The Middle East

A drive to promote the emirate’s health care sector is gaining traction, with the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) estimating that the sector’s value will rise to $2.4bn in the next two years, up from around $2bn last year.  

Rising arrivals should continue to drive growth in Dubai’s tourism sector as a large project pipeline of hotels and resorts moves forward in the run-up to Expo 2020.

A new campus in Doha opened by a UK university should boost human resources training and bring Qatar closer towards its vision of creating a knowledge-based economy in the wake of sustained low oil prices.

Four telecoms operators currently have bids under consideration to become the third mobile network on the Omani market, following the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority’s (TRA) launch of the bidding process in November last year.

A raft of new retail outlets and mall expansions are boosting supply in Jordan’s retail sector – all part of a significant pipeline of projects seeking to capitalise on the country’s rising spending power and growing population.

First announced in June 2016, a merger between National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and First Gulf Bank (FGB) was finalised last month.