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Economy & Business

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Kuwait's Zain eyes $1.5B mobile network in postwar Syria: What to know

The Kuwaiti company is planning to invest more than $1.5 billion in Syria after securing a license to operate there, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP via Getty Images

Here's what to know about Iraq's corruption as Zaidi launches crackdown

Watchdogs and financial institutions regard Iraq as a significantly corrupt country as the new prime minister works to recover public funds.

AFP via Getty Images

Traffic plummets through Strait of Hormuz after Iran, US trade fire

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz had recovered somewhat before renewed fighting between Iran and the United States saw traffic drop sharply over the weekend.

A student attends a training seminar at the Tourism Ministry Training center in the city of Riyadh on August 30, 2022.

Interview

Saudi labor localization will take ‘generation or two': Armada CEO

Around 70% of Saudi Arabia's population is 35 years old or younger, according to the kingdom’s General Authority for Statistics, providing ample opportunity for an educated and technology-savvy national workforce in the coming decades.

Olivier Badard

CEO of Armada Holding

Latest News

Analysis

Why the Hormuz oil shock never became an energy catastrophe

A tourist boat passes near crude oil tankers, bulk carriers, and other vessels anchored off Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat, Oman, June 19, 2026.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Explainer

Gulf states push incentives for investors, expats after war dents image

FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

Explainer

After UAE and Qatar, could Iraq be next to leave OPEC?

A worker at a market for fuel oil and automotive fuel on March 17, 2026, in Erbil, Iraq.

Explainer

Syria’s energy push could soon get a major boost from Chevron: What to know

Amjad Kurdo / Middle East Images / 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

Employees of Aramco oil company work in Saudi Arabia's Abqaiq oil processing plant on September 20, 2019. - Saudi Arabia said on September 17 its oil output will return to normal by the end of September, seeking to soothe rattled energy markets after attacks on two instillations that slashed its production by half. The strikes on Abqaiq - the world's largest oil processing facility - and the Khurais oil field in eastern Saudi Arabia roiled energy markets and revived fears of a conflict in the tinderbox Gulf

Saudi Aramco’s oil production pivot signals Riyadh’s embrace of fungible fiscal policy

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional energy

A trader prepares before the opening of the stock market at the stock exchange in Doha, Qatar, July 31, 2017.

Qatar’s first VC fund of $1B expected to 'fuel startup ecosystem in region'

The program has two objectives: to generate market-level commercial returns for Qataris and to develop a “vibrant VC and startup ecosystem” in line with the country's national development strategy.

KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images

Qatar places major bet on gas as Saudi Aramco scores new find in Jafurah

Asian liquefied natural gas prices have fallen to a nearly three-year low as warmer winter temperatures have dampened demand.

The picture illustrates euro and United States 100-dollar banknotes bearing the portrait of US statesman, inventor and diplomat Benjamin Franklin next to Iran's rial banknotes, bearing a portrait of Iran's late founder of Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran on September 30, 2012. Iran's currency, the rial, dived to a new low of around 29,600 to the dollar in open trading, losing over 60 percent of its value since the end of last year according to exchange tracking websites as draconian We

Will the value of the Iranian Rial collapse?

Bijan Khajehpour

Bijan Khajehpour

In Vienna, reporting on Iranian politics

A Hermes 900 unmanned aerial vehicle is displayed at the Singapore Airshow in Singapore on Feb. 21, 2024.

Israel’s military exports to India booming, 'unaffected' by war in Gaza

Israel has been one of the top military exporters to India over the past decade.

Getty

Egypt, UAE sign $35 billion development deal amid foreign currency crunch

The deal could help Egypt’s struggling economy and builds on previous Emirati investment in the North African country.

MOHAMMED SAWAF/AFP via Getty Images

Iraq reopens major Baiji oil refinery after 10 years of closure

The North Oil Refinery was taken by the Islamic State in 2014 and took years to rehabilitate.

A boat sails at the Dubai marina with a view of the Gulf Emirate's skyline on Dec. 15, 2023.

UAE dropped from global watchdog’s illicit finance list in quick turnaround

The Gulf country was added to the Financial Action Task Force's grey list in March 2022.

United Arab Emirates

Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade and Industry Rebecca Miano with UAE Minister of Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al-Zeyoudi at a signing ceremony following a joint statement on the conclusion of the talks regarding the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in Dubai, Feb. 22, 2024.

UAE, Kenya conclude trade deal talks as Abu Dhabi expands influence in Africa

The United Arab Emirates has established economic partnership agreements with 10 countries as it seeks to diversify its oil-based economy.

Morocco's Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch (R) meets with his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sanchez (L), in Rabat, on Feb. 2, 2023.

Morocco-Spain thaw continues with investment pledge, aerospace deal

Spain and Morocco have historically been at odds over Western Sahara, migration and territorial disputes.

A ship transits the Suez Canal toward the Red Sea on Jan. 10, 2024, in Ismailia, Egypt.

Analysis

How Red Sea crisis is battering Egypt's manufacturing, textile industries

The Suez Canal is a cornerstone of the Egytian economy, providing a vital source of foreign currency for the cash-strapped country.

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

Laborers work at the construction site of Saudi Aramco's (the national oil company) Al-Khurais central oil processing facility.

Saudi Arabia reports oil export slump after OPEC cuts

The dip in exports for the fourth quarter of 2023 was due to Saudi Arabia’s decision to reduce crude output in accordance with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies — the kingdom has also implemented voluntary cuts.