Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

People & Lifestyle

A Saudi woman works inside the first all-female call centre in the kingdom's security sector, in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia August 29, 2017. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem

Saudi Arabia unemployment fell in Q4 2023

Unemployment among Saudi Arabian nationals fell to 7.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, from 8 percent during the same period in 2022, the government said this week, reflecting the growth of the non-oil sector despite an economic contraction.  Unemployment among Saudi males was 4.6 percent, which was up from 4.2 percent the year […]

Visitors shop in the souq in Manama, Bahrain. The government wants to encourage more youth into work

Bahrain launches minimum wage fund to bolster youth

Lawmakers in Bahrain are to spend over BD200 million ($500 million) to lift the minimum wage of the kingdom’s citizens.  The government hopes it will encourage more youth into the working world and stimulate the country’s economy. The initiative, run by Bahrain’s Labour Fund, which is also known as Tamkeen, received unanimous approval from the […]

Qatar hopes to lure skilled individuals and wealthy entrepreneurs

Qatar woos foreign talent with 5-year residency permit

Qatar has launched a residency permit aimed at attracting talented individuals and entrepreneurs.  The permit programme, which is expected to open in the next few months, offers five-year renewable residencies to people with expertise in specific fields including the arts and scientific research. Applicants must either have a job offer in Qatar or demonstrate financial […]

The acquisition of Kelix bio is set to boost the UAE’s global standing in life sciences, said Mubadala

Mubadala to buy pharma company Kelix Bio

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Kelix Bio, a specialty pharmaceutical business in the UAE that focuses on delivering complex generics across emerging markets. The Kelix Bio acquisition is set to boost the UAE’s global standing in life sciences, state-own Abu Dhabi Media Office reported, quoting a Mubadala statement. […]

An apartment near a beach in Dubai is unlikely to appeal to Brits, according to property experts

What Dubai’s united nations of property buyers want

When purchasing a property in Dubai amenities are important to Brits, while Indian buyers are all about the return on investment, according to real estate experts. Last year Dubai recorded 1.6 million real estate transactions, a record 17 percent year-on-year increase, according to data from the Dubai Land Department. The demand comes from a largely […]

Elie Habib, co-founder of streaming service Anghami

MBC Group buys stake in Anghami

Shares of the Abu-Dhabi-based music streaming company Anghami rose by more than 80 percent this week after the release of a regulatory filing revealed that Saudi media company MBC Group has acquired a 14 percent stake. MBC Group, through its arm MBC Ventures, purchased four million ordinary shares of the Nasdaq-listed company. The purchase was […]

Aster expects the sale of its GCC business to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024

Aster DM says India, GCC business split nears closure

Hospital chain Aster DM Healthcare has confirmed that the separation of its GCC and Indian businesses and the proposed investment in the former by a Dubai private equity firm are nearing completion.  The company agreed to sell a 65 percent stake in its Gulf business to a state-backed Fajr Capital-led consortium for $1 billion in November […]

An NMC hospital in Abu Dhabi. The business was founded in the 1970s and went into administration in 2020

NMC and Dubai Islamic Bank end legal dispute

NMC Healthcare has reached an out-of-court settlement with Dubai Islamic Bank, ending the long-running legal dispute between the two businesses. The healthcare operator had borrowed around $400 million from DIB, which is the largest Islamic bank in the UAE. The loan used collateral known as insurance receivables, which are payments by insurance companies for medical […]

People, Person, Adult

Saudi Arabia gives $800m in Ramadan social security aid

Saudi Arabia has disbursed SAR3 billion ($800 million) to around 500,000 Saudis as a one-off social security payment during the fasting month of Ramadan.  The amounts were deposited directly into bank accounts of beneficiaries of social security by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, on the basis of SAR1,000 ($270) per head of […]

metabolic disease oura smart ring

‘Smart ring’ project aims to help fight chronic health problems

A wearable “health ring” is being used by a Dubai-based healthcare technology startup to help combat the Middle East region’s metabolic diseases crisis. The company, Metabolic – which brands itself as meta[bolic] – has signed a partnership with the Finnish maker of the Oura Ring, and aims to stem the billions lost in healthcare systems […]

Sylvain P. Gaillard, director of the Opera Gallery in Dubai

Art trumps diamonds when it comes to luxury investment

For Middle East investors, works of art are worth hanging on to. Artworks have more than doubled in value over the past decade, the latest edition of the Knight Frank Global Wealth Report reveals. It was a mixed year for luxury investments last year. Whisky, cars, handbags, furniture and wine lost value. Diamonds, coins and […]

A spa room in Clinique La Prairie's latest Longevity Hub in Dubai, it's fifth in the emirate Video length: 03:32

The Dubai spa charging AED90,000 to increase ‘healthspan’

Clinique La Prairie opened its fifth Longevity Hub-branded spa in Dubai last month and is preparing to open a $300 million health resort in Saudi Arabia’s Amaala giga-project next year.  The “medical spa” receives 60,000 clients each year from the Middle East to its luxury facility in Montreux, Switzerland for longevity and preventative medicine treatments. […]

As part of his March budget, the UK's Jeremy Hunt announced plans to abolish the country's 200-year-old non-dom tax status

UK’s non-dom shake-up to attract high earners to Gulf

There is likely to be an influx of expats and returning nationals to the Gulf as a result of the UK’s abolition of non-domicile tax status from April 2025, experts told AGBI. ‘Non-doms’ live in the UK but claim to have a permanent residence in another country, so they do not pay tax on overseas […]

The UK government will pass a law to block takeovers of UK newspapers by entities linked to foreign governments

UK’s new media law threatens UAE’s Telegraph bid

A likely decision by the UK to ban foreign governments from owning British newspapers and news magazines is being seen as a setback for a UAE-backed investment company’s bid to buy the Telegraph newspaper titles. Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay announced the ban on Wednesday, saying a new law will “rule out newspaper and periodical […]

Construction cranes tower over the Grand Mosque in Mecca, as a pilgrim kneels in prayer

Super-rich Muslims seek homes in Saudi holy cities

Wealthy Muslims are keen to take advantage of golden residency visas in Saudi Arabia to buy nearly $2 billion of property in Mecca, Medina and Riyadh, according to new research.  Just over 500 high-net-worth individuals from nine countries with a sizeable Muslim population – Algeria, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore and Turkey – […]

A planned Dar Global development in Oman. The company aims to shake up real estate marketing with AI

Dar Global spin-off to use AI in real estate marketing

Dar Global, the London-listed arm of the Saudi Arabian real estate developer Dar Al Arkan, is establishing a venture dedicated to finding technological solutions to real estate companies’ biggest challenges. Ziad El Chaar, CEO of Dar Global, told AGBI that the company’s new Propgenuis spin-off would introduce tools aimed at automating social media management for […]