The Middle East Economy

Spurred by rapid population growth and mounting public and private investment, Jeddah – Saudi Arabia’s second-largest city – is on the rise. Since the early 1990s the population of its urban area has more than doubled, reaching 4.1m residents as of the end of 2015. While this growth has slowed somewhat over the past half decade, from a high of 3.4% in 2011 to 2.6% in 2015, rising economic...

As home to the world’s most important Islamic sites – including the Masjid Al Haram, or Grand Mosque, which houses the Kaaba – the holy cities of Makkah and Medina are at the centre of religious life for the world’s 1.2bn-strong Muslim population. Located near Jeddah, in western Saudi Arabia, each year the two cities attract millions of religious visitors performing the annual pilgrimages of...

The guide contains listings of some of the leading hotels and resorts in Dubai, and contacts for important government offices and services. It also contains useful tips and information for first-time, regular, business and leisure visitors alike.

Dubai’s economy is the result of a decades-long pursuit of diversification which has brought evolution into a variety of offerings – including services, finance and trade – that has made the emirate a cross-continental meeting point for commerce. Dubai has felt the impact of the fall in crude prices since mid-2014, but it now has sectors that can thrive regardless of oil market conditions....

While in 2015 the world’s emerging countries and fastest-growing economies suffered due to low commodity prices and currency depreciations, Dubai still enjoyed steady GDP growth at around 4% and an increased drive towards consolidating its position as a knowledge-based economy. With a well-diversified model and a set of transformation-oriented projects worth some Dh300bn ($81.7m) in the...