Davos is once again pulling the Gulf’s top business leaders to Switzerland’s snow-capped ski resort, where executives from the Middle East are mingling at the World Economic Forum with the likes of Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio, BlackRock’s Larry Fink and Palantir’s Alex Karp.

From Saudi Arabia, the delegation includes Talal Al Maiman, CEO of Kingdom Holding, Tareq Al Sadhan, CEO of Saudi National Bank, Abdullah Aladel, managing director and CEO of Alkhair Capital, Marco Arcelli, CEO of ACWA Power, and Jerry Inzerillo, CEO of Diriyah Co.

The UAE sent Mubadala CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak and Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of ADNOC and Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, alongside private-sector leaders such as Peng Xiao, CEO of G42, and Badr Jafar, CEO of Crescent Enterprises.

Qatar is represented by Mansoor Al-Mahmoud, CEO of the Qatar Investment Authority, and Saad Al-Kaabi, president and CEO of QatarEnergy. Bahrain’s delegation includes Abdulla Al Khalifa, CEO of Mumtalakat, the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, and Hisham Alrayes, CEO of GFH Financial Group.

Several execs are making the rounds at the TV networks that give Davos wall-to-wall coverage. Al Mubarak, for one, annually uses the Swiss conference as a pulpit to raise Mubadala’s international visibility. 

“Leaving the noise and the hype aside, I think we have a very clear view of what we think are the investable spaces,” Al Mubarak said in an interview with Bloomberg. “Particularly when it comes to AI enablement, there are a lot of aspects that I think we believe in.”

India signed a $3 billion deal to buy liquefied natural gas from the United Arab Emirates, making it the UAE’s largest LNG customer, as the two countries moved to deepen trade and defense ties.

The agreement was struck during a visit by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, with both sides pledging to double bilateral trade to $200 billion within six years and pursue a strategic defense partnership.

According to the agreement, Abu Dhabi state firm ADNOC Gas will supply half a million tons of LNG a year to Hindustan Petroleum over 10 years, taking ADNOC’s total contracts with India to more than $20 billion.

Indian officials asserted that defense cooperation with the UAE would not draw New Delhi into regional conflicts, despite shifting alliances in the Gulf.

From the Gulf’s desert capitals to the icy streets of Davos, senior government officials and corporate powerbrokers from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain are converging on Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, the weeklong economic jamboree that opened on Monday night.

The UAE sent a delegation of more than 100 ministers, senior officials and business leaders, led by Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid, with Finance Minister Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of Economy Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs; Mubadala CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak; and Badr Jafar, the UAE’s Special Envoy for Business and Philanthropy, and CEO of Crescent Enterprise.

Saudi Arabia’s delegation is headed by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and includes Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih, Ambassador to the U.S. Princess Reema Bandar and senior executives from the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund and flagship companies. Also in Davos are Commerce Minister Majid Al-Kassabi, Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb, and Industry and Mineral Resources Minister Bandar Alkhorayef.

Qatar is making a strong presence, bringing Finance Minister Ali Al-Kuwari, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammed Mannai, Qatar Investment Authority CEO Mohammed Saif Al-Sowaidi; QNB Group CEO Abdullah Al Khalifa, and Doha Bank CEO Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Fahad.

Bahrain’s delegation features Finance and National Economy Minister Sheikh Salman bin Khalifa, Sustainable Development Minister Noor bint Ali Al Khalifa, who is also CEO of the Economic Development Board; Industry and Commerce Minister Abdullah bin Adel Fakhro; Mumtalakat CEO Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa; Gulf Air Chairman Khalid Taqi, and Bahrain Tourism & Exhibitions Authority CEO Sarah Buhejji.

All four countries will operate their own bases of operations along the Promenade, the main street in Davos, featuring speakers, parties and promotional activities designed to attract investors and deepen global ties.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed began a visit on Monday to India, where he was due to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This marks the UAE President’s third visit, and comes after trade between the UAE and India surged to $100 billion in 2024‑25 following implementation of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

The visit also comes as state-owned Etihad Water & Electricity said it is planning a feasibility study for a proposed undersea power link.

The “One Sun, One World, One grid” initiative would allow solar power to be traded between the countries. The UAE is home to more than 3.5 million Indians, its largest expatriate community.

Amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s declarations of interest in taking over Greenland, a Saudi investment group is in talks with New York-based Critical Metals Corp. to build a refinery for processing the massive Arctic island’s mineral resources.

Critical Metals announced on Thursday that it signed a non-binding term sheet to form a 50-50 joint venture with Saudi Arabia’s Tariq Abdel Hadi Abdullah Al-Qahtani & Brothers. The facility would be linked to the U.S. company’s planned Tanbreez mining project in Greenland.

Under the plan, about a quarter of the minerals from the Tanbreez mine would be processed in Saudi Arabia, which is looking to extract more value from its own deposits of so-called rare earths. Critical Metals said the refined materials could be used in high-tech applications and distributed through U.S. defense supply chains.

If finalized, the deal would give Critical Metals guaranteed customers and likely ease its path to full financing for the project, which is estimated to cost $290 million to start production by next year.

“We see a strong opportunity to work closely with partners in the United States to responsibly develop and deploy these materials in support of next-generation technologies,” Abdulmalik Tariq Al-Qahtani, the Saudi firm’s CEO, said in a statement.

Qatar’s Estithmar Holding is poised to purchase controlling stakes in two Syrian banks.

The investment group plans to take over majority ownership of Shahba Bank and about 30% of Syria International Islamic Bank, Reuters reports.

The move would be the first foreign banking acquisition in Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad and follows the recent lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria.

The year-old interim government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa has been seeking to bring foreign capital into Syria’s banking system after more than a decade of conflict.

International Holding Co., the vast Abu Dhabi conglomerate overseen by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, has inked a deal to co-invest with the U.S. government’s foreign investment arm.

The agreement with the International Development Finance Corp. opens the way for collaboration across a broad swath of sectors, including energy, infrastructure, mining, port operations and data centers.

It will focus on projects spanning emerging and frontier markets, with the ability to “deploy capital at scale,” IHC announced.

The deal is unconventional for the DFC, which traditionally funds development projects in lower- and middle-income countries, and comes amid shifting U.S. priorities abroad under President Donald Trump.

After pouring nearly $5 billion into its upstart LIV Golf tournament, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is facing questions about whether its high-stakes confrontation with the PGA was worth it.

Inside the $925 billion sovereign wealth fund, senior officials are reflecting on nearly four years of sparse attendance, lower-than-expected TV ratings and sagging global influence as they make decisions on whether to keep financing LIV, Bloomberg reports.

The PIF, which is led by Aramco Chairman and golf enthusiast Yasir al-Rumayyan, rattled the PGA when it signed some of the sport’s biggest names with nine-figure contracts, including Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, and Dustin Johnson.

U.S. President Donald Trump is one of LIV’s biggest fans and hosted several of its tournaments at his golf resorts in New Jersey, Virginia and Florida.

Since its splashy first year, competitive pressure from the Tour has intensified with moves such as a “Returning Member Program,” which lured Brooks Koepka back to the PGA fold under the threat of heavy financial penalties.

Attempts to merge the LIV with the PGA have faltered, meanwhile, leaving the Saudi backers to carry continued operational losses and come up with a formula for reviving the league or pulling the plug.