UAE Family Businesses are a Cornerstone of the Economy...

UAE News:

UAE’s Minister of Cabinet Affairs disclosed that about 67% of the targets set under its “We the UAE 2031” vision had already been achieved, with six years remaining in the plan. This rapid progress, underpinned by strong non-oil trade growth and high global competitiveness rankings, demonstrates an exceptionally high degree of policy implementation effectiveness. He also highlighted the country’s rising diplomatic and humanitarian presence on the international stage.

Dubai GDP accelerated by 4.4% YoY to AED 241bn in H1 2025, with Q2 alone seeing a robust 4.7% expansion, underscoring the emirate’s economic resilience and successful implementation of diversification policies. Growth was broad-based, with the human health and social work sector posting the highest expansion (20%) while other key drivers included construction (8.5%), real estate (7.0%), and financial services (6.7%). Traditional cornerstone sectors also showed solid growth, including accommodation & food services (4.9%) and wholesale & retail trade (4.4%).

UAE’s Minister of Energy and Infrastructure announced a massive AED 170bn investment package for national transport and road projects to be implemented by 2030, aimed at easing significant traffic congestion and boosting mobility across major highways; one of the plans is to study the construction of a potential fourth federal highway. This is a necessary and corrective measure to address the capacity constraints created by the rapid population and economic growth, ensuring that physical infrastructure does not become a limiting factor.

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce saw a 4% YoY increase in registered member companies to 53,838 new firms in January-September 2025. During this period, the value of member exports and re-exports also grew robustly 16% to AED 260bn. Separately, the Dubai International Chamber successfully attracted 44 multinational companies and 217 SMEs to Dubai in January-September 2025, up 10% and 84% YoY, respectively. This expansion of business entities provides a strong forward-looking indicator for non-oil GDP growth and job creation.

Microsoft plans to invest over USD 15bn in the UAE by the end of 2029 to expand its AI and cloud infrastructure, a move secured with US export licenses for advanced Nvidia chips. This landmark investment and “AI-diplomacy” move establishes the UAE as a critical, trusted hub for US-aligned AI development, also solidifying the UAE’s geopolitical position.

Abu Dhabi’s investments in the UK have exceeded GBP 20bn, exceeding the target of achieving the original commitment of GBP 10bn by 2026. This long-term deployment of capital formed part of a partnership signed between Mubadala and the UK Office for Investment. This strategic relation is likely to continue, with a focus on acquiring assets in technology, renewable energy, and infrastructure to secure global returns.

Masdar announced it will invest in Austria’s largest green hydrogen project – a strategic move aimed at securing a foothold in the European hydrogen market. This not only helps to diversify the UAE’s energy portfolio internationally but also helps build the technical expertise and supply chain credibility needed to become a long-term, global exporter of green fuels.

Family businesses in the UAE are a cornerstone of the economy, contributing 60% of GDP and employing 80% of the private sector workforce, according to the Ministry of Economy and Tourism. These entities also represent about 90% of all private sector firms in the country.

MENA News:

OPEC’s collective oil output edged up by 30k barrels per day to 28.43bn BPD in October 2025, driven primarily by Saudi Arabia and Iraq, reported Reuters. 

Bahrain signed new investment deals (60+) worth USD 17bn at the Gateway Gulf forum organised by Bahrain’s Economic Development Board. The deals support five non-oil sectors, including financial services, information and communication technology, manufacturing, logistics and tourism and will boost private sector activity, essential for Bahrain its diversification goals. Bahrain attracted USD 17bn in FDI since the event began in 2018.

Egypt and Qatar signed an agreement to jointly develop a major real estate and tourism project on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast as part of Qatar’s USD 7.5bn commitment to Egypt. This partnership between a state-run Egyptian entity and Qatari Diar marks a significant inflow of GCC capital into Egypt’s high-value tourism sector – including a USD 3.5bn payment in December for the land allocated for the project (fresh FDI and not deposits, according to the finance minister). Egypt will also receive housing units valued at USD 1.8bn and 15% of the project’s profits after Qatari Diar recovers its investment costs, stated the FM.

Egypt launched a global tender for four oil and gas exploration blocks in the Red Sea, with a deadline set for May 2026. This initiative is a key part of the government’s strategy to attract fresh international investment into its upstream energy sector – in a bid to enhance Egypt’s long-term energy security and shore up its foreign currency-earning capabilities.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Commerce has issued a new regulation banning all cash transactions for the purchase of precious metals and gems, mandating all payments be processed through formal banking channels. This policy, which also imposes new record-keeping and reporting requirements, is a significant move to tighten the anti-money laundering framework, enhance market transparency and combat illicit financial flows.

Oman signed new gas supply agreements to supply 14 local manufacturing industries with a total of 27mn cubic metres per day of gas over ten years, starting January 2026 – valued at USD 8.8bn. This is a clear, long-term industrial policy move designed to provide energy security and price predictability for domestic producers.

Qatar Energy confirmed that the first LNG from its North Field expansion is on track to arrive in H2 2026. This will eventually nearly double Qatar’s production capacity to 142mn tonnes per annum by 2030, solidifying its dominance in the global gas market.

Mergers and acquisitions in the MENA region reached USD 69.1bn through 649 deals in January-September, according to EY. GCC accounted for the lion's share: 500 deals with a value of USD 65.9bn. Canada attracted the highest outbound deal value from MENA investors (USD 7.1bn) while the UK was the preferred target country by volume. 

The PIF has invested USD 170bn+ directly in US public and private markets since Vision 2030 was launched almost 10 years ago and USD 80bn in procurement, disclosed PIF’s head of investment strategy & economic insights.

Three Saudi companies – Consolidated Gruenenfelder Saady Holding, Cherry Trading, and Al Masar Al Shamil Education Company – across the manufacturing, car rental, and education sectors are set to raise over USD 300mn in IPOs on the Tadawul by the end of this year. The continued robust pipeline of listings demonstrates the increasing maturity and depth of the Saudi capital market. So far, IPOs on the main market have raised USD 3.3bn this year.

Saudi Arabia revealed that 12 local and international mining companies qualified for the second round of the Exploration Enablement Program – preliminary approval has been given for 38 licenses and SAR 664mn in exploration commitments. The projects are also expected to support around 63 direct jobs, including 27 Saudi nationals.

The Biban Forum by Saudi Monsha’at – one of the largest entrepreneurial platforms in Saudi Arabia – held last week attracted more than 100k visitors and generated agreements of over SAR 38bn from more than 50 agreements and MoUs.

Saudi Arabia is expanding its tourism market focus beyond luxury to include more affordable, “broader market” segments, including families and adventure travellers, according to the Saudi Tourism Minister. While religious tourism remains at the core of its tourism agenda, developing more diverse and affordable tourism products will be essential for Saudi Arabia to achieve its ambitious 150-million-visitor target by 2030.

The Saudi Real Estate General Authority clarified that the new law allowing 100% foreign ownership of property applies only to registered properties and only five categories of non-Saudis would be eligible, including foreign individuals, foreign companies, Saudi companies with foreign shareholders, non-profit entities and diplomatic missions.

Global News:

Major markets saw selloffs following weeks of new record highs after elevated valuations and concentration of the AI and tech stocks led to market jitters. Eight of the most valuable AI-related stocks lost about USD 800bn since the end of the week prior, according to FT. Stoxx closed 0.7% lower, with tech stocks bearing the brunt, while in the UK, FTSE’s loss stemmed from corporate earnings and the Bank of England’s rate decision. Regional markets were mostly down, except for Egypt, which jumped to a new record high (following news about an Egypt-Qatar partnership deal on a real estate and tourism project). The JPY hit a new 8-month low versus the greenback last week and the GBP is at its weakest since 2023 against the euro. Oil prices continued to decline on worries about a supply glut amid slowing demand. Gold price ended the week slightly up as worries about the extended US government shutdown supported its safe-haven demand, but it closed the week lower.

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SOURCE:
Nasser Saidi & Associates