Saudi Arabia is planning to invest US$36bn in logistics and aims to become a regional hub for the shipping sector, a position enjoyed by the UAE for many years.

"It brings me great joy and pleasure to officially announce the official launch of FTA negotiations between GCC countries and UK today," Zayed bin Rashid al-Zayani, Bahrain's minister of industry, commerce and tourism, said late Friday.

The region’s average real GDP per capita is forecast to increase by only 1.1 percent in 2021 after declining an estimated 5.4 percent in 2020.

An NFT is a digital asset that represents real-world objects like art, music, in-game items and videos. They are bought and sold online

The main Saudi stock index closed trading on October 7, with an increase of 19.45 points, to close at the level of 11,591.33 points, with transactions worth 6.5 billion riyals.

The region is also fast adopting modern agricultural practices such as vertical farming, hydroponics, greenhouse vegetable production to grow more food locally. Indoor vertical farming is changing the course of agriculture in the GCC and helping to improve food security in the region.

The Muscat Stock Exchange closed on Wednesday, up 0.17%, or 6.9 points, from the previous trading session, which amounted to 3,947 points, after Cyclone Shaheen forced its closure.

Bahrain plans to double its VAT rate to 10 percent, which is likely to drive its citizens to shop in the neighboring United Arab Emirates.

Bidfood UAE is part of the Bidcorp Group, and has officially been chosen to distribute the Impossible Burger across the UAE.

S&P Global Ratings has forecast that private sector lending will remain muted for one to two years in GCC countries. But, it added, that Saudi Arabia might buck the trend.

Raging political crises across the region have negatively impacted the economies of several countries. Consequently, spending on research has barely increased since 2014.

The Middle East has 25% of the worldwide gaming audience, followed by Latin America 13.9%, the Asia Pacific 9.2%, Western Europe 4.8%, and North America 4%.

The Gulf Cooperation Council and the European Union have agreed to revive free trade deal talks, according to EU Ambassador Patrick Simonet.

Digital transformation brought about by COVID-19 has made banks more open to branchless and cashless banking enabling them to perform better in H1 2021 than they did in the same period last year.

The UAE and Qatar are hosting global events like EXPO 2020 this October and FIFA World Cup in 2022  respectively and initiating infra projects worth billions of dollars.

DUBAI: Etihad Rail has completed construction works on a stretch of the 1200-km UAE National Railway Network, the company said on Wednesday. The work was completed ahead of schedule on Package A of Stage Two, which extends over 139 km, and its connection through Al Ghuwaifat on the border of Saudi...

Ukraine is looking to bolster investment cooperation with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, especially Kuwait.

India has said in a statement that the MoU would ‘contribute to enhanced maritime safety and security in the region.’

Auto exports to the region are likely to suffer for the next more than a year due to an estimated net production loss of 3.9 million vehicles globally. Besides the automobile sector, e-gadgets, the smartphone and video gaming industries were impacted by the shortage.

Banking firms in the Arabian Gulf countries dominate the list of top companies in terms of market capitalization with Saudi players leading from the front.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates contributed about 70 percent of the total value of the Gulf Cooperation Council's real estate deals in the first half of 2021

Ecommerce in the world in general and the GCC region in particular has proliferated despite the Covid-19 pandemic, or probably because of it.

It is predicted that the Hyperloop technology will carry between 45 and 50 million passengers yearly in the Gulf Arab states using clean and renewable energy.

From 2018 to 2022, the private-sector healthcare spending is forecast to increase at a cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.5 percent

The economies of the region are recovering fast on the back of the rising oil prices and speedy vaccination programs, says Jean Claus, CEO of Euler Hermes Middle East

The 49-year-old Trudeau won the election, but did not get simple majority, which could make things difficult for him, just like they did in 2019. He now stands similarly weakened, with a tough road ahead of him.

The strong demand for cloud computing in the Gulf region is driven by efforts of the member states to diversify economies, a young digital society and increasing digitization by firms.

Several airports in the region have announced plans to expand their airports to meet the expected growth in travel demand.

Due to supply shortages and high levels of inventory carried over from the first quarter, smartphone shipments to the GCC were more constrained than expected in Q2, believe experts. Samsung dominated the GCC smartphone market during the period with a share of 44.9 percent, according to a report by International...

The region’s industry executives are working hard to improve the dented image and put the sector back on track by attracting more foreign investors.

Real time data coupled with effective supply chain technology came in handy for the industry after the aviation sector was grounded following the spread of COVID-19 globally.

It has been a roller coaster ride for insurance companies in the GCC countries and the health care sector since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the region.

The SWFs of Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar have underpinned the resilience of their sovereign ratings despite lower oil prices and COVID-19 shock.

The MENA region will have 80 million 5G subscriptions, representing about 10% of total mobile subscriptions by 2025, according to the latest Ericsson Mobility research.

The GCC nations are looking at the $500-billion market for Green Hydrogen by 2050, but will it be enough?

Across the MENA region, years of corruption has left countries woefully unprepared to face the COVID-19 pandemic

The relations between the Arab world and China have touched new highs particularly after China launched the Belt & Road Initiative project in September 2013.

The airport City Central Park is designed as a botanical garden.

Demand for food in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will reach 52.4 million metric tons (MT) by 2025, up from 46.8 million in 2020.

The two sides have not had a mutual FTA for more than 10 years now.

The growth was spurred by abundant liquidity created by easing monetary and fiscal policies besides a rebound in oil prices.

The Covid-19 pandemic has acted as a force multiplier for existing cyber threats while giving birth to a whole new set of cyber risks. Cyber criminals have switched tactics to exploit the new reality of remote working on personal devices. In 2020, the UAE has experienced around 15.8 million brute...

As part of economic transformation, some Gulf countries seek to achieve targets in digital transformation via long-term plans such as Saudi Vision 2030 and UAE Vision 2030.

DUBAI: Kuwait’s equity market sustained its upward momentum in August as Kuwait All Share index rose 3.1 percent for the month and 22.4 percent for the year, according to Kuwait Financial Centre, Markaz. In its Monthly Market Review report for August, Markaz said the market liquidity in August, as indicated...

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are already off the starting mark in their efforts to supply alternative fuels to the global maritime industry.

The group has endorsed the full acquisition of BMB Group.

The Arab world may be awash in oil and other minerals, but it is lacking in that one commodity upon which the whole existence rests: water.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have already formed policies to regulate cryptocurrencies, while Bahrain has given an official stamp on CoinMENA, which has got regulatory approvals. Now Islamic banking-compliant cryptocurrencies are also in the fray.

Local media showed women picking up customers in the Al-Ahsa governorate.

While joblessness will be a worry, the economies of the GCC countries are expected to grow by about 2.5 percent between 2021 and 2023.