percent over the next decade, a senior executive at the Swiss global wealth manager UBS told AGBI. Family offices, […]

Women in meeting

Think women make bad bosses? Think again, says Visa senior VP

Is a man better at running a business than a woman? The Visa Entrepreneur Study, commissioned by the global payments giant, found that nearly four in 10 (38 percent) of male business owners surveyed in the UAE believed men have better business instincts than women. Furthermore, 34 percent said businesses founded by women couldn’t compete […]

Women-only shops could solve MENA’s $2trn equality dilemma

When Deema Almasri joined optical retailer Magrabi to manage its new outlet in Saudi capital Riyadh, she said a big motivating factor was female empowerment. Taking the helm at the optician’s store at the Hamra Mall, Almasri is in charge of the company’s first female-only staffed outlet. It’s a growing fashion, particularly in the Middle […]

Masdar City, due to be one of the most sustainable communities in the world, has been held up bu funding and other issues

Climate target aided by surging oil price, says top US banker

Oil and gas-producing countries can capitalise on the commodity price boom to fuel their transition to net zero, the boss of one of the world’s leading financial institutions said yesterday. Arshad Ghafur, president of the MENA region at Bank of America, made the comment in a speech to the Dubai International Financial Centre’s Fintech Week, […]

Business travel lagging behind tourism as Gulf goes virtual

An estimated 115 million more passengers in the Middle East and Africa will fly during 2022 compared to last year if flight booking trends continue at their current pace, according to new research. However, business travel in the region is returning at a much slower pace with medium/long-haul and domestic bookings remaining well below 2019 […]