Economy & Business - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Business and Economy Cover Image

Economy & Business

CN-STR / AFP via Getty Images

China’s overland trade routes offer Iran wartime economic lifeline: What to know

Cargo rail traffic between China and Iran has reportedly surged since the US blockade began in April as Tehran seeks overland trade alternatives to help buy time.

In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency on May 4, 2026, the Iran-flagged tugboat Basim sails near a ship anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.

What to know about Iran's 'Persian Gulf Strait Authority' to control Hormuz traffic

The establishment of an entity seeking to control maritime transportation in the Strait of Hormuz is the latest sign that Iran wants to formalize authority in the strategic waterway.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly speaks in Beirut on Dec. 19, 2025.

Egypt ramps up energy investments amid war-driven price pressures

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Wednesday that Egypt has secured commitments exceeding $19 billion from international oil companies over the next three years.

Latest News

Few ships pass Hormuz despite US efforts to break Iran's hold

Tankers are seen at the Khor Fakkan Container Terminal in the Sharjah Emirate, along the Strait of Hormuz on June 23, 2025. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran strikes UAE’s Fujairah oil hub as US pushes Hormuz reopening

Meysam MIRZADEH / TASNIM NEWS / AFP via Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Crops of wheat and barley in Terbol village on May 10, 2022, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Oman enters Gulf AI race with new special economic zone in Muscat

Haitham AL-SHUKAIRI / AFP via Getty Images

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Jack Dutton

Chief Business Correspondent

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images

Iraq-China ties progress with Nasiriyah airport project

Relations between Iraq and China are strengthening, in part due to Chinese interest in Iraqi oil and infrastructure projects.

Google reportedly offers $23B for Israeli cybersecurity firm Wiz

Israel's Wiz is one of the world’s fastest-growing startups, having reached $350 million annual recurring revenue last year, and provides services to more than 40% of Fortune 100 businesses.

Newly elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a visit to the shrine of the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, on July 6, 2024, in Tehran, Iran.

Analysis

Will Iran join global financial watchdog FATF under Pezeshkian?

Pezeshkian has promised better days for Iran, but will he revive the once-thwarted negotiations required to make change happen?

Ali Dadpay

TOPSHOT - A deliveryman balances a tray of freshly baked bread while riding his bicycle along the al-Darb al-Ahmar district in the old quarters of Cairo on March 6, 2024. (Photo by Amir MAKAR / AFP) (Photo by AMIR MAKAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Can Egypt's new cabinet overcome public skepticism, economic discontent?

The new cabinet in Egypt is expected to address the country’s economic woes, although some analysts doubt its ability to do so.

YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey has lost export competitiveness, won't meet annual goal: Official

Turkish Exporters Assembly Chairman Mustafa Gultepe said that Turkish exports would likely be between $264-267 billion for 2024.

An Airbus A330 of Saudi airline company, also known as Saudi Arabian Airlines, lands in Toulouse, on July 22, 2017.

As Boeing struggles, Airbus inks 4-aircraft deal with Saudi Arabia

The kingdom ordered four more of Airbus’ A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport aircraft for the Royal Saudi Air Force as Boeing's challenges mount in Gulf over safety issues.

Women queue to fill containers with water from a private irrigation well provided by a farmer in Sbikha town, which has been having drinking water problems for years, near Tunisia's central city of Kairouan on June 25, 2024. Like its neighbour Algeria and large areas of the Mediterranean region, Tunisia suffers from "alert drought conditions", according to the European Drought Observatory. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP) (Photo by FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images)

Algeria’s desalination ambitions to come with heavy financial burden

Francisco Serrano

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

A BYD Ocean-M electric car is displayed at the Beijing Auto Show in Beijing on April 25, 2024.

China's BYD, world's biggest EV maker, invests $1B in Turkish plant

In a post on the social media platform X on Monday, Turkey’s Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz confirmed that BYD is expected to begin production of vehicles in the new factory at the end of 2026 and that the facility will provide around 5,000 direct jobs.

Saudi and foreign journalists are pictured at the Future Investment Initiative forum at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh on Oct. 29, 2019.

Middle East startups see funding fall by 34% in first half of 2024

Although startup funding levels have plateaued globally, MENA reported an increase in early-stage rounds and investor participation.

United Arab Emirates

People walk past a currency exchange shop displaying a giant US dollars banknote in downtown Cairo on November 3, 2016. Egypt floated the country's pound as part of a raft of reforms, after a dollar crunch and exorbitant black market trade threatened to grind some imports to a halt. / AFP / KHALED DESOUKI (Photo credit should read KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Egypt’s remittances reach $2.7 billion in boost to foreign reserves

Egypt’s liquidity crisis has been alleviated by recent investment from the United Arab Emirates and help from the International Monetary Fund, though inflation and debt remain issues.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is in Astana for the 24th Summit of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, meets with President Xi Jinping of China, on July 4, 2024.

Erdogan meets Xi, praises Turkey’s ties with China-led SCO bloc

The Turkish president reaffirmed his country’s commitment to deepening cooperation with the China-led bloc.

ALTAN GOCHER/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s inflation slows for first time in eight months, down to 71%

The country’s year-on-year inflation cooled faster than expected in June, official data showed.