Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al Falih is leading a trade delegation to Syria that touched down in Damascus on Wednesday with the goal of signing some $4 billion in deals.

At least 120 investors and a cross-section of Saudi officials are part of the group that aims to jumpstart business and assist in Syria’s economic recovery after 14 years of civil war, Arab News reports.

With a meeting between Al Falih and Syrian Economy Minister Mohammad Nidal Al Shaar on the agenda, the delegation was also scheduled to participate in a Syrian-Saudi investment forum and witness the launch of a large cement factory on the outskirts of Damascus. 

Syria’s new President Ahmed Al Sharaa traveled to Riyadh in February for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that included plans for cooperation in the fields of energy, technology, education and health.

The Saudi Embassy in Damascus announced the introduction on Tuesday of special travel permits enabling business people and investors to visit each other’s countries and stimulate economic engagement.

Qatar has officially entered the race to host the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee, said competing for the games will build on the country’s success as the first Middle Eastern nation to host the FIFA World Cup soccer championship in 2022.

Having established prominence in international sports as a “central pillar of our national strategy,” Sheikh Joaan said Qatar already has 95% of the required infrastructure in place to become the first Middle East nation to host the Olympics.

Also competing for the 2036 games are India, Turkey, Chile and Indonesia.

Dubai-based jeweler Damas, which operates almost 150 stores across the Gulf, is being acquired by Titan, an Indian maker of fashion accessories.

Under terms of the $283 million deal announced in Mumbai, Damas will sell a 67% stake in the company to Titan, which is a unit of Indian conglomerate Tata.

Titan said it will make the acquisition through Signature Jewellery Holding, which is registered in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports on how China has become dominant in the market for lab-grown diamonds, using established trading hubs such as Dubai and Antwerp as intermediaries to retail stores.

Emirates Group has launched a global talent drive to support expansion, with plans to hire 17,300 people across 350 different roles this year.

Recruits are being sought across Emirates airline and the dnata ground-handling unit, from cabin crew, pilots and engineers to IT, human resources and finance roles.

The company, which already has a 121,000-strong workforce, will host open days and other recruitment events across 150 cities including the UAE, The National reports.

Emirates airline posted its third consecutive year of record profits last year, with a post-tax profit of AED19.1billion ($5.2 billion) for the year ended in March.

It paid out a generous 22-week bonus to eligible employees following the result.

Mohamed Alabbar, the Emirati developer behind Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, is releasing a memoir.

The 68-year-old founder of Emaar Properties said on Instagram that he wrote “For the Love of the Craft” to share his reflections as a family man and proud citizen of the UAE.

The book’s cover is pictured in the Instagram post but no publishing date is given.

Alabbar, a longtime advisor to the UAE leadership, established Emaar in 1997. The company built the Dubai Mall – then the world’s biggest mall by total area – in 2009 and opened the adjacent 162-story Burj Khalifa the following year.

Alabbar is also Chairman of international property developer Eagle Hills and e-commerce platform Noon.

Saudi Arabia is considering significant cuts to the workforce at NEOM and could relocate more than 1,000 jobs to Riyadh, according to a media report.

Neom, the Public Investment Fund’s umbrella company for a host of megaprojects in northwestern Saudi Arabia, is trying to get a grip on ballooning costs and improve oversight of the vast development.

Staff relocated from the construction site would lose remote location benefits, including housing and meals, Semafor reports.

NEOM employs around 5,000 full-time staff, most of whom are located on site, where they are provided with cabins, round-the-clock canteens, gyms and schools.

Last week it emerged that the PIF had asked consulting firms to review NEOM’s banner construction project, The Line. 

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed traveled through Eastern Europe and Turkey this week, visiting Hungary where he strolled through Parliament with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

The stop in Budapest on Thursday followed visits to Serbia and Albania, where Sheikh Mohamed led a delegation of cabinet ministers and senior UAE executives who explored business opportunities in the region.

Also traveling with the UAE President were Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court for Special Affairs; Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, and CEO of ADNOC; Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade; and Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority and CEO of Mubadala.

Prominent in the entourage in Serbia was Mohamed Alabbar, chief of Dubai-based Emaar and Eagle Hills Properties, who has been active for years in the capital of Belgrade and other Eastern European cities.

Most recently, Alabbar has teamed up with Jared Kushner, founder of Miami-based Affinity Partners and son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, to build a Trump Tower hotel in Belgrade on the site of the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defense.

In Hungary, government officials from the two countries signed 14 draft agreements in fields ranging from energy, agriculture, food production, defense and telecommunications. Budapest-based 4iG Space and Defense Technologies also signed three preliminary deals with Abu Dhabi’s defense conglomerate EDGE Group.

The Hungarian company also agreed to explore joint investment opportunities with Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and work with UAE telecom e& on submarine cables and data centers, Hungary Today reports.

U.S. asset manager BlackRock and its partners are close to reaching a deal to invest $10 billion in infrastructure tied to Saudi Aramco’s massive $100 billion Jafurah shale gas project.

This comes as Aramco looks to monetize assets amid falling oil prices while still pushing ahead with major investments, Reuters reports.

The deal would likely mirror past “lease and lease-back” arrangements, which raised nearly $28 billion and let Aramco retain control while paying usage tariffs.

Jafurah is key to Aramco’s goal of boosting gas output by 60% by 2030, enabling the the kingdom to play a greater role in the global gas trade.