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  • Saudi Arabia says GDP grew 1.3% in 2024, lifted by non oil sector

    Saudi Arabia's economy returned to growth in 2024, with real gross domestic product increasing 1.3% compared to the previous year, preliminary government data released on Thursday showed, with non-oil sector activities lifting overall GDP. GDP growth surged 4.4% in the fourth quarter versus the same period a year earlier, estimates from the General Authority for Statistics showed, the highest quarterly growth rate in two years, with non-oil activity increasing 4.6%. Non-oil growth vastly outperformed overall GDP in 2024 as well, increasing 4.3% while oil activities declined 4.5% and government activities grew 2.6%. The Saudi economy contracted 0.8% in 2023 as oil production cuts and lower oil prices hit growth in the world's biggest crude exporter.

  • Tom McKibbin ignores Rory McIlroy’s advice and joins Saudi-funded LIV Golf

    Tom McKibbin of Northern Ireland has spurned the advice from mentor Rory McIlroy by giving up a PGA Tour card to join Saudi-backed LIV Golf. McKibbin, a 22-year-old who won his only European tour event in 2023, has signed to play with Jon Rahm and his Legions 13 team. LIV Golf starts its season next week in Saudi Arabia. Rahm confirmed the signing in an Instagram post. McKibbin, who grew up on the same course as McIlroy, was the 10th and final player in the DP World Tour points list to earn a PGA Tour card this year.

  • GCC trade set to grow 5.5% annually through 2033

    Trade in the GCC countries likely to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5 per cent to reach $2.3 trillion by 2033, research showed on Wednesday. According to new research from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), world trade in goods is projected to grow at an average of 2.9 per cent annually through 2033, with the GCC region playing an increasingly pivotal role in connecting major trade routes between East and West. BCG’s latest report, “Great Powers, Geopolitics, and the Future of Trade”, analyses trade and economic data from more than 150 countries. The report reveals how shifting global trade dynamics will impact regional and international commerce through 2033.

  • GCC contract awards hit new high of $273bln in 2024

    The total value of contracts awarded in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) reached a new high of $273.2 billion in 2024, an increase of 9.6 percent, compared to $249.4 billion in 2023, according to Kamco Invest Research. The growth was mainly driven by project awards in Saudi Arabia and the UAE despite registering an annual dip in contract values, the consultancy said in its latest GCC Projects Market Report. The power and oil sectors led the growth of project awards, recording $67 billion and $29.7 billion in contract awards, respectively. On a quarterly basis, total GCC project awards reached $74.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, the highest quarterly number over six years. Total contracts awarded in Saudi Arabia increased by 16.3 percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) in fourth quarter 2024 to $40.4 billion.

  • GCC weighs impact of Trump’s global corporate tax moves

    Tax professionals in the Gulf are assessing how President Donald Trump’s pull-back of US support for an international corporate tax framework might affect GCC states’ implementation of it. In a day-one executive order last week, the returning US president repudiated “any commitment” made by the previous Biden administration toward the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s global minimum tax. The so-called “Pillar Two” of the OECD regime has about 140 participating jurisdictions around the world. It aims to ensure that large multinationals – those with a consolidated revenue of more than €750 million ($780 million) – pay at least a 15 percent rate regardless of where they operate.

  • Commentary: Historical GCC-Lebanon partnership should be restored

    Several high-level Gulf Cooperation Council officials have visited Lebanon recently to show support for newly elected President Joseph Aoun and Nawaf Salam, his pick for prime minister. Last Thursday, Prince Faisal bin Farhan visited Beirut, becoming the first Saudi foreign minister to do so in some 15 years. Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Abdullah Al-Yahya and GCC Secretary-General Jasem Albudaiwi were in Beirut last Friday. They delivered similar messages to Lebanon’s new leadership. Kuwait holds the current rotating presidency of the GCC and has been keenly interested in restoring Lebanon’s close relations with the Gulf countries. Over the past two decades, Lebanon and the GCC countries became estranged as Hezbollah came to dominate Lebanon’s political, security and economic systems, including its foreign policy, which became aligned with Iran’s. It also dominated law enforcement and parts of the judiciary, frustrating investigations into its members and shielding them from accountability.

  • Iran in 2025: How strong does it remain in the Middle East?

    Iran experienced significant military setbacks in 2024, as did many of its allies (including armed groups and groups proscribed as terrorist groups by the UK). Leaders of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon were killed by Israeli action, while Bashar al-Assad’s government fell in Syria in December. Iran and Israel also had their first direct exchanges of fire in April and October since the creation of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979. This Insight surveys the position of Iran’s allies in the region, the status of its nuclear programme, and the role of the US, China and Russia.

  • Saudi’s fintech breaks records

    Despite a sharp 44% dip in total funding, Saudi startups pulled in $750 million this year. The dip comes down to a lack of mega deals (those over $100 million). These large funding rounds were behind much of the total capital in recent years, so the absence of mega deals in 2024 weighed heavily on the numbers. The number of deals hit a historic high—178 transactions, up 16% from last year. Early-stage funding led the way, with SEED funding surging 64% and Series A deals growing 30%.

  • Saudi Arabia set to become a key wheat flour exporter if government controls relax further

    Flour mills across the Middle East are bracing for intensified competition from Saudi Arabia in the export market as expectations grow that the government will loosen its control over wheat procurement. "It's quite a concern for us," a UAE flour mill said. "Once public organizations have slowly been turning into the private realm, which means they'll be better managed for profit moving forward." Flour mills in Saudi Arabia procure all their wheat from the government body responsible for food security in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the General Authority for Food Security (GFSA). However, 2025 is expected to be the year when the government's control over wheat purchases comes to an end, which means mills would take charge of imports themselves rather than buying from the GFSA, according to the source.

  • King & Spalding’s Strategic Expansion: Merging with Al Fahad & Partners in Saudi Arabia

    In a landmark move to solidify its presence in the Middle East, King & Spalding, ranked 17th in the 2023 Am Law 100 with a gross revenue of $2.14 billion, has merged with Abdulaziz H. Al Fahad & Partners, one of Saudi Arabia’s most esteemed law firms. The newly formed entity, King & Spalding Al Fahad, is poised to deliver an expansive suite of legal services, aligning with the region’s evolving needs and the ambitious economic transformation under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.