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Economy & Business

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

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

Analysis

Why the Hormuz oil shock never became an energy catastrophe

The US-Israel-Iran war produced a historic oil supply shock but not a severe global economic crisis, due to ample prewar supplies, China's energy pivot and strategic reserve releases.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

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

A farmer waters potted pineapple plants at a greenhouse in al-Awir desert in the Gulf emirate of Dubai on July 7, 2022. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

UAE bets on agtech to meet food security targets ahead of COP28

The UAE had the strongest food security in the region last year. Focusing on agtech is helping it achieve local food production goals.

Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Etihad Airways

Two Etihad Airways ads banned in UK over greenwashing claims

The Gulf carrier was accused of exaggerating climate claims by the British Advertising Standards Agency.

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Middle East debt issuances nearly triple in Q1 2023 as Saudis take lead

In Q1 of 2023, Saudi Arabia was the leading debt issuer in the MENA region.

IVAN PISARENKO/AFP via Getty Images

China’s Sinopec acquires stake in Qatar gas project

Chinese energy firms are increasingly cooperating with their Qatari and Saudi counterparts as the People’s Republic makes further inroads into the region.

Algeria oil field

Sonatrach announces six new oil discoveries in Algeria

The state-owned oil company made several discoveries in the first quarter of this year.

A painted Turkish national flag is seen on the wall of a collapsed building, two months after a 7.8-magnitude jolt and its aftershocks wiped out swathes of Turkey's mountainous southeast, in Antakya on April 5, 2023. - Many of the survivors blamed the government and its stuttering response to Turkey's worst disaster of its modern era for a death toll that has now surpassed 50,000. But that fury is gradually giving way to a mixture of fatalism and reviving trust in the man this province gave three-fourths of

Turkey's industries see biggest decline since 2020 in quake aftermath

Production output fell by 8.2% annually in February, the same month the earthquakes wreaked havoc on the country, according to new data.

Analysis

Experts pour cold water on Tunisia BRICS ‘bid,’ as country rejects IMF

Experts say economic reforms and stronger anti-Western credentials are needed before the North African country could be seriously considered to join the five-member bloc.

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

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - OCTOBER 19: Turkey's drilling vessel Kanuni arrives for alterations at the Haydarpasa port on October 19, 2020 in Istanbul, Turkey. The vessel will undergo tower disassembly before heading to the Black Sea. Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently announced a further discovery of 85 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the Black Sea. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Turkey's natural gas offers much needed energy options

The new development of gas from the Sakarya field in the Black Sea is a remarkable achievement for Turkey's national oil company.

Gerald Kepes

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional energy trends

A general view of the Emirates Golf Club and the Dubai skyline during a pro-am event prior to the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 26, 2021.

Who is exempt from UAE’s upcoming corporate tax?

Government entities, investment funds and others will be exempt from the first-ever corporate tax that will soon take effect in the Emirates.

This picture taken on March 23, 2023 shows a view of Dubai's landmark Burj Khalifa skyscraper, the world's tallest building, on the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi, UAE banks rank highest valued in Middle East: Forbes

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries took 41 places, or 82%, of the list of the 50 highest-valued banks in the Middle East and North Africa.

A pedlar sells roasted corn cobs by the medieval Sultan al-Ghuri Complex (built in 1505) in the Azhar district of Egypt's capital Cairo on January 16, 2023. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Inflation hits 33.9% in Egypt as food prices surge

Egypt’s Central Bank continues to raise interest rates amid surging inflation, but past rate hikes have failed to alleviate the situation.

Kamil Alawadhi, IATA’s Regional Vice-President for Africa and Middle East.

Gulf's economic transformation will drive air traffic, IATA says

Kamil Al-Awadhi, the association's Middle East chief, said countries in the region have spurred air traffic by hosting global business, political and sporting events.