Driving Regional Industrial Growth through Strategy

To reverse a decade of deteriorating total element productivity, local labour market policy is shifting from easy task production to managing active labor force shifts. Governments and employers are scaling short, modular training programmes and micro-credentials in information analytics and digital operations to gear up workers for emerging functions. Workplace-based learning and apprenticeship-style paths are ending up being more typical as companies integrate AI tools into everyday workflows.

With oil prices forecasted to average $55-60 per barrel in 2026, regional governments are intensifying 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 reroute funds toward higher-impact investments. While loaning through sukuk and sustainability-linked bonds is anticipated to increase to money tactical deficits, the focus stays on enhancing non-oil profits structures.

PwC Middle East financial policy and strategy partner Jing Teow said: "Having already mobilised capital and policy at scale, GCC governments are now concentrated on shipment. In 2026, the top priority is enhancing financial durability through more safe and secure trade and financial investment relationships, reliable AI release, handled labor force shifts and disciplined fiscal policy in a more challenging and fragmented worldwide environment.".

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Saudi Arabia and UAE are poised to lead the Gulf region's financial expansion in 2026, supported by strong private-sector efficiency, resilient domestic demand and renewed investment momentum, according to the latest ICAEW Economic Insight Q4 2025 report, produced by Oxford Economics. The GCC is anticipated to outperform most worldwide areas peers next year, with regional GDP projection to grow by 4.4%. Throughout the GCC, non-energy activity is forecasted to expand by 4.1% in 2026, driven by strong labour markets, improving credit conditions and increasing financial investment in technology and AI-related facilities.

Although oil revenues will be under pressure in the first half of 2026, production is anticipated to rise once again in the 2nd half of 2026, supporting the area's medium-term outlook, it mentioned. Saudi Arabia will stay a significant factor to GCC momentum, with GDP forecast to grow 4.3% in 2026.

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Accelerating Dubai Industrial Expansion through Strategy

Development will be supported by industrial expansion and policy reforms, consisting of eased foreign ownership rules that intend to stimulate further investment. The financial deficit is projected to widen to 5.6% of GDP next year amidst softer oil costs, while the recent five-year rent freeze in Riyadh aims to relieve inflationary pressures, though it might constrain future housing supply.

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

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Oil production is anticipated to get again in the second half of 2026, complementing continuous financial investment in infrastructure, technology and international trade collaborations. Hanadi Khalife, the Head of Middle East, ICAEW, said: "This quarter's outlook enhances how far the GCC has been available in structure diverse, durable and worldwide competitive economies.

Scott Livermore, ICAEW Economic Consultant, and Chief Financial Expert and Managing Director, Oxford Economics Middle East, stated: "Saudi Arabia and the UAE are getting in 2026 with strong structures. Saudi non-oil activity is gaining pace, supported by robust demand and rising investment, even as fiscal pressures increase.""The UAE continues to take advantage of strong domestic principles, a sharp uplift in federal government costs and sustained diversification efforts.

Operational Excellence: a Strategic Driver for Regional Growth

What differentiates 2026 from preceding years is not merely the velocity of technological modification, though that acceleration is real, however 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 development masks a more profound change.

Rather, they ask whether these centers drive innovation, own profit-and-loss obligation, and contribute to competitive differentiation. In 2026, the most effective GCCs will behave like internal startups, nimble, cross-functional, insight-driven, and deeply aligned with international service outcomes. This shift from execution to ownership represents maybe the single most considerable strategic recalibration in the GCC model's evolution.

Today, we're assembling more than 3000 meetings between financiers and 119 Gulf-listed business with a combined worth of $2.4 trillion at the HSBC GCC Exchanges Conference 2026, in London. We're combining investors, business, exchanges, and policymakers to discuss what is altering in the area, and what comes next, consisting of the expansion and continuous development of the Gulf's capital markets, and the area's growing function in global networks of capital and trade.