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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

Guests attend the Global AI 2020 Summit, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 21, 2020.

Investment in Saudi Arabia startups in 2022 nears $1 billion

Saudi Arabia is the second-largest venture capital market in the Middle East, after the UAE.

Sudani germany

Iraqi PM in Germany to sign agreement with Siemens

Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani traveled to Germany Thursday to further economic ties between the two countries and sign an agreement with Siemens to repair Iraq's dilapidated electrical infrastructure.

Saudi mine

Saudi Arabia's mining sector sees boost after UK and domestic fund deals

The agreement with Saudi Arabia will help the United Kingdom reduce dependence on China, according to the British government.

An Egyptrian flag is pictured on the shore of the Suez Canal in the northeastern city of Ismailiya, on May 27, 2021. - Talks about compensations with the owner of the container ship Ever Given, that blocked the Suez Canal at the end of March are "at a standstill", Ossama Rabie, the head of the Egyptian authority that runs the Suez Canal said in an interview with AFP. The blocking that lasted six days, cost Egypt between 12 and 15 million USD per day of closure, according to the Suez Canal Authority (SCA). (

Rising Suez Canal revenues to provide much-needed lifeline for Egypt in 2023

PRO: The Suez Canal closed 2022 with record-breaking revenues, representing a key lifeline for Egypt as it faces serious economic issues (access with free trial).

Marc Español

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Egypt's pound plunges to historic low with IMF deal

Egypt has agreed to allow its currency to float in order to receive $3 billion from the International Monetary Fund.

A man watches stock movements on a display at the Dubai Financial Market stock exchange, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 12, 2022.

Analysis

Can Islamic cryptocurrencies save the industry?

Cryptocurrencies lost over a trillion dollars in value in 2022, yet Islamic coins are emerging with ethical practices claiming to potentially resist such losses.

By Salim A. Essaid

This picture shows countainers and cranes on a dock at Haifa Port, Israel, June 24, 2021.

Indian-led consortium completes purchase of Haifa Port

The privatization of the port in northern Israel has been in the works since 2018.

An Egyptian youth is seen working in a bakery at a market, Cairo, Egypt, March 17, 2022.

Egypt’s inflation increases into 2023

Central bank interventions have so far been unable to stem the tide of inflation, and Egypt is also contending with the devaluation of the Egyptian pound.

Saad Sherida al-Kaabi (R), Qatar's energy minister and CEO of QatarEnergy, and Bruce Chinn, CEO of Chevron Phillips Chemical company, attend a signing ceremony at the QatarEnergy headquarters in Qatar's capital Doha on January 8, 2023. (Photo by AMR DIAB/AFP via Getty Images)

Qatar and Chevron sign major petrochemical deal

The move follows QatarEnergy’s gas deals last year with China and Germany.

Pounds dollars

Egypt, facing economic crunch, restricts non-essential travel for government

The decision is the latest in a series of measures Egyptian public and private financial institutions are taking in an attempt to cope with the economic crisis.

An Iranian man looks looks at currency exchange rates outside a shop in downtown Tehran on June 15, 2021. - Iran holds a presidential election on June 18, with ultraconservative Ebrahim Raisi, who heads the judiciary, most likely to win from the seven candidates. (Photo by MORTEZA NIKOUBAZL / AFP) (Photo by MORTEZA NIKOUBAZL/AFP via Getty Images)

Iranian exporters to suffer impact of frozen exchange rate

Bijan Khajehpour

Bijan Khajehpour

In Vienna, reporting on Iranian politics

Participants attend the launch of the new tourism visa in Ad Diriyah, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site, outside Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 27, 2019.

Saudi Public Investment Fund announces new tourism project in Diriyah

The sovereign wealth fund is seeking to boost tourism to the kingdom per the Vision 2030 initiative.