Essential Middle East Market Research Insights in 2026

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Our reach is worldwide, however our home is the Middle East. As the longest-serving management consulting business, we have a proud history in the region built on a 100-year legacy.

Discover how Strategy & can help your service change today and build your ideal tomorrow. Industry Business Consulting and Services Company size 501-1,000 workers Head office Middle East, - Type Independently Held Founded 1914 Specialties agriculture and food, air travel, building and construction, customer markets, energy, resources and sustainability, financial services, government and public sector, health industries, media and entertainment, movement, genuine estate, innovation, telecommunications, travel and tourism, maritime, aerospace, space and defence, and multisector financial investment.

Remote work has actually moved from novelty to requirement. What began as an emergency situation reaction during the pandemic is now embedded in how international business recruit, retain, and protect talent. For Middle East-based businesses, particularly those running in an environment of heightened geopolitical uncertainty, the capability to decouple work from a fixed location is no longer just an HR perk; it's a core strength technique.

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Some Middle Eastern groups have actually reacted to recent disputes by moving entire teams to Asia, with initial short-term relocations ending up being long-term for some employees, who now think twice to return and think about moving elsewhere. This new patternrapid group movings, followed by specific onward movesis screening tax and regulatory structures that were never designed for it.

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Tax treaties, social security coordination rules and corporate tax principles such as irreversible facility were developed around that paradigm. Middle Eastern international enterprises are now handling something very various: Groups moved at short notice from the Gulf to Asia or Europe "for a couple of months"Individuals who then select to remain on or relocate once again, typically without a formal assignmentCore functions such as financing, IT, trading, and threat all of a sudden being carried out outside the area, often without a clear paper trail.

Existing rules often assume cross-border work is deliberate and handled, but that's significantly not the case. The current experience of Middle Eastheadquartered groups illustrates the problem in really useful terms and exposes the limits of the present OECD Model Tax Convention framework. In action to the local instability and armed dispute, some companies moved a big part of their workforce to "safe harbor" nations in Asia or Europe, typically under informal internal assistance instead of official task letters.

With uncertainty on the ground, short-lived work plans were extended. Some staff members picked not to return and checked out moving to other centers or employers without clear timelines or tax preparation. Business tax and movement teams must then retroactively assess tax house changes, possible irreversible establishment development under regional guidelines, earnings sourcing throughout jurisdictions, and relevant social security systems.

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Core decision making or income creating activities performed from a host nation can support an irreversible establishment claim by local tax authorities, particularly where whole functions have actually been moved. The MTC Commentary, while clarifying when a home office or remote working arrangement might make up a permanent establishment, still leaves substantial judgment calls where "temporary" movings end up being semi irreversible.

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Staff members who planned short stays may unintentionally meet residency rules abroad, running the risk of double residence and complex treaty tiebreaker tests. The MTC Commentary supplies guidance, but applying "center of important interests" throughout emergency movings remains unclear. Bonus offers, incentives, and equity earned throughout movings frequently require allotment throughout nations, with payroll and reporting responsibilities in each.

Regional or cross-border transfers can leave workers in between systems when pension and advantages do not match their work pattern. In AsiaPacific and the Middle East, decisions frequently depend on specific scenarios rather than the formal guidance, with little uniformity.

From a policy perspective, Middle Eastexposed multinationals significantly should have: Clearer guardrails for remote and moved teamsincluding explicit "low threat" activities that will not, by themselves, produce a taxable presence, and useful examples in the MTC Commentary that reflect emergency relocations rather than only prepared remote work. More efficient residence tie breakers for workers who spend extended periods in numerous nations due to security or geopolitical concerns, instead of career-driven relocations.