RED SEA CRESCENT

The UAE is moving ahead with plans to transform a piece of Jordan’s Red Sea beachfront. MAG Group, a subsidiary of ADQ’s AD Ports Group, said it will begin development of the Marsa Zayed resort in the southern port city of Aqaba, which abuts the Saudi border. In the first phase, MAG will begin construction on what will be called the Zayed Riviera with four residential towers, a yacht club, and restoration of the Aqaba Minaret. The Jordanian project could potentially link to similar planned resorts in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel that form a border-traversing horseshoe around the Red Sea.

COURTING WEALTH

Dubai is adding luxury mansions and penthouses, some priced higher than $120 million, targeting wealthy buyers with extravagant features like cinemas, spas and private elevators. Despite prices moderating across Dubai’s property market after a surge since 2021, high-end developments continue along prime beachfront locations, Bloomberg reports. “On a per square foot basis, prices in the emirate are a third of New York’s and a fifth of London’s,” Mahdi Amjad, founder of Omniyat, a developer of ultra-luxury apartments, told the news agency. While wealthy buyers are pushing back on price hikes after years of increases, demand remains ahead of supply.

Public Investment Fund: Umm Al Qura for Development & Construction Co., a PIF company that has been behind one of the most significant projects in Mecca, plans to proceed with an IPO on the Tadawul stock exchange, Bloomberg reports.

M42: The Abu Dhabi-owned company, operated through G42 Healthcare and Mubadala Health, signed an agreement with Bahrain’s Royal Medical Services to provide heart and lung transplants as part of Abu Dhabi’s “Hayat” organ donation program.

Mubadala: Mina Hamoodi, Mubadala’s Head of Healthcare, held an onstage discussion with Christopher Boerner, Board Chair and CEO of Bristol Myers Squibb, about how AI and digital advancements are accelerating innovation and improving patients’ wellbeing, appearing at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco last month.

🏢 Property Backer: Apollo Global Management said on Friday it will invest $500 million in Abu Dhabi-based Aldar Properties, calling the deal “one of the region’s largest-ever corporate hybrid private placements.” Apollo has invested about $1.9 billion in Aldar since 2022.

📈 IPO Fever: Saudi Arabia’s Derayah Financial will seek to raise $400 million in an IPO for a 20% stake in the online brokerage sold out minutes after subscriptions opened on Sunday.

♻️ Clean Methanol: Abu Dhabi’s Ta’ziz has awarded a $1.7 billion contract to Samsung E&A to build the UAE’s first methanol plant in Al Ruwais Industrial City, with a capacity of 1.8 million tonnes per annum. The plant will be powered by clean energy and will be completed by 2028.

💰 Closed Chapter: The Saudi Electricity Co. will settle $1.5 billion past obligations to the kingdom after an executive panel approved a final settlement related to discrepancies in fuel and electric power charges.

🖨️ 3D Investor: Fortissimo, an Israeli private equity fund, signed an agreement to invest $120 million in 3D printing company Stratasys, increasing its stake to 15.5%.

🤝 Summit Site: Saudi Arabia and the UAE are being considered as sites for a possible summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reports.

💸 New Deal: ADNOC confirmed ongoing negotiations with Austria’s OMV to merge their companies Borouge and Borealis and create a global polyolefins group.

🎥 Media Operation: CNN is expanding its Middle East presence with a new Qatar Media City operation to complement its Abu Dhabi HQ, Dubai base and regional bureaus.

🏗️ High-Rise: Dubai-based Refine Development Management unveiled a $12 billion project pipeline and a new sales gallery ahead of major 2025 launches.

📞 Big Calls: Saudi Arabia’s STC Group has become the largest publicly traded telecom operator in the MENA region, surpassing UAE’s e&, Saudi Arabia’s Mobily, Qatar’s Ooredoo, and the UAE’s Emirates Integrated Telecommunications, with a market capitalization of $57.7 billion, Forbes reports.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman held talks withSyria’s interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa on Sunday, focusing on broad economic cooperation between the two countries, as well as on security and political issues connected to the post-Assad era. It was the new Syrian leader’s first official foreign trip.

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi, UAE National Security Advisor and Chairman of the Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council, issued a directive on Friday to reconstitute the Board of Trustees of the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence with Khaldoon Al Mubarak, CEO of Mubadala and a member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council as Chairman.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Thani, Qatar’s Minister of Transport, signed an agreement with his Libyan counterpart to update a 2004 bilateral agreement and enable Qatar’s national carrier to expand its network.

Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, UAE Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, received the Indian yogi Sadhguru at his majlis gathering in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Hend Al Otaiba, the former UAE Ambassador to France, met with Anna Wintour in Dubai, lauding the Vogue editor-in-chief in an Instagram post for her global influence “not only in shaping the media landscape but in setting a precedent for women in leadership.”

Jared Kushner, founder of Miami-based Affinity Partners and son-in-law of President Trump, courted Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on a yacht four years ago, building a relationship that ultimately led to his announcement in December of a $1.4 billion island resort on the Albanian coast, the Financial Times reports in a new profile of Kushner.

Scott Sheffield, the former CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources, is the subject of a profile in Texas Monthly as he tries to defend himself against accusations by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that he worked with OPEC to fix prices.

Scott Minerd, the former Chief Investment Officer of Guggenheim Partners who died of a heart attack Dec. 21, 2022, days after a 17-hour flight home from seeing the World Cup in Qatar, is the subject of a story in Vanity Fair about the fight over his $400 million estate.

Jackie Lee Robinson, a former NBA player, has left a trail of jilted backers after promising to build a $5 billion sports arena and resort in Las Vegas with billions of dollars raised from well-capitalized investors, including Qatar, and failing to begin construction, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Feb. 1-8, Abu Dhabi: Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open. Top women tennis stars compete in WTA 500 tournament. International Tennis Centre, Zayed Sports City.

Feb. 3-6, Dubai. Medlab Middle East 2025. The show attracts exhibitors whether global  giants or emerging startups to discuss digital health solutions. Dubai World Trade Centre.

Feb. 4-5, Doha. Seatrade Maritime Qatar Conference and Exhibition. Conference brings industry experts, decision-makers, shipping companies and leaders in technology, energy, finance and investment. Sheraton Grand Doha Resort.

Feb. 4-6, Abu Dhabi & Dubai. Ai Everything Summit. The event brings in artificial intelligence experts and the world’s brightest researchers and builders of new tech. St. Regis Saadiyat Resort and Dubai Exhibition Center. 

Feb.5, Dubai. Energy Industry Conference. Over 500 CEOs, CFOs, risk managers, investors, insurers, government representatives, and more—at the Energy Industry Conference to discuss energy transition. Intercontinental Festival City.

Feb. 9-12, Riyadh. Leap 2025. Riyadh’s tech event that brings in tech innovators and leading experts from around the world to discover new ideas, build new partnerships, and connect with inspiring mentors and investors. Riyadh Front Expo Centre.

Feb. 11-13, Dubai. World Government Summit 2025. Annual event brings in world leaders and business leaders from the region and outside to discuss the most pressing matters. Madinat Jumeirah.

Feb. 14-16, Munich Security Forum. Known as one of the world’s leading forums for debating international security policy. Hotel Bayerischer Hof.

Feb. 17-21, Abu Dhabi: IDEX 2025. Military contractors from around the world show their wares at one of the most prominent international defense exhibitions. ADNEC Center.

Feb. 17-21, Dubai. Gulf Food. In its 30th edition, the exhibition brings in many more companies to show their work on food and the industry’s use of technology. Dubai World Trade Center. 

Feb. 18-19, Abu Dhabi. The Future of Asset Management Middle East. A two-day conference that gathers leading executives from top asset management companies in the Middle East region. The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Canal.

 Feb. 22-23, Miami, Fla. FII Priority. Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative connects U.S. and Middle Eastern investors. Faena Hotel & Forum, Miami Beach.

Feb. 25, Dubai. Family Office Summit 2025. Global fund leaders managing $1 trillion in assets will meet under the theme, “Taking Money Out of Cash.” Ritz Carlton Jumeirah Beach.

Feb.25-March 1, Dubai. WCA World 2025. The conference brings together some of the world’s biggest independent freight forwarders. Dubai World Trade Centre.

March 17-19, Dubai. Dubai International Horse Fair. A gathering of the equestrian industry and horse lovers from around the world. Dubai World Trade Centre.