Will Strategic Research Drive Middle East Corporate Growth?

El Houni asked the speakers to share what keeps them "on-point" at work and what suggestions they have for the audience. Hamad Al Hajri, CEO and Founder of Snoonu stated it was "crucial to develop borders" between work and personal life and take brief vacations to "disconnect" from the office.

Karim Benkirane, CCO of Du, stated: "If you make the people you work with pleased, you will make the customer happy, who will then make the investors delighted."Ambareen Musa, CEO for Revolut GCC, stated the capability to "not stress" is the crucial to finding a service for issues.

Today, we're assembling more than 3000 conferences in between financiers and 119 Gulf-listed business with a combined worth of $2.4 trillion at the HSBC GCC Exchanges Conference 2026, in London. We're combining investors, business, exchanges, and policymakers to discuss what is changing in the area, and what follows, consisting of the growth and ongoing advancement of the Gulf's capital markets, and the area's growing function in worldwide networks of capital and trade.

Saudi Arabia and UAE are poised to lead the Gulf area's economic expansion in 2026, supported by strong private-sector performance, durable domestic need and renewed financial investment momentum, according to the current ICAEW Economic Insight Q4 2025 report, produced by Oxford Economics. The GCC is expected to outperform most worldwide areas peers next year, with regional GDP forecast to grow by 4.4%. Throughout the GCC, non-energy activity is predicted to expand by 4.1% in 2026, driven by strong labour markets, improving credit conditions and rising investment in technology and AI-related facilities.

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Emerging Future Shifts Defining the 2026 GCC Market

Although oil incomes will be under pressure in the very first half of 2026, production is expected to increase once again in the 2nd half of 2026, supporting the area's medium-term outlook, it mentioned. Saudi Arabia will remain a major factor to GCC momentum, with GDP forecast to grow 4.3% in 2026.

Growth will be supported by industrial growth and policy reforms, including relieved foreign ownership guidelines that aim to stimulate further financial investment. The financial deficit is predicted to widen to 5.6% of GDP next year amidst softer oil rates, while the recent five-year rent freeze in Riyadh aims to reduce inflationary pressures, though it might constrain future real estate supply.

Strong domestic fundamentalsThe UAE is also placed for another strong year of efficiency, with GDP projection to rise 5.6% in 2026 as non-oil sectors continue to expand. Tourist, trade and monetary services remain crucial development motorists, supported by population growth and continual domestic demand. Dubai's economy grew 4.4% in the first half of 2025, reflecting broad-based non-oil strength.

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Oil production is expected to select up once again in the second half of 2026, complementing continuous investment in infrastructure, technology and international trade collaborations. Hanadi Khalife, the Head of Middle East, ICAEW, stated: "This quarter's outlook reinforces how far the GCC has been available in building varied, resilient and internationally competitive economies.

Scott Livermore, ICAEW Economic Consultant, and Chief Economist and Handling Director, Oxford Economics Middle East, said: "Saudi Arabia and the UAE are getting in 2026 with strong structures. Saudi non-oil activity is gaining pace, supported by robust need and increasing investment, even as financial pressures increase.""The UAE continues to gain from solid domestic fundamentals, a sharp uplift in government spending and sustained diversification efforts.

Can Market Analytics Drive Dubai Industrial Success?

GCC nations are pivoting towards a method of 'strength over expansion' going into 2026, as the area prepares for a global landscape specified by softer oil costs, geopolitical fragmentation, and the quick shift to an AI-enabled economy. According to a brand-new local outlook by PwC, the GCC is moving to insulate its growth from external shocks by deepening international trade combination, securing industrial supply chains, and carrying out a definitive shift from innovation ambition to functional application.

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Negotiations free of charge Trade Contracts with China, the EU, and Japan are advancing, while talks with the UK have entered final drafting stages. The area is significantly positioning itself as a main center for east-west trade through the IndiaMiddle EastEurope Economic Passage (IMEC). To support domestic manufacturing, protecting crucial minerals has ended up being a strategic concern.