Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chief of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, were among the Gulf business figures who stood out at the FIFA World Cup final.

Al-Rumayyan, who is also Chairman of the U.K.’s Newcastle United football club, mounted the podium beside U.S. President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino and took part in the trophy ceremony on Sunday after Spain’s 1-0 victory over Argentina.

Al Mubarak, Mubadala’s Group CEO and Chairman of the Manchester City football club, attended the match at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., and was also spotted at Fanatics Fest, a raucous four-day gathering for sports fans at New York’s Javits Center.

He and his brother, Mohamed Al Mubarak, Chairman of both Aldar Properties and the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, were photographed with billionaire Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, who posted the shot on Instagram.

UAE leaders also seen at the World Cup final included Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Head of the International Affairs Office at the UAE Presidential Court; Sayd Basar Shueb, CEO of International Holding Co.; Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation and Vice Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council; and Fouad Darwish, CEO of Palms Sport.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which designed Dubai’s Burj Khalifa skyscraper, will lead the masterplan of Qatari Diar’s $30 billion Alam Al Roum smart-city project on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.

The massive development will include more than 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) of private beachfront and be supported by a consortium of global design and engineering firms, Arabian Gulf Business Insight reports.

Qatari Diar, owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, has committed $3.5 billion to the project.

The move comes as Gulf-backed coastal developments accelerate in Egypt, with Abu Dhabi’s Modon leading the Ras El Hekma master development.

Abu Dhabi’s XRG, the international investment arm of state-owned oil giant ADNOC, is ramping up its push into the U.S. and Latin America.

“The United States is central to XRG’s ambition to build a globally integrated energy and industrial platform,” XRG Americas CEO Philip Haddad told the Emirates News Agency, calling the country the company’s top market for growth.

The centerpiece is Texas, where XRG now owns stakes in all five trains serving the Rio Grande LNG export project, one of the world’s largest export facilities under construction.

XRG is also investing in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale gas fields and expanding its North American chemicals business through Covestro and NOVA Chemicals.

The strategy reflects ADNOC’s effort to use XRG as a global investment vehicle, expanding the UAE’s presence in energy, chemicals and industrial businesses well beyond its own oil and gas production, Haddad said.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange is expanding its push into Africa by bringing the Botswana Stock Exchange into its Tabadul cross-border trading platform.

Botswana will become the first African exchange connected to the network, giving investors in both markets direct access through local brokerages.

Tabadul, launched in 2022 by ADX and the Bahrain Bourse, now links 11 exchanges with a combined market capitalization of more than $1 trillion, over 700 listed companies and 11 million registered investors.

The agreement boosts Abu Dhabi’s efforts to position itself as a gateway for investment flows between the Middle East and Africa.

Botswana Stock Exchange CEO Aupa Monyatsi said in a statement that the agreement represents a “significant milestone in the BSE’s internationalization strategy and our continued efforts to position Botswana as a globally connected investment destination.”

Saudi Arabia is looking to Wall Street to help finance its preparations for hosting the 2034 World Cup.

Riyadh-based ROSHN, a property development firm owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has hired JPMorgan to recruit outside investors for the Aramco Stadium, now under construction in the eastern city of Al Khobar, Reuters reports.

The deal would raise money to build the stadium through a lease-backed investment vehicle, with Aramco – the world’s biggest oil exporter – operating the 47,000-seat venue under a 25-year concession. Investors would provide upfront cash in exchange for a share of future lease payments, freeing ROSHN to recycle capital into other projects.

The financing structure borrows from Aramco’s model for its multibillion-dollar pipeline transactions, which drew infrastructure investors including EIG Global Energy Partners and Global Infrastructure Partners, which is owned by BlackRock. 

Saudi Arabia is racing to build or refurbish 15 World Cup stadiums as lower oil prices and mounting costs force the kingdom to lean more heavily on private capital. The PIF is trimming expenditures across its portfolio, cutting funds for LIV Golf after the 2026 season, shrinking the first phase of The Line, NEOM’s planned 170-kilometer linear city, and delaying its luxury mountain ski resort Trojena.

JPMorgan is accelerating its expansion across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, hiring 30 senior bankers by year-end.

The recruits will support the firm’s effort to facilitate $1.5 trillion in financing for industries tied to national security, including up to $10 billion of its own capital, Reuters reports.

JPMorgan has doubled its workforce in the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and Poland over the past two years and plans to increase staffing in those markets by another 60% over the next five years.

The bank also said it has expanded lending in the Middle East as the U.S.-Iran conflict prompted some competitors to pull back from the region. 

UAE property developer Mohamed Alabbar is making the biggest private-sector investment yet in Syria’s reconstruction, unveiling plans for at least $20 billion of housing, tourism and business developments in Latakia and Damascus.

The Dubai-based founder of Emaar Properties plans to build tens of thousands of homes alongside resorts, offices, schools and hospitals, telling Bloomberg that years of war have created one of the region’s last large-scale development opportunities.

“There hasn’t been much development for the past 50 years in Syria,” said Alabbar, who built Dubai’s 162-story Burj Khalifa. “Arabs are looking for investments in the Arab world.”

Alabbar’s investment is one of several signs that Gulf companies are moving into Syria after Washington lifted sanctions and President Donald Trump met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, dramatically changing the country’s investment outlook.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE have also announced projects including ports, airports and infrastructure, as governments and investors race to secure an early foothold in the reconstruction effort.

A  property boom in the UAE emirate of Ras Al Khaimah is losing momentum as project delays, rising construction costs and the Iran war take their toll.

Years of expansion following the announcement of the Wynn Al Marjan Island casino resort in 2022 have left developers facing a crowded pipeline, with registered projects more than doubling.

Several developments have been delayed, canceled or put on hold as contractors confront supply chain disruptions, Arabian Gulf Business Insight reports.

Government data shows the slowdown is spreading, with sales values dropping 55% year-on-year in January and mortgage activity plunging 88%.