Navigating the 2026 GCC Business Environment

Affirming the growth of AI in the region, a report released by PwC previously this month said that the usage of AI amongst the workforce in the Middle East continues to increase, with 75 percent of staff members in the region utilizing it in their tasks over the past 12 months.

In November, a report released by KPMG highlighted Saudi Arabia's development in the innovation sector and stated that 84 percent of CEOs in the country are ready to deploy AI properly, well above the 76 percent international standard, supported by the Kingdom's information governance ecosystem, including nationwide initiatives led by the Saudi Data and Expert System Authority.

Policymakers are believing holistically about how to make the area attractive, consisting of having more pragmatic laws to permit for experimentation and development," stated the report.

Top service leaders, policymakers and investors from the GCC and Latin America recently explored how countries from the two areas can grow trade between each other in Dubai, UAE.More than 500 regional and global policymakers, heads of state, CEOs, service leaders, financiers, and industry professionals attended the first Global Business Online forum Latin America held at the Atlantis Palm - Dubai.

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In 2015 the GCC made up of the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, imported $11 billion worth of items from Latin America. And exports to Latin America from the region were $5.6 billion, a statement from organisers said. Both areas count on each other for important products.

In 2015 Latin America provided nearly half the meat imports into the GCC and 36 percent of the region's overall sugar imports, it added. Brazil is by far the largest trading partner for countries in the region, followed by Argentina and Mexico. Among the Latin American states, the GCC depends on Brazil for meat (mainly poultry), Argentina for cereals, Mexico for automobiles and Chile for wood products, stated a declaration.

The online forum was organised by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce under the style "Moving Synergies", checks out how organizations can gain from the changing patterns of global need and what function Dubai can play in helping with the next step in company relations. Dubai Chamber takes a pioneering position not just in the UAE and in the GCC however internationally too, by functioning as an info and research study centre, by supplying organization paperwork, providing legal services, helping with networking opportunities by means of signature business events and delivering nearly every conceivable company solution, it stated.

GCC development will enhance in 2026, led by faster expansion in hydrocarbons; non-oil development will stay solid however slow somewhat. Non-oil activity will be supported by population growth, new industries, and public investment; inflation will remain soft, while monetary policy will loosen up. Hydrocarbons sector growth will speed up, offsetting in part lower oil rates; fiscal balances will be blended, with surpluses in UAE and Qatar, however deficits persist in other places.

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SHARJAH (WAM) The GCC and wider Middle East region is poised for the next wave of investments in AI and tech-led sectors, with business-friendly and innovation-focused federal government policies attracting funds and skill, said business leaders at the 9th edition of Sharjah Entrepreneurial Festival (SEF 2026). Throughout a panel discussion on the first day of SEF 2026 analyzing "What Does the Next Year of Equity Capital Look Like", speakers concurred that the emerging local financial investment landscape appears appealing.

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Reacting to a question on local startups' potential customers of gaining from recent investments in digital infrastructure, Tala Al Jabri, Creator and Managing Partner of Wyld VC stated: "We have so much opting for us in the region: the low cost of energy, an extremely progressive federal government that is ahead in policy, policy and data personal privacy; and actually strong academic organizations that are increasingly taking a look at AI and ending up technical skill in AI."She included: "Our supreme goal is to see this area, particularly the GCC, end up being an AI superpower.

Our biggest chauffeur right now is investing in skill, because in the AI race, it's the technical skill that really wins.

"International development funds are being available in, which shows clear indications of maturity of the ecosystem The capability of the UAE and local federal governments to attract skill; their innovation-first technique, abundance of capital here as well as inflow worldwide are the crucial building blocks."Paula Tavangar, Chief Investment Officer at Injaz Capital stated that within the region, Saudi Arabia is leading the number of deals with the greatest worths, with 250 "largest ticket size" offers tape-recorded in 2025 in the country.