By pairing sovereign capital with frictionless regulation, Doha reversed the startup playbook, attracting investors and founders first, then letting an ecosystem form around them naturally

Over the next five years, knowledge and innovation will redefine the MENA region’s economic landscape, moving it beyond traditional resource dependence, says Mark Mortensen, Associate Dean and Professor of Organizational Behavior at INSEAD.

A visiting Qatari official on Monday announced a multi-million dollar aid package for Lebanon, primarily to support the country's crumbling electricity sector.

Saudi Arabia is seeking to leverage changes in global trade and supply chains to position itself as a “connector economy,” linking Africa, Europe and Asia, senior Saudi ministers said during discussions at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2026 in Davos.

Florin Vasvari of London Business School says a knowledge economy requires educated local talent, global expertise and supportive regulation, tax incentives and access to capital, in an interview to TRENDS.

Joseph Bradley, former CEO of Tonomus, shares with TRENDS his views on how AI and leadership can help MENA build smarter, future-ready economies.

AI, geopolitics, climate, and demographics are reshaping the Middle East’s growth model beyond oil.

Dr. Lolowa AlMarzooqi, Associate Vice Provost at New York University Abu Dhabi, tells TRENDS that the UAE’s real competitive edge lies in its people and how the country’s approach to talent, leadership, and lifelong learning is shaping its next phase of growth.

The government has successfully implemented more than 900 reforms, including restructuring legal and labor frameworks, establishing new public authorities, and significantly expanding women’s participation in the workforce.

In its latest Chief Economists’ Outlook, the WEF said 53 percent of surveyed economists expect global economic conditions to weaken in the year ahead, down from 72 percent in September 2025, signaling cautious optimism amid persistent uncertainty.

Gerd Leonhard, CEO of the Futures Agency and author of Technology vs. Humanity, tells TRENDS that humanity is hurtling toward a clash between man and machine.

The Gulf economies face disruptions but embrace risk to grow, says Tadeu Baldani Caravieri, founder of Prototypes for Humanity, on regional innovation trends.

The bank expects world GDP growth of 2.6 percent this year, according to its latest global economic prospects report. The figure is 0.2 percentage points higher than what it projected in June.

This year’s edition is expected to welcome more than 30,000 participants from over 120 countries, including 1,500 startups, 700 investors and 600 media representatives—making it the largest Web Summit to date.

Oil prices have experienced choppy trading since the surprise US raid Saturday on Caracas that saw Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife taken to New York.

Iran has been rocked this week by protests that started in Tehran and have spread to other cities, with at least six people killed in clashes with security forces.

The Middle East and North Africa region is expected to outperform the global economy in 2026, with GDP projected to grow by 3.6% year on year compared to global growth of 3.1%

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa unveiled on Monday new banknotes replacing those showing ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad and his family, hoping the Syrian pound can regain some of the value lost to over a decade of war.

Beijing, China -- China will on January 1 launch an "action plan" for boosting management and operations of its digital currency, a deputy governor of the country's central bank said Monday. "The future digital yuan will be a modern digital payment and circulation means issued and circulated within the financial...

Early signals hint that Web Summit Qatar 2026 will be its biggest edition yet, with participation expected to outpace the inaugural year and draw more global investors.

Moving forward, lower oil revenues will continue to pose challenges to the Saudi economy and its overall targets. Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that Saudi Arabia faces a new test: how to sustain reform momentum in an era of potentially lower oil revenues without slipping back...

Syria's central bank chief said Thursday that the country's currency would start to be replaced with a revamped version from January 1, as Damascus tries to relaunch its economy after emerging from the rule of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad last year.

Workers have started laying tracks in the desert east of Cairo for Egypt's first high-speed train, which will link the Red Sea and the Mediterranean in the latest attempt to modernise transport in the vast country.

From the 1980s onward, the federal government and individual emirates launched broader diversification and liberalization programs to reduce reliance on oil and develop sectors like aluminum, tourism, aviation, re-export trade, and telecommunications, the author adds.

A deteriorating jobs market could nudge the central bank to lower rates further to boost the economy, despite some policymakers' worries that higher inflation could become persistent.

Washington, United States -- An aging president faces poor poll numbers and suspicions about his health but insists that America is thriving. Joe Biden? No, it's Donald Trump. The Republican, back in power for nearly a year, continues to compare himself to his predecessor. Biden would be senile, while Trump...

Yancheng, China -- In a light-filled workshop in eastern China, a robotic arm moved a partially assembled autonomous vehicle as workers calibrated its cameras, typical of the incremental automation being adopted even across smaller factories in the world's manufacturing powerhouse. China is already the world's largest market for industrial robots, and...

The United States signed an agreement on the supply chains with key Asia-Pacific allies concerned about China's growing clout -- Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Australia -- as well as Israel.

However, Qatar faces downside risks from a deeper global economic slowdown that could weaken energy demand and LNG prices amid potential supply surpluses. Also, geopolitical tensions, and increased trade exposure to China add to those vulnerabilities, the author adds.

When the Fed last met in October, Chair Jerome Powell asserted that another rate cut in December was "not a foregone conclusion," pointing to "strongly differing views" within the central bank.

President Donald Trump has been touting the economy's health, and forecasts had incorrectly predicted the monthly data would show a net rise in employment.

The Arab world's largest economy is overseeing a major push to slash its dependence on oil revenues, with officials pouring billions into projects to attract investment and tourism.

Saudi Arabia greenlit its 2026 budget Tuesday, projecting a deficit of 165 billion riyals ($44 billion) as the kingdom presses on with an ambitious spending drive to diversify its oil-dependent economy.

In addition, Kuwait hosted a major joint meeting between the GCC and the United Kingdom in October focused on a Free Trade Agreement which is bound to open broader trade and investment opportunities for Kuwait and other GCC nations, the author adds.

The latest visit of the Canadian PM is a part of his efforts to find new markets for his nation’s products and forge sustainable trade relations outside of North America.

Beijing has struggled to maintain a strong economic recovery from the pandemic, as it fights a debt crisis in its massive property sector, chronically low consumption and elevated youth unemployment.

The project in the Alam al-Roum area, in Egypt's Matrouh Governorate, will span "4,900 acres... extending across a coastline of 7.2 kilometres of the pristine Mediterranean shoreline", a statement from the Qatari Diar company said.

In the post-digital world, Bahrain’s center of activity, the city of Manama, has stiff yet healthy competition from the GCC financial centers such as Dubai, Riyadh and Doha. However, one must acknowledge that when it comes to reforms and financial services Bahrain has been the pioneer in the region, the...

The 137,000-barrels-per-day hike will apply from December and remain at that level for the following three months, signifying a "pause" in what had been regular increases since April this year, the group said in a statement following a virtual meeting.

The company, launched in May, is bankrolled by Saudi's powerful Public Investment Fund, which has played a key role in financing the kingdom's gigaprojects - major developments aimed at boosting and diversifying its oil-reliant economy.

With volatile geopolitics and the resulting uncertainty, the year 2025 has been challenging for most of the countries across the world. The tariff winds emerging from Washington D.C. have shaken economies in all directions, but Oman managed to get the basic 10 percent tariff despite the 2009 US-Oman Free Trade...

The central bank's second-to-last rate meeting of the year is taking place against the backdrop of a weeks-long standoff between Republicans and Democrats over healthcare subsidies, resulting in the ceased publication of almost all official data.

Iran declared one of the country's largest private banks bankrupt with its assets absorbed by the state, official media reported Saturday, in a rare move in the country grappling with international sanctions.

Beijing, China -- China will develop its high-tech sector on a massive scale in the next decade, top officials vowed Friday, a day after meetings on the country's future policy priorities concluded in Beijing. The four days of closed-door discussions began on Monday and involved high-ranking officials outlining long-term strategies...

Deir el-Balah, Palestinian Territories -- The Palestinians trying to rebuild their lives in the ruins of Gaza are short of many things: food, clean water, medicine -- and cash. On Sunday, two bank branches reopened, triggering an eager rush of clients. They were quickly disappointed. "The Bank of Palestine reopened...

Bangkok, Thailand -- Call it the China power paradox: while Beijing leads the world in renewable energy expansion, its coal projects are booming too. As the top emitter of greenhouse gases, China will largely determine whether the world avoids the worst effects of climate change. On the one hand, the...

In its flagship World Economic Outlook (WEO) report -- compiled before the most recent US-China tariff spat -- the IMF hiked its 2025 global growth forecast to 3.2 percent, up from 3.0 in July, while leaving its prediction for 2026 unchanged at 3.1 percent.

Washington, United States - A winner of this year’s Nobel prize in economics warned Monday that artificial intelligence offers "amazing possibilities" but should be regulated because of its job-destroying potential. The remarks from Canadian Peter Howitt, professor emeritus at Brown University in the United States, came amid growing concerns about...

China said on Tuesday it was ready to "fight to the end" in a trade war with the United States after President Donald Trump said he would impose an additional 100 percent tariff on the world's second-largest economy.

Beijing, China -- China accused the United States of "double standards" on Sunday, after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 100 percent tariff on the world's second-largest economy. Trump reignited his trade war with China on Friday, accusing Beijing of imposing "extraordinarily aggressive" new export curbs relating to rare earths....