The UAE signed a series of deals and preliminary agreements with Russia this week at the Innoprom industrial exhibition in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth largest city.

Led by Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Group CEO of state energy company ADNOC, the Emirati delegation met Russian officials and discussed a variety of issues that included concluding a free-trade agreement and improving supply chains in agricultural technology, The National reports.

“We anticipate the removal of excessive barriers to mutual trade in the near future,” Russian Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov said,” Russian President Vladimir Putin noted during a visit to Abu Dhabi in December that the UAE is his country’s leading investor and trade partner in the Middle East.

Riyadh Air has yet to embark on its maiden voyage — that’s scheduled to depart sometime in 2025 — but it’s already changing the air space over Saudi Arabia. The startup carrier, marketed to the business class crowd flocking to the Gulf these days in search of deals, inked its own agreement on Tuesday with Delta Air Lines. 

The partnership deal will introduce the only non-stop service on an American airline between the U.S. and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, and marks Delta’s first foray into the Middle East market. 

Signed at Delta’s headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., the partnership makes Riyadh Air Delta’s exclusive partner in Riyadh while offering hundreds of destinations in the U.S. to Riyadh Air’s customers. The partnership, still subject to regulatory approvals, will also allow coordination on flight times and routes while enabling passengers to book tickets on both carriers’ flights.

Delta, the world’s largest publicly traded airline by revenue, is getting in at a good time: airlines in the Middle East recorded a 33% increase in air passenger traffic in 2023 compared to 2022, according to the International Air Transport Association.

A number of factors are coming together to boost air travel in the region, in addition to improved airport infrastructure in a part of the world that serves as a transit hub connecting East and West.

Government tourism campaigns are also encouraging travel. Saudi Arabia for example, is pouring $800 billion into developing its tourism sector. 

Riyadh Air, which is owned by the Public Investment Fund, aims to fly to more than 100 destinations worldwide by 2030.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways said it will run daily nonstop flights between Boston and the UAE capital starting in October in response to the route’s strong performance flying four times weekly.

Abu Dhabi food and beverage group Agthia has opened a meat processing facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest city, as the kingdom looks to feed its growing population and the broader region pushes for greater food security.

The $24.5 million factory, located in Jeddah’s Industrial City 1, spans 9,000 square meters and is expected to produce over 9,000 tons of processed proteins – enough to export to more than 25 countries.

Agthia, which is owned by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ, is in the midst of a five-year growth strategy in its push to become one of the region’s top food and beverage companies

Saudi Arabia’s drive to establish an electric vehicle industry in the kingdom – clinching deals over the past year with the U.S., China and Europe – will be on display this week during the Global EV and Mobility Technology Forum in Riyadh.

The two-day conference, which gets underway tomorrow at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center, will bring together senior government officials, financiers and car company executives – led by Faisal Sultan, Managing Director and Vice President of Lucid, the California EV-maker backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

Others scheduled to speak at the conference include Rusty Russell, Executive Director of Mobility at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Global; Shavaye Govender, Head of Business Development, Middle East, Africa and Pakistan at Uber; Fathi Tlatli, President of Global Sector Auto-Mobility for DHL; and Alex Gilbert, Head of Energy and Electrification and Commercial Development at Transport for London.

Lucid shares jumped 4% in Nasdaq trading on Monday after the company reported that second-quarter car deliveries grew 70% from the same period in 2023.

The PIF, which has a 60% stake in Lucid, opened a factory in the kingdom last year and has poured billions into the U.S. company as it looks to become a significant regional manufacturer.

The UAE is aiming to use its advances in space to prevent chaos at sea.

Launching its new Satgate project, the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure said it will employ satellites and artificial intelligence to locate ships, monitor sea conditions and forecast the weather, according to a statement issued today.

In collaboration with the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai, the project will also develop a database of ships that call at UAE ports and help maintain the security of maritime facilities and coasts by tracing the location of ships that are not connected to tracking devices.

At a time when oil tankers and cargo vessels are being attacked in both the Red Sea and the Gulf, the satellite project has the potential to make commercial sea traffic in the region more secure and financially competitive.

“Improving our tracking systems using advanced technology will enhance maritime transport and mitigate risks,” Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei said in the statement.

Oman is pushing forward with plans to impose a personal income tax on high-earning citizens and expats that would make it the first member of the GCC to take such a step.

The proposal, which has been floated by the government for more than a decade, was recently presented for consideration to the State Council, The National reports.

Introducing a personal income tax is in line with the country’s efforts to diversify its revenue streams and reduce its dependence on oil. If enacted, the tax would probably apply to citizens with net global income of $1 million or more and foreign nationals on Oman-sourced income above $100,000.

The proposed tax rates range between 5% to 9% for foreign nationals and a flat rate of 5% for Omanis.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have refrained from taxing individuals to make their countries more attractive to international companies and candidates for skilled jobs. 

Even as the most audacious blueprints for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s Vision 2030 are revised, Riyadh is still poised to be one of the fastest-growing cities in the world over the next decade as the kingdom’s mega-projects take root, according to British property consultancy Savills. 

Saudi Arabia’s capital city landed in the top 15 fastest-growing cities by 2033 — the only urban center outside of Asia on the list — according to the Savills Growth Hubs Index.

Indian and Chinese cities take five spots each in the top 15, followed by Vietnam with two, and the Philippines, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia with one each. The ranking is a compilation of forecasts of population, wealth and economic expansion. 

Riyadh is at the center of the kingdom’s diversification push away from oil as the city serves as regional headquarters to an influx of international companies.

Major new developments are also underway to improve livability. The mixed-use property development New Murabba and a new metro system are under construction as the city prepares to host the World Expo in 2030 and vies for the World Cup in 2034. 

The Middle East’s third largest city is expected to record a 26% uptick in population, taking Riyadh from 5.9 million to 9.2 million residents in 10 years. The new-arrivals boom is expected to result in continued government spending on massive infrastructure projects as well as improved amenities and services to accommodate the growing population, according to Savills.

“Saudi Arabia boasts a population of around 36 million people and, astonishingly, 67% are under the age of 35,” Richard Paul, Head of Professional Services & Consultancy Middle East, said in the report.

“The employment potential and ultimate spending power of this segment of the population over the next decade are enormous.”  

Dubai is planning to build what its leaders describe as the world’s largest and most advanced car market.

Officials signed a contract with DP World on Thursday to build and manage a 20 million square-foot facility connected to 77 international ports that is expected to generate an estimated $3.8 billion in sales.

“The new market will become a global hub that offers commercial services and logistics and financing solutions” for the automobile industry,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Ruler of Dubai and the UAE’s Vice President and Prime Minister, said in a statement released on Thursday.

The new compound – eight times the size of the city’s current car market – will enable buying, selling, registration and banking within its domain.

It will also host major conferences and events for the international automotive industry.