Saudi Arabia Scales Back 81 Red Sea Resorts and Recalibrates Giga-Projects Toward Realistic Delivery
Saudi Arabia is scaling back plans to build 81 luxury Red Sea resorts by 2030 as the Kingdom reassesses pace and scope across giga-projects — a pragmatic recalibration that preserves Vision 2030's economic logic while aligning timelines to execution reality, with 85% of targets still on track.
Kuwait’s South Saad Al-Abdullah New City: $863 Million Infrastructure Push for 400,000-Resident Development
Kuwait's South Saad Al-Abdullah New City — a 64 square kilometre development for up to 400,000 residents across 23,551 plots — has $863 million in contracts underway, with main roads at 55.6 per cent complete as Kuwait's largest housing programme accelerates under Vision 2035.
Etihad Launches Abu Dhabi-Salalah Service as UAE Airlines Navigate Year of Unprecedented Aviation Disruption
Etihad Airways launched its inaugural Abu Dhabi-Salalah service on May 21, 2026, expanding to five weekly flights from June 15, as UAE carriers adapt route networks following 227 delays and 15 cancellations in a single June 5 disruption event — the worst in recent UAE aviation history.
Bahrain Non-Oil Economy at 85% of GDP: How the Kingdom Became the GCC’s Most Diversified Economy
Bahrain's non-oil sectors now represent approximately 85 per cent of GDP — with financial services alone at 17 per cent — making the Kingdom the GCC's most structurally diversified economy by this measure, built on the foundations of Vision 2030, a unified financial regulator, and early-mover regulatory innovation.
UAE Faces 200,000 Cyberattacks Per Day as GCC Governments Meet at Abu Dhabi Summit to Coordinate Response
UAE infrastructure faces 90,000 to 200,000 cyber breach attempts daily in 2026, with 128 confirmed incidents recorded year-to-date. The Government Cybersecurity Summit, held at Conrad Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi on June 9, brought 400-plus leaders together to coordinate the GCC's digital defence response.
UAE-India CEPA Hits $101 Billion Trade for Second Year, Sets $200 Billion Target After Modi’s Abu Dhabi Visit
UAE-India bilateral trade crossed $101.25 billion in FY 2025-26 under CEPA for the second consecutive year, with Indian PM Modi's Abu Dhabi visit unlocking $5 billion in UAE investment commitments, a 10-year ADNOC LNG supply deal, and a $200 billion joint trade target for 2032.
QatarEnergy North Field Expansion: First LNG Production Due H2 2026, Capacity Rising to 126 MTPA
QatarEnergy's $29 billion North Field expansion will produce its first LNG in the second half of 2026, according to the company CEO — pushing Qatar's total capacity from 77 MTPA to 126 MTPA by 2027 through six new gas trains, making Qatar the undisputed world leader in LNG exports.
Saudi Arabia Real Estate 2026: Riyadh Tops the Gulf’s Property Investment Rankings
Riyadh has quietly become one of the world's most compelling real estate investment markets. While Dubai has dominated GCC property headlines for the past...
NEOM Restructured in 2026: The Line Suspended After 2.4km Built, Oxagon Port Nears Opening
Construction on NEOM's The Line was suspended in September 2025 after just 2.4 kilometres of foundation work — far short of the 170km vision. As of June 2026, Saudi Arabia's giga-project has pivoted to industrial AI infrastructure and renewable energy, while Oxagon port reaches 68 per cent completion.
GCC Events Calendar: The Biggest Business, Tourism and Culture Events in H2 2026
The second half of 2026 is packed with must-attend events across the Gulf Cooperation Council, from the world's largest technology show and the Dubai...
Oman’s Duqm Secures $7.5 Billion in Green Hydrogen Deals as HyPort Phase 1 Targets 2026 Production
Oman signed 10 agreements worth $7.5 billion for the Duqm Special Economic Zone — led by ACME Group's $3.5 billion green ammonia project and HyPort Duqm's Phase 1 targeting production start in 2026 — advancing Oman's goal of 1.38 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2030.
Kuwait’s KIA Crosses $1 Trillion in Assets, Joins Microsoft and BlackRock’s $30bn AI Infrastructure Partnership
Kuwait Investment Authority crossed $1.072 trillion in assets under management as of May 2026 — one of just five global sovereign funds to break the trillion-dollar barrier — and deployed its first major act of that scale into the Microsoft and BlackRock-backed $30 billion AI Infrastructure Partnership.
