Integrating smart roads and sustainable construction in GCC smart cities requires technical proficiency like data analytics, sensor technologies and software skills, says an expert.

There is chaos in the crypto market and the dust rises with an episode of failure, but failures must not be generalized, says Don Tapscott of Blockchain Research Institute.

Technology remained GCC's most active industry sector in terms of hiring, with 77 percent of organizations increasing their headcount last year, latest reports point out.

The city has won a huge following among the people who see it not just as a city for business, but as one where families can co-exist with big money.

Despite being the most educated demographic, women in the region have the lowest employment rates. it is crucial to incorporate women into non-traditional sectors to facilitate the GCC's shift towards a post-oil economy.

The GCC countries are likely to benefit from the relative stability in their financial covers due to high oil prices and strong energy exports in 2022, reports suggest.

DUBAI, UAE - UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) hosted a regional expert meeting on healthy diet policies in Dubai. The event was hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. The meeting aimed to discuss recent developments in healthy diet policies, with a...

The Gulf countries are also able to attract highly qualified and scientific expertise and skilled workers, and they possess the primary resources for the manufacture of chips and semiconductors, especially silicon extracted from sand, plastic and petroleum materials, he adds.

During the meeting, the two discussed strengthening the process of joint GCC action and reviewed GCC issues of common concern.

The region's biggest economy, Saudi Arabia, was projected to accelerate to 8.3 percent in 2022 before moderating to 3.7 percent and 2.3 percent in 2023 and 2024.

Globally, around 14 percent of food produced is lost between harvest and retail, while an estimated 17 percent of total global food production is wasted, UN says.

New tracks have been launched in the Gulf common market to supplement the 10 current tracks. The bloc also seeks collaboration with the private players in the region.

In 2023, some Middle Eastern economies appear to be more resilient than most developed markets, Maroun Kairouz, Director for MENA at the World Economic Forum, tells TRENDS.

Abu Dhabi, UAE – Lockheed Martin has partnered with four companies operating in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to provide instrumentation, calibration, and repair services for its aircraft ground support equipment, as part of its Product Support Provider Network (PSPn). The four companies are AL TAIF (part of EDGE Group),...

The success of the initiative is reflected in the fact that Dubai Can has been widely adopted in the city.

It had raised $750m through the sale of its debut sukuk in Nov 2022.

The market for small startups and self-employed entrepreneurs will boom due to lower startup cost amidst policy reforms and more incubators and shared offices, says an expert.

The UAE and few other countries figure at the top of the Transparency Index in the region, but this doesn't mean that they have an excellent performance globally, says an expert.

Abu Dhabi, UAE--A joint Oman-UAE military exercise codenamed “Cooperation-3” began in Oman on Monday. The 11-day drill, which concludes on February 16, 2023, saw the participation of a force from Muscat Regiment, Infantry Bridge (23) of the Royal Army of Oman (RAO), and its support divisions, as well as aircraft...

At the moment, the market is solidly Dubai, which is recognised as the world leader in branded residential offerings with all eyes on the city’s upcoming openings. The slower approach of Abu Dhabi will be something to watch as it makes large-scale investments into the luxury sector, he adds.

The latest data from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) shows that global tourist travel in 2022 was 37 percent lower than 2019.

Doha, Qatar-- Qatar has received more than 614,000 visitors during the month of December 2022, a monthly increase of 3.7 percent as against November 2022. The highest number of visitors were from the Gulf Cooperation Council at 40 percent. As for visitors by type of port, the visitors via air...

More dams are being built in the region to shield the residents against floods, offer a lifeline during drought and work towards food sufficiency by enhancing agriculture output.

The gaming markets in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt is expected to be worth $3.14bn by 2025, according to California-based market research and consulting firm Niko Partners.

The budget deficit will swell to five billion dinars (more than $16 billion) for the year starting in April, up from the $10.3 billion predicted for the current fiscal year, the finance ministry said. Kuwait, a major oil producer and member of the OPEC cartel, has the Gulf's only fully...

There is a rise in the interest of foreign investors in the MENA startup ecosystem as their share increased from 20 percent in 2021 to 47 percent in 2022, reports suggest.

Around 27-39 companies in the Gulf region are expected to come out with IPOs in the first few months of this year with the Kingdom and UAE leading from the front, reports suggest.

The region remains cautious as it takes a strategic approach to invest in the technology by focusing on experimentation and finding suitable business use cases, says an expert.

At G20's first Health Working Group meeting in India, UAE affirmed its commitment to play an active role in addressing global health challenges.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Standardization Organization (GSO) has announced its training plan for 2023 in the field of standards and metrology through the GCC Standardization Training Center affiliated with GSO. The GSO President, Saud bin Nasser Al-Khusaibi, said in a statement Sunday that the 2023...

Solar-photovoltaic panel in a GCC country produces twice as much output as it would in Germany or any similar European country, ZOLA Electric CEO Bill Lenihan tells TRENDS.

The Gulf countries are witnessing an increase in investors' confidence due to the region's comparatively good economic conditions, a latest JLL report highlights.

Non-Gulf countries' contributions to the digital economy in the region will increase to more than 35 percent during this time, says a latest report.

Agile brands, especially luxury ones with sizeable marketing budgets, have readily tapped into the metaverse, creating exclusive NFTs and new revenue streams, says an expert.

Robust monetary policies curtail the impact of geopolitical tensions, energy crisis, worsening inflation rates and market volatility on the region during 2022, a report highlights.

Secretary-General of the GCC Dr. Naif Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf has warned that the act would inflame and provoke Muslims around the world. He said the GCC stood for the importance of spreading the values of tolerance and rejecting extremism.

The sector gains meteoric traction, largely due to structural shift in consumer interests and partly because of the pandemic-induced accelerated digitalization, says an expert.

The region's SWFs more than doubled their investments in Western economies to $51.6 billion in 2022 from $21.8 billion a year earlier, says the latest Global SWF report.

The move aims at supporting Kingdom's infrastructure development, boosting logistics and providing unique business environment in transport sector, air traffic and ports.

Despite the challenges of the digital transition in some MENA countries and the rising unemployment, about 90% of professionals in the region remain enthusiastic about 2023.

The year 2022 witnessed several deals involving Gulf nations and leading natural gas consumer countries that seek to secure their LNG supplies in both near and distant future.

The summit, which will be held from 23-25 Jan, 2023, ""will shed light on the strong impetus and promising prospects of the IPO sector in Dubai". The emirate's media office said the summit comes on the back of a record IPO activity in 2022.

Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange finished 2022 with a gain of almost 20 percent, making it the highest performer among GCC indices. In 2023, Saudi and UAE ended the weekly exchange down or stable.

China, Singapore and Hong Kong are planning to convert 80 percent of their cities into sponge areas by 2030 for various purposes.

The Middle East region welcomed 2023 with fireworks at Burj Khalifa as revelers rang in the New Year without being subjected to Covid-related curbs for first time since pandemic.

Mobile data service revenues are expected to reach 60 percent of the total GCC mobile service revenues by 2026.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, GCC banks have experienced a growth of more than 10 percent annually, a positive sign that is likely to earn a higher return on equities.

DUBAI, UAE -  The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) under-construction pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant site in Hatta is 58.48 percent complete. This is the first station of its kind in the GCC, with investments of up to US$387 million (AED 1.421 billion). The project is planned for completion in...

In the first nine months of 2022, real estate transactions in the region totaled more than US$143bn, surpassing the full-year US$136.9bn figure during 2021, says Kamco Invest.

“E-commerce sales via marketplaces will continue to grow in double-digit percentages in 2023, driven by a higher proportion of cross-border shopping, and ongoing increase in the adoption of credit cards, and logistics services such as Aramex’s Shop & Ship, MyUS and DHL’s Easy Shop,” he adds.