The Gulf Nashra Weekly Digest
Bahrain Announces $17bn Projects, Saudi Arabia Grants +100 Premium Residencies to Entrepreneurs, and Gulf Voices on Zohran Mamdani.
Media Coverage
Geopolitics
“Saudi Crown Prince bin Salman will visit Trump on Nov 18, White House official says.” Reuters, November 3, 2025.
“The visit comes as Trump pushes Saudi Arabia to join the list of nations that have joined the Abraham Accords. In 2020, Trump reached deals with United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco to normalize relations with Israel.”
Go Deeper: “The November 18 Decision: Why Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates Must Lead Gaza Reconstruction.” The Middle East Forum, November 3, 2025.
“Sudan civil war atrocities cast spotlight on UAE.” Financial Times, November 4, 2025.
“Abu Dhabi strenuously rejects claims that it has armed and enabled the RSF, which Washington has previously accused of committing genocide. But a UN panel of experts last year presented what they described as “credible” evidence Abu Dhabi had supplied arms to the RSF via Chad, while Bulgaria separately told UN investigators mortar rounds captured from the militia entering Sudan in 2024 had previously been exported to the UAE. No re-export permission had been sought. The UN did not make either set of findings public.”
Market & Economy
“Qatar to Transfer Egypt $3.5 Billion for Mediterranean Tourism Site This Year.” Bloomberg, November 6, 2025.
“Egyptian officials said Qatar will invest almost $30 billion over the course of the seven-year project. The prime minister added that once Qatari Diar recuperates all its investment costs, 15% of the profits will be allocated to the New Urban Communities Authority, an Egyptian government entity.”
“Bahrain-listed banks begin talks on potential merger.” AGBI, November 3, 2025.
“The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) and Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) have signed a memorandum of understanding to conduct due diligence and negotiate definitive and binding terms for a potential merger, the two banks disclosed in separate statements.”
UAE: “The world needs $4 trillion to meet growing energy demand, says Al Jaber.” Gulf News, November 03, 2025.
“Al Jaber noted that the global airline fleet is expected to double, from 25,000 to 50,000 aircraft, by 2040. Consequently, renewable energy generation is expected to more than double, LNG output is projected to grow by 50%, and jet fuel demand is anticipated to increase by over 30%.”
“Bahrain unveils $17bn of new projects at Gateway Gulf.” MEED, November 3, 2025.
“The investment pipeline matches the $17bn in foreign direct investment (FDI) the kingdom has successfully attracted since the first Gateway Gulf forum in 2018. The 2025 event includes 61 announcements and 33 signing ceremonies.”
“Abu Dhabi Invests £20 Billion in the UK, Double Its 2021 Pledge.” Bloomberg, November 5, 2025.
“Abu Dhabi has surpassed its £10 billion investment commitment to the UK, channeling more than twice that sum into British assets despite signs of strain in the bilateral relationship, according to people familiar with the matter.”
“Qatar sells $4bn in two-part debt issue.” Arab News, November 4, 2025.
“Qatar sold a $1 billion, three-year bond at 15 basis points over US Treasuries and a $3 billion Islamic bond, or sukuk, with a 10-year tenor at 20 basis points over the same benchmark, according to a document from a lead manager.”
“Work starts on Oman-UAE $2bn economic free zone.” AGBI, November 6, 2025.
“The Al-Rawdah Special Economic Zone project, signed in May, will be built in the Omani town of Mahdah in the Buraimi region, on the border of the two Gulf countries.”
“Kuwait sees first drop in consumer spending after four years of growth.” Zawya, November 5, 2025.
“Economists interpret the current downturn as a natural correction following the post-pandemic consumption boom between 2021 and 2024. That period was driven by deferred demand, abundant liquidity, and rising incomes. Today’s decline reflects a broader trend toward financial caution amid tightening monetary policies, slowing global growth, and shifting household priorities between saving and spending.”
Go Deeper: “CBK: Annual Report for the Fiscal Year 24/2025.” Central Bank of Kuwait, October 13, 2025. (Arabic).
“Microsoft’s $15.2 billion USD investment in the UAE.” Microsoft, November 3, 2025.
“From the start of 2026 to the end of 2029, we will spend more than $7.9 billion in the UAE. This includes more than $5.5 billion in capital expenses for ongoing and planned expansion of our AI and cloud infrastructure, including new steps we will share publicly in Abu Dhabi this week. It also includes almost $2.4 billion in planned local operating expenses and the cost of goods sold.”
“AirAsia Plans Middle East Hub in Bahrain Amid Growth Ambitions.” Bloomberg, November 2, 2025.
“AirAsia Group needs a Gulf hub to connect flights and passengers between Asia and Europe using its Airbus SE A321XLR aircraft. The longer-term plan is to have a fleet of 600 planes in 10 years, significantly more than the 255 in service now that are shared among its operating airlines across Southeast Asia. The company plans to expand destinations from 143 to 175 in the same period.”
Domestics
“Saudi Arabia grants premium residency to more than 100 entrepreneurs from 20 countries.” Gulf News, November 07, 2025.
“The announcement was made during the Biban 2025 forum, an event dedicated to entrepreneurship and small-business development. The initiative supports Saudi Arabia’s broader strategy to position itself as a global hub for talent, innovation, and investment.”
Gulf Opinions
This week, Gulf commentators turned their attention to the surprising victory of Zohran Mamdani in New York’s mayoral election, interpreting it as a sign of profound transformation within the United States. Emirati political scientist Dr. Al Badr Al-Shatri observes that America is enduring one of its gravest institutional crises since the Civil War, with political polarization paralyzing governance and producing the longest government shutdown in its history. He argues that “America’s institutions, once flexible and resilient, are now trapped in ideological rigidity,” as both parties have turned essential issues—such as healthcare and foreign aid—into instruments of partisan warfare. From Kuwait, Abdulaziz Al-Anjeri sees Mamdani’s victory as emblematic of a deeper moral and generational awakening in American politics, driven by his outspoken defense of Palestinian rights and defiance of establishment taboos. As Al-Anjeri remarks, “Mamdani broke from the traditional approach by clearly describing the occupation as an apartheid system and insisting that defending Palestinian rights is a matter of justice, not political dispute.” He concludes that Arabs themselves should draw lessons from this moment of principled courage. Likewise, Qatari academic Dr. Abdulla Al-Amadi interprets Mamdani’s triumph as one of the most striking outcomes of the post-“Al-Aqsa Flood” awakening, symbolizing a growing American moral consciousness rejecting Zionist influence and siding with the oppressed in Gaza. He writes that the election “broke a crack in the Zionist wall within New York itself,” demonstrating that the younger American generation “has awakened from a long coma of propaganda” and now regards Palestine as a matter of justice rather than politics.
Conversely, Saudi commentators offered a more pragmatic reading of Mamdani’s victory. Khalid Al-Malik attributes the outcome primarily to the political environment shaped by the prolonged government shutdown, describing it as a decisive factor in the public’s disillusionment. He argues that this unprecedented paralysis—born of partisan obstruction and President Trump’s unilateral governing style—showed that “America under Trump’s second term is no longer the America the world once knew.” Meanwhile, Yousif Al-Dayni situates the event within a broader ideological realignment, asserting that “democratic socialism” has emerged as a legitimate and rising force in American politics. The success of a candidate who identifies openly as a “democratic socialist” in the heart of global capitalism, he contends, reveals that traditional elites in both parties “have failed to keep their seats in American politics.” For Al-Dayni, this marks the ascent of a progressive movement grounded in the daily realities of ordinary citizens—housing, childcare, and public transport—rather than elite power struggles. Finally, from Oman, Nasser bin Juma Al-Zadjali regards Mamdani’s rise as an extraordinary political reversal, declaring that “socialism now stands at the very center of global capitalism, New York City.” He views this as proof that both the Democratic and Republican parties “have lost their moral and social compass,” leaving space for a new generation of progressives to challenge entrenched power and redefine the meaning of the political left in the twenty-first century.
More Gulf Opinions
“We must recognize that there are pre-prepared media templates designed to be used against the United Arab Emirates; they are suitable for all circumstances and conditions, only the template’s content is altered to suit the media campaign. Once it is acknowledged that the UAE is being targeted, those templates are taken out of the drawers and published, with fake accounts activated around them.”
“In every media campaign against the UAE there is media disinformation and the falsification of facts to sell false propaganda; to counter this, we need greater media momentum to cement the UAE’s diplomatic, economic, and cultural achievements.”
Mohammed Khalfan Al-Sawafi, Al Bayan, (UAE), November 7, 2025.
“The giant company [AirAsia] plans to establish a route linking Asia and the region, starting from Bahrain, through low-cost direct flights, as well as cargo, training, and maintenance services. It also aims to connect its Asian market with selected European destinations in an effort to build a broader presence in the Middle East. This step will undoubtedly create new competition in the Gulf aviation market—a healthy form of competition that will expand the market, improve service quality, and diversify options for travelers.
“The newly launched Air Arabia operation in Dammam faces an early and serious test, as the presence of an airline such as AirAsia only a few miles away could threaten its success and may push Air Arabia to expand more aggressively to preempt that impact.”
Munif Al Harbi, Okaz, (Saudi Arabia), November 5, 2025.
“Anyone who followed the FII 2025 Conference realizes that the Gulf is moving swiftly to position itself at the heart of the global equation, yet it remains in a stage of ascent, balancing between building ambition and absorbing reality. The world is being reshaped upon a foundation of algorithms and big data, and real power will no longer be measured by what lies beneath the ground, but by what we cultivate in the mind. The intellect that knows how to use knowledge is the true capital in this knowledge revolution, and today’s race—every bit of it—is fundamentally an educational and intellectual one.”
Mohammed Al Aljedae, Al Qabas, (Kuwait), November 5, 2025.
“This does not signify a decline in the Public Investment Fund’s activities; on the contrary, it indicates a stronger focus on global investments that Saudi Arabia has been developing in parallel with its domestic transformation. Despite a 10% drop in global direct investment, Saudi investments have quadrupled in recent years, and the Fund aspires to be one of the main contributors to further multiplying these gains and positioning the Kingdom among the world’s top investment powers.”
Dr. Waleed Alshrhan, Al Eqtisadiah, (Saudi Arabia), November 3, 2025.
“Whenever America talks about disarmament in its own voice, or through the mouths of the Zionist war leaders, it is in fact talking about stripping the spirit—emptying the liberatory act of its content. It thereby turns the Palestinian from an active agent in his struggle into an object subject to security equations imposed upon him in the name of peace, security, and stability.”
Khalid bin Salem Al Ghasani, Al Roya, (Oman), October 30, 2025.
Picks
Book: Krell, Dominik, “Islamic Law in Saudi Arabia.” BRILL, February 24, 2025.
Analysis: “End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled.” Alison Killing, Financial Times, November 6 2025.
Analysis: “MBS Comes to Washington.” Daniel Benaim, Middle East Institute, November 7, 2025.
Analysis: “A Pact for a Pact? Mohammed bin Salman Brings His Terms to Trump’s Washington.” Abdullah F. Alrebh, Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, November 6, 2025.
Analysis: “The November 18 Decision: Why Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates Must Lead Gaza Reconstruction.” Gregg Roman, The Middle East Forum, November 3, 2025.
Analysis: “Houthi Myth of Israeli-Saudi Collusion May Become a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.” Mohammed al-Basha, Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, November 4, 2025.
Analysis: “The Gaza peace plan needs revolving door diplomacy by Gulf and European ‘Trump whisperers’.” Neil Quilliam, Chatham House, November 7, 2025.
Analysis: “Beyond Washington: Africa’s Emerging Trade Axis with the Gulf, China, and Russia.” Michael W. Wilson, Gulf Research Center, November 3, 2025.
Analysis: “Gulf Exporters Monitor Impact of Russian Oil Sanctions.” Ben Cahill, Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, November 5, 2025.
Analysis: “Qatar Copes with Trump’s Middle East Vision.” Daniel Brumberg, Arab Center in Washington, November 6, 2025.
Analysis: “Underwater Frontiers of Gulf Geopolitics: A Strategic Achilles’ Heel.” érémy Bachelier, ORF Middle East, November 4, 2025.
Research: “Five Millennia of Relations and Public Diplomacy Practices: India and the Arab Gulf.” Sonali Singh, Public Diplomacy between Asia and the Middle East, November 10, 2025.
Podcast: “Dr. Saida Khater: Identity and Women’s Transformations in Oman.” Metamorphosis with Hamad Al-Ghaithi, September 7, 2025 [English Subtitle].
Interview: “Witness to the Transformation of the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem” with Yasir Al-Rumayyan and Faisal Al-Khamissi, Thamnyah, October 31, 2025.