Industrial Excellence: a Key Driver for Regional Growth

To reverse a decade of deteriorating overall element performance, local labour market policy is moving from basic job production to handling active labor force shifts. Governments and employers are scaling short, modular training programs and micro-credentials in data analytics and digital operations to equip employees for emerging functions. Workplace-based learning and apprenticeship-style pathways are becoming more typical as firms integrate AI tools into everyday workflows.

With oil costs anticipated to typical $55-60 per barrel in 2026, regional federal governments are magnifying their focus on expense discipline and personal capital mobilisation. Financial policy is rotating towards the monetisation of state-owned properties in logistics, utilities, and desalination to redirect funds toward higher-impact investments. While borrowing through sukuk and sustainability-linked bonds is anticipated to increase to fund strategic deficits, the focus remains on strengthening non-oil revenue structures.

PwC Middle East economic policy and strategy partner Jing Teow stated: "Having currently mobilised capital and policy at scale, GCC federal governments are now concentrated on delivery. In 2026, the priority is strengthening financial strength through more safe trade and financial investment relationships, efficient AI deployment, managed labor force shifts and disciplined financial policy in a more tough and fragmented global environment.".

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Saudi Arabia and UAE are poised to lead the Gulf area's financial growth in 2026, supported by strong private-sector efficiency, resilient domestic need and restored investment momentum, according to the most recent ICAEW Economic Insight Q4 2025 report, produced by Oxford Economics. The GCC is anticipated to exceed most international regions peers next year, with regional GDP forecast to grow by 4.4%. Across the GCC, non-energy activity is forecasted to expand by 4.1% in 2026, driven by strong labour markets, improving credit conditions and rising investment in technology and AI-related infrastructure.

Oil earnings will be under pressure in the very first half of 2026, production is anticipated to increase once again in the 2nd half of 2026, supporting the region's medium-term outlook, it stated. Saudi Arabia will remain a significant contributor to GCC momentum, with GDP projection to grow 4.3% in 2026.

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

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Development will be supported by commercial expansion and policy reforms, consisting of reduced foreign ownership rules that aim to promote additional financial investment. The fiscal deficit is forecasted to widen to 5.6% of GDP next year amid softer oil costs, while the recent five-year rent freeze in Riyadh intends to ease inflationary pressures, though it may constrain future real estate supply.

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

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Oil production is expected to get again in the second half of 2026, complementing ongoing financial investment in facilities, innovation and global trade partnerships. Hanadi Khalife, the Head of Middle East, ICAEW, stated: "This quarter's outlook enhances how far the GCC has actually come in structure varied, resistant and internationally competitive economies.

Scott Livermore, ICAEW Economic Consultant, and Chief Economist and Handling Director, Oxford Economics Middle East, stated: "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 benefit from strong domestic basics, a sharp uplift in federal government spending and sustained diversification efforts.

Emerging Future Trends Shaping the 2026 GCC Economy

What identifies 2026 from preceding years is not simply the velocity of technological modification, though that velocity is real, however rather a fundamental shift in how enterprises envisage their GCCs' purpose. The is anticipated to grow to 4 hundred thirteen billion dollars by 2040, however this growth masks a more profound change.

Instead, they ask whether these centers drive innovation, own profit-and-loss duty, and add to competitive distinction. In 2026, the most successful GCCs will act like internal startups, agile, cross-functional, insight-driven, and deeply aligned with global service results. This shift from execution to ownership represents maybe the single most substantial tactical recalibration in the GCC model's advancement.

This week, we're assembling more than 3000 meetings in 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 changing in the area, and what follows, including the expansion and continuous advancement of the Gulf's capital markets, and the region's growing function in international networks of capital and trade.