Driving Regional Industrial Growth through Strategy

To reverse a years of damaging overall aspect productivity, regional labour market policy is shifting from simple task production to managing active labor force shifts. Governments and companies are scaling short, modular training programs and micro-credentials in information analytics and digital operations to equip employees for emerging functions. Workplace-based learning and apprenticeship-style pathways are becoming more common as firms incorporate AI tools into day-to-day workflows.

With oil prices forecasted to average $55-60 per barrel in 2026, local federal governments are intensifying their concentrate on expense discipline and personal capital mobilisation. Financial policy is pivoting toward the monetisation of state-owned properties in logistics, utilities, and desalination to redirect funds toward higher-impact investments. While loaning by means of sukuk and sustainability-linked bonds is anticipated to increase to money strategic deficits, the focus remains on reinforcing non-oil earnings frameworks.

PwC Middle East financial policy and technique partner Jing Teow stated: "Having currently mobilised capital and policy at scale, GCC governments are now concentrated on delivery. In 2026, the top priority is strengthening economic strength through more protected trade and financial investment relationships, effective AI implementation, handled workforce transitions and disciplined fiscal policy in a more difficult and fragmented worldwide environment.".

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Saudi Arabia and UAE are poised to lead the Gulf area's financial expansion in 2026, supported by strong private-sector efficiency, resilient domestic need and restored investment momentum, according to the current ICAEW Economic Insight Q4 2025 report, produced by Oxford Economics. The GCC is expected to exceed most global areas peers next year, with regional GDP projection to grow by 4.4%. Throughout the GCC, non-energy activity is projected to broaden by 4.1% in 2026, driven by strong labour markets, enhancing credit conditions and rising investment in innovation and AI-related facilities.

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

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Driving Regional Industrial Expansion through Innovation

Development will be supported by commercial expansion and policy reforms, including alleviated foreign ownership guidelines that aim to stimulate more investment. The financial deficit is predicted to broaden to 5.6% of GDP next year amid softer oil prices, while the current five-year lease freeze in Riyadh intends to relieve inflationary pressures, though it may constrain future real estate supply.

Strong domestic fundamentalsThe UAE is also positioned for another strong year of performance, with GDP projection to increase 5.6% in 2026 as non-oil sectors continue to broaden. Tourism, trade and monetary services remain crucial development motorists, supported by population development and sustained domestic need. 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 expected to get again in the second half of 2026, matching ongoing investment in infrastructure, innovation and worldwide trade partnerships. Hanadi Khalife, the Head of Middle East, ICAEW, said: "This quarter's outlook strengthens how far the GCC has come in building diverse, durable and internationally competitive economies.

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

Navigating the Next GCC Business Landscape

What differentiates 2026 from preceding years is not simply the acceleration of technological modification, though that acceleration is genuine, but rather an essential shift in how enterprises develop of their GCCs' purpose. The is anticipated to grow to four hundred thirteen billion dollars by 2040, however this development masks a more profound improvement.

Rather, they ask whether these centers drive development, own profit-and-loss obligation, and contribute to competitive distinction. In 2026, the most successful GCCs will act like internal start-ups, nimble, cross-functional, insight-driven, and deeply aligned with worldwide business outcomes. This shift from execution to ownership represents maybe the single most significant strategic recalibration in the GCC model's development.

This week, we're assembling more than 3000 meetings between investors and 119 Gulf-listed companies with a combined worth of $2.4 trillion at the HSBC GCC Exchanges Conference 2026, in London. We're uniting financiers, companies, exchanges, and policymakers to discuss what is changing in the region, and what comes next, including the expansion and ongoing development of the Gulf's capital markets, and the area's growing role in global networks of capital and trade.