Middle East: Strategy

UAE expansion is increasingly extending beyond Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah investing in infrastructure, commercial development and sector-specific growth. While Dubai and Abu Dhabi remain the UAE’s principal business centres, this wider development is creating new opportunities for businesses and investors across the country.

تواجه منطقة الخليج تحديات متشابكة من الاضطرابات الجيوسياسية والتحولات التكنولوجية

National oil companies across the Gulf Cooperation Council face a critical strategic decision as their giant legacy fields enter decline. Should they replicate expensive greenfield operating models, or design new frameworks specifically built for mature assets? This analysis examines three distinct operating model archetypes and reveals how GCC NOCs can achieve both low production costs and lean G&A through deliberate functional decomposition.

UAE expansion is increasingly extending beyond Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah investing in infrastructure, commercial development and sector-specific growth. While Dubai and Abu Dhabi remain the UAE’s principal business centres, this wider development is creating new opportunities for businesses and investors across the country.

AlixPartners examines how the 2026 energy disruptions have fundamentally shifted LNG value creation in the Gulf region, revealing that competitive advantage now lies not in low-cost supply alone, but in integrated platforms combining shipping, trading, destination flexibility and cross-basin reach.

The United Arab Emirates has become one of the leading jurisdictions for investment funds structuring across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. Much of this growth has been driven by the development of two internationally recognised financial centres, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), both of which provide dedicated regulatory frameworks for licensed fund managers, asset managers and investment platforms.

تواجه منطقة الخليج تحديات متشابكة من الاضطرابات الجيوسياسية والتحولات التكنولوجية

As the GCC's major oil fields transition into mature production phases, national oil companies face a critical choice: replicate the costly mistakes of global energy majors or build operating models specifically designed for mature assets. Shell's $491 million loss in the Permian Basin versus ConocoPhillips' $5 billion profit from the same fields reveals how the right organizational structure can transform economics without changing the underlying geology.

Middle Eastern M&A activity demonstrated notable resilience through the first half of 2026 despite the U.S./Iran conflict, with deal values holding steady at USD45.4 billion across 516 transactions. While consumer-facing sectors like retail, hospitality and tourism experienced selective slowdowns, strategic buyers and sovereign investors maintained robust activity, particularly in defense technology.

Abu Dhabi's Real Estate Centre has implemented a temporary rent freeze, reducing the permitted annual rental increase from 5% to 0% across all residential, commercial and industrial properties. This unprecedented market intervention affects lease renewals, property valuations, and investment strategies, with the registered Tawtheeq contract now serving as the central reference point for all rental determinations. How should landlords, tenants, and investors navigate this open-ended measure and what implicat

The UAE has established a new Artificial Intelligence and Data Authority, consolidating three separate government bodies under a single national framework. This institutional development signals...

The State of Qatar has introduced significant amendments to its Advocacy Law through Law No. 19 of 2025, fundamentally reshaping the legal profession's regulatory framework. These reforms expand the competencies of State Lawyers, modernize registration requirements, ease restrictions on commercial activities, and introduce new rules on advertising and fee structures.