A strong performance is expected this winter when neighboring Qatar hosts football's World Cup. Hotel occupancy was up more than 40 percent in Covid-hit 2021, UAE prime minister and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said after a cabinet meeting.

Almost two months before the start of World Cup, Qatar put the $675 million stadium, the venue for the final, through its first sellout test with a match between the Egyptian and Saudi champions. The 80,000 capacity Lusail Iconic Stadium was full for the pre-match concert by Egyptian superstart Amr...

The FIFA World Cup, which is likely to boost tourism across GCC, is all set to increase revenues for Gulf airlines, hotel and restaurant industries and domestic transportation.

The UAE ranks highest among GCC economies and 12th overall in the first edition of the Circular Carbon Economy Index that focuses on energy management of the countries.

The Doha airport has been in semi-retirement since it was replaced in 2014 by the nearby Hamad International Airport, which has since become a major hub in parallel with the growth of flag carrier Qatar Airways. It is currently mainly being used for flights by Qatar's royal family and VIPs...

The European Union opened an office in Qatar on Wednesday in a sign of the Gulf state's growing influence in solving the international energy crisis. EU council president Charles Michel was to meet the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and other top officials in Doha later in the...

Social Security statements reached QR 78 million in July 2022, for 14,495 beneficiaries, recording a monthly decrease of 0.2% for the value of social security.

Qatar will chair the 9th Annual Conference of the Arab Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (AASGP), to be held in Cairo on September 4 and 5.

Qatar Financial Center Authority and UBS Asset Management will collaborate to set up a green sustainable private markets initiative in Qatar, encouraging investments in the energy storage, eco-transport, food security and environmentally sustainable technology venture capital sectors.

Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said the plant would cost $1.2 billion and start production in early 2026. State-owned Qatar Energy, a firm that is making huge profits from liquefied natural gas, said the plant would produce 1.2 million tonnes of ammonia a year "making it the world's largest such facility".

Microsoft will set up a new cloud data center in Qatar, creating 36,000 jobs and adding more than $18 billion to the economy over the next five years. As one of the tech company’s biggest international projects, it will boost Qatar’s efforts to move away from reliance on its oil...

The facility will be available for the holders of the "Hayya" card issued by FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which is reserved for ticket holders and used to access Qatar during the tournament being held from November 20 to December 18.

As part of the campaign, Beckham tours the country with several local personalities, exploring spice markets and street art in the Gulf nation.

Despite ease in the measures set to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, electronic payments in the Gulf countries surged more than cash transactions in several other Arab countries.

The move comes as Qatar, which has a population of 2.8 million, tries to accommodate an expected 1.2 million visitors during the November 20-December 18 World Cup, and as Saudi Arabia ramps up efforts to attract tourists.

The United Arab Emirates this month said it would invest $1 billion in Pakistan and, according to reports, Saudi Arabia is considering extending an emergency $2 billion loan made last year. The latest boost came in talks between Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Pakistan's Prime Minister...

Qatar on Tuesday announced two major solar projects that will more than double its energy output from the renewable source within two years. Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi hailed the new development as a major step in efforts to "increase the reliance on high-efficiency renewal energy" in the Gulf state,...

GCC countries are accelerating economic integration by activating the financial links between companies, banks, and stores to make life smoother for citizens and residents.

Qatar Central Bank has provided in-principle no-objection to both firms.

Though GCC markets witnessed an IPOs rush in the first half of 2022 due to the rising investment interest, the future is not comforting for the rest of the year, says an expert.

The fund said in a report released today that it expect inflation in Qatar will record about 4.3 percent during the current year.

Data released from the Ministry of Finance showed that oil and gas revenues increased to $32 billion, compared to $19 billion in the first half of 2021.

Getting the football hordes around the city and between the eight stadiums promises to be one of the biggest challenges. In the first scrutiny of their years of preparations, organisers mimmicked the schedule for the busiest days of the tournament when about 300,000 fans could be in Doha at the...

There are 3,010,679 tickets available altogether, with FIFA saying a "last-minute" sales period will open in the run-up to the start of the tournament at a date still to be confirmed.

GCC countries have witnessed financial surpluses in their budgets for the first time in a long time on the back of increase in oil prices, strengthening their credit ratings.

Dubai International Airport, a major aviation hub, is gearing up to help ease transit travel for World Cup supporters ahead of the tournament starting in November, its director said Wednesday. The first World Cup ever held in a Middle Eastern country is set to kick off in Qatar on November...

The blueprint establishes the frame for blockchain at the national level and identifies its key elements; innovation and creativity.

The sudden move to bring forward Qatar's match against Ecuador -- to make it the opening match – may put pressure on its public relations team, add to the costs and confuse fans.

The establishment of nuclear-free zones is a key step to boost non-proliferation system and achieve a full nuclear disarmament, says a top Qatari official.

The opening match is scheduled to be held at the 60,000-capacity Al Bayt stadium, one of seven new venues purpose-built for the tournament since Qatar was awarded the World Cup in 2010.

The profit dropped by 3.21 percent compared to H1 2021.

Qatar has seen a nineteen percent increase in tourist arrivals with 729,000 visitors coming to the country in the first half of 2022. Qatar Tourism said that in June alone some 149,000 visitors arrived, marking the highest visitation in the summer month in the last 5 years. The month of...

GCC countries will witness a rise in their wealth between 2021 and 2026 after two years of challenging time due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a BCG report points out.

Qatar’s Total Broad Money Supply (M2) recorded about QR 675.1 billion ($185.4bn) during June 2022, marking an increase of 9.3 percent compared to June 2021. The Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) revealed this in its monthly statistics bulletin "Qatar; Monthly Statistics,” issued Tuesday. Cash equivalents; including Commercial Bank Deposits, attained...

Qatar announced Monday that the club champions of Saudi Arabia and Egypt will inaugurate the Lusail stadium to be used for the World Cup final on September 9.

Qatar seeks to hold a ministerial summit in early August to seal an accord between Chad's military government and opposition rebels on a national peace dialogue, negotiators said Sunday. The Gulf emirate's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani spoke with the Central African nation's military leader, Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno,...

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have supplied around 80 percent of Japan's oil demand for the month of June, followed by Qatar and Kuwait with 14 percent each, taking Arab share to 94.7 percent.

While Saudi apex bank has raised its repurchase rate by 75 bps to 3%, and its reverse repo rate by a similar margin to 2.50% to restore price stability and fight inflation. The central banks in the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain also raised their rates to 2.4%, 3% and 3.25%,...

Iran said Monday it will not be rushed into a "quick" deal reviving its faltering 2015 nuclear accord with world powers, as negotiations remain deadlocked. "They demand that Iran makes a quick decision, (insisting that) time is limited and Iran must respond quickly," foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said at...

The region has invested billions of dollars across sectors in the South Asian nation as recent past witnessed an expansion in economic and trade relations between the two sides.

"Political, economic, and energy supplies" were the main topics of our discussions, said the Qatari Foreign Minister.

Shell is the fifth and final international partner in the North Field expansion.

Building work in Qatar's capital Doha, host of the 2022 World Cup, will be completed "well before the tournament", the event's CEO promised qualifying teams on Monday.

World Cup host Qatar doesn't just have its sights set on football -- it also hopes to harness its people's gaming skills as it launches into the burgeoning eSports sector.

The region's gaming industry is estimated to be worth $5 billion by 2025 with Saudi Arabia and the UAE leading the growth closely followed by Egypt and Qatar.

Talks between the United States and the Taliban continued in Doha earlier this week to discuss earthquake aid, the State Department said Friday, months after the two parties last meet in the Qatari capital in March.

Lebanon is grappling with an unprecedented financial crisis, branded by the World Bank as one of the planet's worst since the 1850s.

The US, meanwhile, says it is "disappointed" that there is "no progress made" after two days of indirect talks with Iran brokered by an EU envoy in Doha. President Joe Biden's administration has "made clear our readiness to quickly conclude and implement a deal on mutual return to full compliance".

Many Gulf countries have set up electronic platforms to localize government and private sector jobs to reduce the national unemployment and their reliance on expat workers.

The talks aim to bring the United States back into a 2015 deal jettisoned by the Donald Trump administration in 2018.