MUST-READS

• GCC real estate market transactions surge over $383 billion in 2024, Dubai leads growth

  The Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) real estate market witnessed notable growth in 2024, with transactions surpassing $383 billion. Overall, the region’s transactions grew by an estimated 25 percent last year, highlighting the sector’s growing appeal among residents and investors alike. In its first-ever residential market report, Sakan revealed that Dubai’s share of the GCC region’s transactions reached 54 percent at $207 billion. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s real estate market recorded $75.7 billion in transactions last year, taking a 14 percent share. Saudi Arabia, Sharjah, Kuwait and Oman witnessed significant growth rates in yearly transactions, ranging between 30 percent and 47 percent.

• How Dubai is addressing the AI talent shortage

  As of November 2024, GlobalData’s jobs analytics database found that there were more than 55,000 active AI-related job listings worldwide. While the market has stablised since 2021 and 2022, when GlobalData found that the number of active AI job listings was doubling each year, the need for AI talent remains a serious challenge. To combat the skills shortage, universities are expanding recruitment of AI-focused researchers, and global multinationals such as Meta and Microsoft are offering free AI training platforms for employees and the public.

• How Dubai Chocolate Took Over the World

  She’d never made chocolate before. But, undeterred and halfway through her pregnancy, she began working from her living room, with the elements of knafeh (cream or akkawi cheese, shredded phyllo known as kataifi, nuts or date syrup, and orange blossom or rose water) in mind. Eventually, her “Can’t Get Knafeh of It” bar was born, a milk chocolate shell bursting with pistachio cream and kataifi and adorned with bright yellow and electric green splotches. Mrs. Hamouda had no idea that it would take on a life of its own, earning the nickname “Dubai chocolate” among fans online and spurring countless imitations. In fact, when the couple opened their online shop in 2022, FIX Dessert Chocolatier — FIX, they said, stands for Freaking Incredible eXperience — “we were selling about a bar a week,” said Yezen Alani, Mrs. Hamouda’s husband.

• Shanghai, Mumbai, Dubai or Goodbye

  Frankly, I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to understand the Dubai story - or even the broader UAE story - without a visit to Jebel Ali port. The visit might also make you re-think “the end of globalization” narrative that has attracted the attention of so many. Jebel Ali Port, in many ways, embodies the commercial spirit at the heart of Dubai, though the idea of the port was initially met with skepticism. When the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai, unveiled plans for Jebel Ali Port in the 1970s, critics dismissed it as a “white elephant,” fearing it would overshadow the recently opened Port Rashid, which had debuted in 1972. The Jebel Ali port sees 180+ shipping lines connecting it to more than 150 destinations across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. The Jebel Ali Free Zone hosts some 10,000 companies, engaged in trading, logistics or light manufacturing.

• Dubai to reintroduce 30% alcohol tax

  Dubai will reintroduce the 30 percent sales tax on alcohol in January, according to an email sent by a local alcohol distributor to venues in the city. The correspondence sent by MMI, which also operates off licences in the city, said: “Please note, Dubai Government have informed us the 30 percent municipality tax on alcoholic beverage purchases will be reinstated effective January 2025.” African and Eastern, which sells wholesale to the hospitality sector and retail via outlets in the city, is understood to have sent a similar message to customers.

• Ryan Serhant on Dubai’s Real Estate Boom, Netflix Fame, and how to become a “real estate machine”

  In the eyes of the celebrity property mogul, Dubai has become an international real estate hotspot that now ranks among the top global investment destinations. “Dubai today is a top 10 global real estate investment play,” Ryan Serhant tells Arabian Business. “We’re now seeing buyers in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Hong Kong, Paris and London who are thinking of Dubai first.” This international attraction marks a significant change from previous decades, positioning Dubai alongside iconic cities as a premier choice for investment he believes.

• Dubai singles splurge on premium dating apps but starve for real romance
  Dubai singles are more willing to pay premium prices for dating app subscriptions than ever before in the hopes of boosting their prospects of finding meaningful relationships, residents told Arabian Business. However, this financial investment comes with a paradox. Despite their willingness to pay for premium dating app subscriptions, these same singles have overwhelmingly expressed a preference for meeting potential partners organically in person to build more authentic connectio

• Trump Organisation and Saudi developer sign deal for Dubai luxury tower

  The Trump Organization on Thursday announced a deal with a Saudi developer to build a luxury high-rise tower in Dubai, as the former president’s real estate company continues its expansion in the Gulf region. The Trump Organization and Dar Global, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development, said the project will launch next year, without providing a cost estimate.

• Saudi Tadawul Group Invests in Dubai Exchange

  The acquisition sees Saudi Tadawul Group Holding Company become the joint largest shareholder in DME Holdings Limited, the parent company of Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME), alongside CME Group, through the acquisition of a mix of new and existing shares. DME will be rebranded as the Gulf Mercantile Exchange (GME) to reflect its position as the key regional commodities exchange in the Middle East.

• UAE, Saudi short-term rentals attract record travelers as year-round demand skyrockets for Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh real estate

  Global and regional rental service-providing firms are gearing up for a surge in the influx of visitors and business travellers to the UAE and Saudi Arabia during the current summer season and beyond, as the two countries shift strategies to make cities such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh year-round destinations for travellers.

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