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Equinor signs $27 bn gas deal

The 10-year contract was signed with Centrica.

ADNOC Drilling secures $1.15bn contract

The contract for two jack-up rigs begins in the second quarter.

Etihad Q1 profit $187 million

This is a 30% YoY increase over Q1 2025.

Yalla Group Q1 revenue $83m

Net income rose to $36.4 million, a 17% YoY increase.

Qatar Airways annual profit $2bn

This was a record 28% jump in annual net profit.

Gender bender: GCC moves to empower more women

More women in the workforce translates to a larger workforce and more earnings for each family, which in turn boosts the spending power of families.
  • The UAE and Canada held discussions last month on how to enhance cooperation to empower women
  • Statistics from Saudi Arabia from last year showed more women had entered the workforce, even as unemployment dropped

Member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council are increasingly working towards the empowerment of women.

After all, that automatically translates to a larger workforce and more earnings for each family, which in turn boosts the spending power of families.

For example, the UAE and Canada held discussions last month on how to enhance cooperation to empower women.

And with more women joining STEM courses in the country, we may expect to see more of them in research and engineering positions in various public and private-sector ventures.

Meanwhile, a little more than halfway through last year, statistics from Saudi Arabia said more women had entered the workforce, even as unemployment dropped.

Women entrepreneurs in the Arab region have it easier these days, said Muna AbuSulayman, highlighting that they are becoming job-creators as well.

Meanwhile, private firms are starting to commit to hiring more women in various roles and capacities.

Here’s a comparative look at the labor forces in the GCC economies, categorized by gender, and how they stack up against some of the biggest developed countries from across the world: