Navigating the Next Middle East Business Landscape

To reverse a decade of compromising total factor performance, regional labour market policy is moving from simple job creation to handling active workforce shifts. Federal governments and employers are scaling short, modular training programmes and micro-credentials in information analytics and digital operations to equip employees for emerging roles. Workplace-based knowing and apprenticeship-style pathways are becoming more common as firms incorporate AI tools into day-to-day workflows.

With oil costs forecasted to typical $55-60 per barrel in 2026, local federal governments are heightening their focus on expenditure discipline and personal capital mobilisation. Fiscal policy is pivoting toward the monetisation of state-owned properties in logistics, energies, and desalination to redirect funds toward higher-impact financial investments. While borrowing via sukuk and sustainability-linked bonds is anticipated to increase to fund strategic deficits, the focus stays on enhancing non-oil profits structures.

PwC Middle East financial policy and technique partner Jing Teow said: "Having already mobilised capital and policy at scale, GCC governments are now concentrated on delivery. In 2026, the top priority is reinforcing economic strength through more protected trade and financial investment relationships, reliable AI deployment, managed workforce shifts and disciplined fiscal policy in a more difficult and fragmented international environment.".

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Saudi Arabia and UAE are poised to lead the Gulf area's financial growth in 2026, supported by strong private-sector efficiency, resistant domestic demand and renewed investment momentum, according to the newest ICAEW Economic Insight Q4 2025 report, produced by Oxford Economics. The GCC is expected to outshine most international regions peers next year, with regional GDP forecast to grow by 4.4%. Across the GCC, non-energy activity is forecasted to expand by 4.1% in 2026, driven by strong labour markets, improving credit conditions and rising investment in technology and AI-related infrastructure.

Oil profits will be under pressure in the first half of 2026, production is expected to increase once again in the 2nd half of 2026, supporting the region's medium-term outlook, it specified. Saudi Arabia will remain a significant contributor to GCC momentum, with GDP projection to grow 4.3% in 2026.

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Operational Excellence: a Strategic Pillar for 2026 Growth

Development will be supported by commercial expansion and policy reforms, consisting of alleviated foreign ownership guidelines that intend to stimulate additional investment. The fiscal deficit is predicted to broaden to 5.6% of GDP next year amidst softer oil rates, while the recent five-year rent freeze in Riyadh intends to reduce inflationary pressures, though it may constrain future housing supply.

Strong domestic fundamentalsThe UAE is likewise placed for another strong year of efficiency, with GDP projection to rise 5.6% in 2026 as non-oil sectors continue to broaden. Tourist, trade and financial services stay essential development motorists, supported by population development and sustained domestic demand. Dubai's economy grew 4.4% in the very first half of 2025, showing broad-based non-oil strength.

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Oil production is anticipated to get once again in the 2nd half of 2026, matching ongoing investment in infrastructure, innovation and global trade partnerships. Hanadi Khalife, the Head of Middle East, ICAEW, said: "This quarter's outlook strengthens how far the GCC has can be found in structure varied, durable and internationally competitive economies.

Scott Livermore, ICAEW Economic Consultant, and Chief Financial Expert and Managing Director, Oxford Economics Middle East, said: "Saudi Arabia and the UAE are going into 2026 with strong foundations. Saudi non-oil activity is getting pace, supported by robust need and rising financial investment, even as fiscal pressures increase.""The UAE continues to gain from solid domestic fundamentals, a sharp uplift in government spending and continual diversification efforts.

How to Maintain a Leading Edge in 2026

What identifies 2026 from preceding years is not simply the velocity of technological change, though that velocity is real, but rather a fundamental shift in how business envisage their GCCs' purpose. The is anticipated to grow to four hundred thirteen billion dollars by 2040, however this growth masks a more profound improvement.

Instead, they ask whether these centers drive innovation, own profit-and-loss responsibility, and add to competitive differentiation. In 2026, the most effective GCCs will behave like internal start-ups, agile, cross-functional, insight-driven, and deeply lined up with worldwide business results. This shift from execution to ownership represents possibly the single most substantial tactical recalibration in the GCC model's advancement.

This week, we're convening more than 3000 conferences in between investors and 119 Gulf-listed business with a combined value of $2.4 trillion at the HSBC GCC Exchanges Conference 2026, in London. We're uniting financiers, business, exchanges, and policymakers to discuss what is changing in the area, and what comes next, including the growth and ongoing advancement of the Gulf's capital markets, and the area's growing function in worldwide networks of capital and trade.