Saudi Arabia is home to most Arab billionaires, Forbes finds
Saudi Arabia retains the title this year as the Arab world’s top home for billionaires, with 15 individuals appearing on the Forbes list for 2025.
Leading the Saudi rankings is Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, with a net worth of $16.5 billion.
Others include healthcare magnate Sulaiman Al-Habib, with a fortune of $10.9 billion, and Emad Al-Muhaidib, with $3.8 billion.
The UAE followed with five billionaires holding a combined $24.3 billion, led by real estate tycoon Hussain Sajwani at $10.2 billion. Egypt also has five billionaires, led by Nassef Sawiris, with a net worth of $9.6 billion.
UAE unlocks more of Gulf to Israeli companies, envoy says
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — A year after beginning his posting as Israel’s ambassador to the UAE, Amir Hayek has a new office, a track record for boosting trade and a view that the tiny Gulf country is an ideal perch for Israeli companies to do business throughout the Arab world.
“You would like to sell to the Saudi market, to the Qatari market, to the Indonesian market? You can do it easily,” Hayek told The Circuit in an interview last week at the Israeli Embassy’s sprawling new location inside an office tower in the UAE capital.
In order for Israelis to penetrate markets that are still closed to them, Hayek said, they must work with an Emirati partner, register as an Emirati company and establish an office or manufacturing site inside the country. “Why not? That’s the way of doing business today.”
Israel’s bilateral trade with the UAE was $1.6 billion in the first eight months of 2022 and is on track to reach $2.4 billion by the end of the year, double the volume of 2021. The two countries signed a free-trade agreement in May that Emirati officials said would bring annual commercial activity to $10 billion a year. That doesn’t include defense sales, which are not public, and reportedly growing at a swift pace.
The 58-year-old ambassador spoke days before Saudi Arabia hosts its sixth Future Investment Initiative conference, a gathering of 6,000 investors, business executives and government policymakers that is often referred to as “Davos in the Desert.” Israeli hopes that the kingdom might join the 2020 Abraham Accords that were signed by the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan have receded, though some Israeli companies are reportedly operating in Saudi Arabia with third-country registrations.
Hayek’s advice to Israeli executives doing business there, however, is not to discuss it publicly. “As much as you’ll talk less, you’ll do better,” he said.
Hayek, who comes from a family of Iraqi immigrants to Israel and speaks fluent Arabic, previously held a series of senior positions in the Israeli government, including director-general of the Industry and Trade Ministry. He was also chief of the Israeli Export Institute, the Israel Manufacturers Association and the Israel Hotel Association.
The exact site of Israel’s sleek new diplomatic headquarters can’t be reported for security reasons. “It is a brand new embassy, completed in less than two years since signing the accords, that will accommodate the full team of one of the core foreign missions of Israel abroad,” spokeswoman Shifra Weiss-Kubany said.
Hayek describes a winnowing-out process since the initial enthusiasm that followed the normalization agreements and brought a torrent of Israeli executives fishing for opportunities in the UAE and nearby Bahrain.
“On day one, everybody came here and thought they could do business,” Hayek said. “But the Emiratis learned the Israelis and the Israelis learned the Emiratis. Those who would like to do business here need to come, look the Emiratis in the eyes, build trust and then build cooperation.”
What characterizes Emirati investors, he said, is that they don’t move quickly and are willing to spend whatever time and expense it takes to develop a deep understanding of potential partners. Their interests are “impact industries,” Hayek said, including renewable energy, water desalination, food tech, agrotechnology, transportation and healthcare.
“They will hardly invest in seed companies,” he said. “They are ready to pay even a little bit more, but to reduce the risk, and they would like to see proven sales.”
Sounding a diverse tune at the opening of Dubai Expo’s Israeli Pavilion
A group of yarmulke-clad men in suits and women in elegant dresses waited excitedly just outside the Israeli Pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai. As noisy crowds entered the adjacent pavilions of India and Italy, the sounds of an Israeli band warming up to play for the pavilion’s opening rose above the din. Despite the blazing temperatures on Sunday, the mood was optimistic: For many, the opening night of Israel’s presence at the world’s fair celebrated prospects for economic and cultural ties between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the wider Arab world.
While the historic Abraham Accords were signed just over a year prior to Expo 2020 (the event was delayed a year because of the pandemic), the Israeli Pavilion, with its open-air trapezoidal structure, symbolized another significant moment for Israel in the UAE — a few years ago its participation in such an international event in the Gulf would have been unthinkable. The pavilion’s design and architecture were created to reflect the similarities between Israel and the rest of the Middle East.
Visitors entered the main area of the pavilion by walking up a winding walkway built to emulate the form of sand dunes and shaded streets found throughout the Middle East. From a distance, the “dunes” look like they’ve been made from real sand, but a closer look revealed a concrete steel structure topped with sand-colored recycled leather. Like most of Expo 2020, the Israeli Pavilion is about telling a country’s story, particularly how it sees its past and its future. Atop the zig-zagging mount was an open-steel structure where seven 15-meter-high LED screen gates showed videos of Israel’s cultural richness — from ancient ruins to contemporary dancers, small port towns and enchanting natural landscapes. It’s designed to be a place for people to gather and discuss new ideas.
The Israeli pavilion
Dozens of blue and white balloons — a nod to the Israeli flag — filled the pavilion’s inner structure. Israel’s Minister of Tourism Yoel Razvozov delivered a few opening remarks, putting the event into perspective. “Many things are happening here for the first time. For the first time in history, the Expo fair is being held in an Arab country. It is also the first time there is an Israeli pavilion in a major fair on Arab soil. It is one of the most sound and robust steps toward cooperation between the United Arab Emirates and Israel in history.”
Razvozov then issued an open invitation to everyone to visit Israel. “Peace allows us to forge a new reality in the Middle East that will bring prosperity, security and stability to all,” he said. “We believe that to reach a better tomorrow, one should choose practical and positive actions today. I’m delighted to invite each one of you and each visitor, participant and host at this Expo to come and visit our country. Come and see for yourself what Israel is really about.”
The minister’s words notwithstanding, the high-security measures Israelis are accustomed to were still in place. At the entrance to an indoor conference room was a meticulous security check. Visitors who were invited to this area for conferences or meetings may have felt as if they were embarking on a flight to Israel itself. “You know, we are still in a sensitive environment. Nearby there is the pavilion of Iran,” said one of the security guards.
Those who simply wished to visit the pavilion’s main open-air structure, enjoy the band, and catch images of Israel’s diverse attractions did not have to go through a security checkpoint. In the pavilion’s 360-degree room, a live DJ accompanied a film about Israel’s high-tech innovations and the country’s diversity. “I am an Israeli. My father’s family is Arab. My mother’s family, Jewish,” says the attractive young presenter at the beginning of the film. “Quite a challenge when you are looking for the right tone, people,” she continues, adding with conviction, “follow the beat.”
And the movie’s “beat” is multiethnic, diverse and open-minded. If anything, the pavilion’s upbeat and positive rendering of present-day Israeli society will attract, organizers hope, more tourists from across the Middle East.
The presence of the Israeli Pavilion on Arab soil was an inauguration rooted in heritage but with an avant-garde vision of the future. Before the official festivities began, the ancient Jewish tradition of a mezuzah ceremony — in which a mezuzah is affixed to the doorpost of one’s home — was performed by Rabbi Levi Duchman with a mezuzah case made and designed exclusively for the Expo 2020 Dubai by noted Judaica artist David Roytman. In essence, the Israel Pavilion at Expo 2020 is a new home, albeit a temporary one, for Israelis, Jews and everyone seeking to travel and learn more about Israel.
The pavilion is designed to be demolished after Expo 2020 concludes. Apart from the concrete floor, all materials will be recycled, affirming the organizers’ commitment to environmental issues and tackling the climate crisis. The evening concluded on a contemporary note, with guests dancing to the catchy sounds of Hamalgezot, an Israeli band playing traditional Israeli music, followed by Israeli DJ Abass. As attendees celebrated the pavilion’s opening, the large, illuminated sign at the back of the pavilion’s main area glistened amidst the dazzling lights and moving images from the surrounding LED screens.
In Aravit script, a font invented by typographer Liron Lavi Turkenich that merges Hebrew and Arabic characters, the sign spelled the phrase: “Towards Tomorrow.” In a still somewhat tense geopolitical climate, this was the message Israel strove to deliver — one that doesn’t forget the past but desires to work towards a new beginning.
