Nuclear energy can be a flashpoint for tension in the Middle East.Now, though, it's taking new light. A handful of Gulf countries, including the UAE, have signed new agreements with the US in the past few months – each nation with its own advantages and goals in the sector. These agreements focus heavily on civilian nuclear energy. But they are also part of a broader goal to futureproof Gulf economies. The Emirates Nuclear Energy Company, or ENEC, is the body responsible for all things nuclear in the UAE. In July, it expanded an agreement with US nuclear power company Westinghouse. It designs and sells the AP1000 – an advanced reactor known for its good economics. This partnership, according to a statement from ENEC, will entail: “Efforts to accelerate the deployment of that AP1000 reactor, exploration of opportunities in US nuclear projects and quadruple nuclear capacity by 2050.” On this episode of Business Extra, host Salim Essaid hears from Noam Raydan of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy to explore why momentum in the area of nuclear partnerships is building.

New US tariffs are coming into effect this week. US President Donald Trump's newest deadline of August 1 is his latest attempt to secure trade agreements with vital global economies – and bring in more revenue for the US. Take Monday’s deal between the US and the EU. They avoided a trade war by agreeing that the EU would pay 15 per cent tariffs on most goods – half the rate that Mr Trump had threatened. But other big shifts are also taking place. US tariffs are pushing international exporters to find more reliable trade partners, and countries in the Middle East are stepping up to the plate. On this episode of Business Extra, host Salim Essaid hears from Simon Evennet, a professor of geopolitics and strategy at the IMD business school in Stockholm, to understand what this means for the region. Editor’s note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our two-minute listener survey. Click here.

Crypto has reached a critical moment in its history. The US released a slew of game-changing bills for cryptocurrency last week, signalling a long-anticipated seal of approval of crypto from the world’s largest economy. Those bills are the Clarity Act, something called the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, and – the Genius Act, which is what we are focusing on today. It is all expected to have major implications for the Middle East, which has already established its own level of crypto adoption. On this episode of Business Extra, host Salim Essaid hears from two experts; Naeem Aslam, CIO at Zaye Capital Markets in London, and Ola Doudin, CEO of UAE-based cryptocurrency exchange BitOasis. Editor’s note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our two-minute listener survey. Click here.

A whole new property market is to open up to international buyers and it is from the Middle East’s largest economy. Starting in January 2026, Saudi Arabia will allow foreign investors to buy property in the kingdom. It has left global investors eager to find out how they can tap into Saudi Arabia’s fast growing real estate market, which is expected to reach more than $94 billion by 2028. But how easy will it be for a foreign investor to buy property in the kingdom? Will there be a language barrier? Are the kingdom’s regulatory systems able to work with foreign buyers yet? We explore these questions and more on this episode of Business Extra, where host Salim A Essaid hears from Faisal Durrani, a partner and head of research for the Middle East and North Africa at Knight Frank Middle East.

The absence of income tax has helped to attract people from around the world to move to the Gulf. But one country is set to change direction. Oman recently announced it will be the first country in the region to introduce personal income tax. While some countries, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have other types of taxes, such as VAT, on most goods and services, Oman is making history with a levy on personal income. The tax is not set to take effect until 2028, but it has already raised questions about whether other Gulf states will follow suit. Deepthi Nair, Assistant Business Editor, discusses the subject with David Daly, a partner at the Gulf Tax Accounting Group in the UAE.

For decades, most Emiratis have worked in government roles. But now, thousands are joining private companies as part of a nationwide plan to balance the workforce. Early iterations of Emiratisation began in the 1990s, with programmes formalised in the early 2000s. About three years ago, the UAE gradually implemented quotas for hiring Emiratis and gave private-sector companies deadlines to meet them. Now, those deadlines continue to come up. In this episode of Business Extra, host Salim hears from our own Ali Al Shouk and Ben Crompton of Crompton Partners on Emiratisation, how it’s affecting companies, and what it means for the future of work in the UAE.

Gulf leaders have been on alert for triggers on several fronts: for one, potential damage to nuclear sites, such as the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, just across the pond that is the Arabian Gulf. The Gulf has also kept close watch on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway in the Gulf where about a fifth of the world's oil flows through to power the globe, and which Iran had threatened to close. Despite the announcement of a ceasefire, all of these are still major factors in the Gulf's economic well-being and stability. On this week's episode of Business Extra, host Salim Essaid hears from Safaa Al-Kogali, World Bank county director for GCC countries. Let's get into what happened, what's next and what we're on the lookout for.

In the days since Israel started its offensive against Iran, oil prices have shot up and global markets dipped. Israel has struck nuclear sites and oil fields, and the aggression has left global markets wary of what’s to come. Markets are holding out for the possibility of major supply chain disruptions that could have global impact. To understand what this war means for the global economy, Business Extra host Salim Essaid hears from The National's Geo-Economics Editor Manus Cranny, and Colby Connelly, Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute.

“New” is the theme in the Middle East’s growing aviation sphere: new cities, new aircraft and new markets. The International Air Transport Association (Iata) says carriers in the region are expected to post the highest net profit margin in the world this year, at 8.7 per cent. These are strong numbers from the Middle East. But they are coming at a volatile time. Host Salim Essaid hears from The National's own Deena Kamel and StrategicAero Research's Saj Ahmad on what to expect from air travel in the region.

In the UAE, where development is the name of the game, real estate is a big deal. There's a lot of growth in the UAE, and that means questions about property. The real estate sector in Dubai has been booming since Covid, while there is also rapid development in Abu Dhabi. A report from the credit rating agency Fitch says Dubai property prices are expected to fall by up to 15 per cent in the second half of 2025 and into next year. But some experts say that might not be the case. So how do these new changes in developments factor into the real estate market? We hear from Haider Tuaima, managing director and head of real estate research at ValuStrat, Cherif Sleiman, Chief Revenue Officer at Property Finder, and our own Senior Business Reporter Fareed Rahman.  

Last week, some of the biggest names in tech announced a partnership with Abu Dhabi’s leading AI entity, G42 – a project called Stargate UAE. It’s part of a massive new AI campus set to come online in 2026 – a Gulf iteration of OpenAI’s US-based project of the same name, which was launched earlier this year. Also happening at the same time will be a partnership between Nvidia and the UAE’s AI investment bank, MGX, on a data centre in Europe, and another G42 partnership focused on building data centres on US soil. All of this comes after US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Gulf in May. It’s arguably the dawn of a new era, not just in tech, but in the global economic and political relationships that are keeping tech at the helm. On this episode of Business Extra, we revisit the question of AI and the Gulf, because a lot has changed in just the last few months. 

The UAE is in a race with itself to raise its manufacturing game. From machine parts to pasta, there is one goal: Make it in the Emirates. That also happens to be the name of an event taking place in Abu Dhabi this week, showing what UAE manufacturing has to offer. It’s part of a larger push by the country to be less reliant on international trade, aiming to expand and diversify the UAE economy and make manufacturing as one of its strongest pillars. On this episode of Business Extra, we're hearing from an expert and an innovator to learn more about the UAE’s national push, what it offers and how entrepreneurs can benefit from it.

US President Donald Trump’s historic trip to the Gulf has come to an end – but the business deals announced during it will have a lasting impact. Mr Trump’s tour was a whirlwind of mega-announcements, including $200 billion in commercial deals with the UAE, a $600 billion package with Saudi Arabia and a record aircraft order from Qatar Airways. In this episode of Business Extra, host Sarah Forster is joined by The National’s Geo-Economics Editor Manus Cranny to break down what it all means for the future of US-Gulf relations and tech ambitions, and look at how economic interests are now shaping diplomacy between the US and the Middle East.

The Jordanian government owed 44.8 billion dinars in public debt as of February this year. That’s more than $63 billion. It’s not $36 trillion dollars like the figure blinking on the US debt clock. But for a country like Jordan, where debt makes up more than 92 per cent of GDP, according to the International Monetary Fund, that number hits differently. Jordan is now at a crossroads. With US financial aid frozen in President Donald Trump’s second term, and pressure mounting from lenders like the IMF, Jordan is now forced to do more with less. And that is in a region plagued by conflict, inflation, and youth unemployment. Jordan’s debt has been creeping up for years. And now, the country is an example of how aid and borrowing can become lifelines – but also long-term liabilities. It lacks a thriving industrial base, relies heavily on imports, and does not have a strong supply of natural resources. For decades, aid, especially from the US, served as a financial safety net. Today, we’re asking how did Jordan get here, and how it can get out of it. 

It's been a time of tumult on Wall Street – at the hands of the White House. US President Donald Trump made his plans for tariffs known on the campaign trail, but their scale has taken the world by surprise. The sweeping tariffs sent global markets into chaos. Then, with the announcement of a 90-day pause, things calmed down. But that hasn’t done much for perhaps the greatest fear among investors and the public: the possibility of recession. We’ve heard about so-called recession indicators – particularly as they pertain to the US. Here in the Middle East, though, the outlook might not be so grim. On this episode of Business Extra, we explore the basis of the recession fears and what that means for markets and, ultimately, consumers.

For more than a decade, Syria has been under international sanctions aimed at pressuring Bashar Al Assad’s regime. But there is a longer history of sanctions on the country and the broader Middle East. Sanctions can be used as a nudge – or shove – from government to government, usually during times of war. But their impact continues into periods of relative peace, trickling from the highest ranks of the ruling class down to the labourers and families that make up the backbone of a country’s economy. We have seen sanctions ravage Syria’s economy on and off since the 1970s, and hold throughout 14 years of civil war. But following the fall of Mr Assad in December 2024, Syria has a new government, a new head of state and a caretaker cabinet that has promised to rebuild. In this episode of Business Extra, we are looking at sanctions on Syria, the complexities of these measures and how the country’s economy might evolve after they are lifted.

Donald Trump has been vocal about his planned tariff war since setting foot on the campaign trail – in both his first and second times in office. Mr Trump began his first stint in the White House with a trade war against China. Some of those tariffs were preserved by Joe Biden’s administration when he began his term in 2020. But throughout his campaign, Mr Trump made clear he’d come back with tariffs at full force. What we’re seeing now is a return of that foreign economic policy – broadened, fast-tracked and intensified. On this episode of Business Extra, we’re hearing from experts about what this means in the political sphere, but also outside of it; for the everyday consumer perhaps uncertain about what a trade war can mean, and for economic machinery here in the region.

The start-up economy is booming in the Middle East, but despite progress, women remain underrepresented, as founders and as recipients of funding. While women-led start-ups make up 7 per cent of the region’s total, they receive about 1 per cent of available funding, Wamda statistics show. In this episode of Business Extra, host Salim Essaid speaks with three female founders in the UAE – Yasmin Rose of Rise Birth Centre, Yasmin Megerisi of House of Meena, and Thea Myhrvold, chief executive of Getbee – who share their experiences of navigating the start-up scene in the region. The host also hears from Hynd Bouhia, a start-up funding expert, who unpacks the numbers behind the gender gap in investment and the biases that continue to shape funding decisions.

This episode is sponsored by Al Masaood Automobiles The global automotive industry is undergoing dramatic transformation as owners seek more from their vehicles – and technology delivers. This is evident in the UAE where major distributors such as Al Masaood Automobiles are anticipating and catering to shifting customer demands. In this episode of The National’s Business Extra podcast, the company’s chief executive, Irfan Tansel, discusses the UAE’s current motoring landscape, as well as the future of mobility, as it experiences disruption across the industry, including the growth of electric vehicles, emergence of autonomous cars, and rising owner appetite for digitisation and connectivity. Drawing on more than 40 years in the automotive business, Mr Tansel tells host David Dunn about the evolving role of physical dealerships in a digital-first world, Al Masaood Automobiles’ significant sector successes and the enduring legacy of family favourite, the Nissan Patrol.

In the past decade, Gulf countries have prioritised innovation. It's part of a shift from their prime standing as oil economies to their new goal of using the advent of AI to enhance their economies all around.   It's getting attention from global tech hubs. A former Google chief recently said Saudi Arabia has the potential to become the next AI powerhouse. Only last month, Saudi Arabia's non-oil private sector economy recorded its strongest expansion in more than a decade.   Some of the biggest names in tech are pouring billions into innovation in Gulf countries, from physical infrastructure such data centres to partnerships that support virtual breakthroughs. In this episode of Business Extra, Salim Essaid hears from tech experts and leaders on the Gulf's AI appeal and where it's going.