Visions of the Gulf as a tax-free haven are rapidly fading.

Bahrain is the latest member of the GCC to introduce corporate taxes, imposing a new 15% profit tax on multinational corporations starting in January.

The new taxes will be limited to the largest companies –  whose annual global revenue exceeds $830 million. 

The move brings Bahrain in line with new OECD reforms requiring member-nations to ensure large multinational enterprises pay taxes in every country where they operate.

It aims to address issues of international competition arising from the digitalization and globalization of the economy, according to the OECD.

Dubai Fashion Week kicks off on Sunday, offering a showcase for Emirati designers with runway shows, parties and public chats.

The coming edition, which takes place Sept. 1-7 in the Dubai Design District, highlights Italian fashion houses, in line with the city’s aspirations to join the ranks of Paris, Milan and New York on the couture circuit.

Among designers from the Middle East and Asia, the event will feature Dima Ayad, Heba Jasmi and Rizman Ruzaini.

Fausto Puglisi, the head of Italian fashion house Roberto Cavalli and a designer for Madonna, Beyonce and Taylor Swift, will be the guest of honor at the closing reception on Sept. 7.

The fluorescent orange uniforms of Talabat delivery drivers have become so ubiquitous in the UAE that The Circuit’s Abu Dhabi correspondent counted at least a dozen whizzing past on the road beneath her window as this sentence was written. 

Now the business, which has transformed the food industry across the Middle East since its launch in Kuwait 20 years ago, will be listed on the Dubai bourse in what will be one of the most hotly-anticipated initial public offerings of the year.

Berlin-based parent company Delivery Hero is preparing to capitalize on the high investor interest in IPOs in the Gulf this year to raise capital by offering shares in its UAE subsidiary on the Dubai Financial Market in the fourth quarter of this year.

Delivery Hero, which is publicly listed in Frankfurt, will retain a majority interest in the local listing after the IPO, the company said in a filing on Thursday.

While the company has not yet given details of target pricing or how much it plans to raise, RBC values Talabat at $5.5 billion.

Talabat is the latest in a growing list of regional companies seeking to tap equity markets through public listings this year, with $890 million raised through IPOs in the UAE in Q2 alone.

NMDC Energy announced on Wednesday that it plans to raise $875 million in an initial share sale on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

NMDC Energy’s IPO is shaping up to be the UAE’s biggest this year.

The Abu Dhabi subsidiary of NMDC Group, which provides construction and dredging services to the oil and gas industry, aims to raise $875 million when the subscription period for its initial share sale opens on Friday.

That tops the $515 million that Alef Education Holding raised on the ADX in June and will give NMDC Energy a market value of $3.8 billion, Bloomberg reports. The IPO will be the largest since Pure Health Holding raised $986 million in December. 

NMDC Energy won a $255 million contract with ADNOC Gas last month for dredging work on its Estidama natural gas pipeline project. First Abu Dhabi Bank is the lead manager for the IPO.

Saudi Arabia’s push to become a regional center for gaming is paying off, with the esports sector expected to contribute $13.3 billion to the kingdom’s GDP by 2030, according to a new report from PwC Middle East and the Saudi Esports Federation.

Interest in esports is growing across the region, with gaming revenues for the Middle East and North Africa reaching $7.2 billion in 2023.

Saudi Arabia is preparing to host the first Olympic Esports Games from next year, after successfully holding its inaugural Esports World Cup at Riyadh’s Boulevard City over the past two months.

The event, in which an estimated 2,500 gamers competed for a prize pool of $62.5 million, concluded on Sunday with the Saudi Falcons team declared as champions. 

Hong Kong is rolling out the red carpet for Saudi and Emirati travelers with a love of luxury.

Armed with data that show visitors from Saudi Arabia and the UAE are likely to spend some $1,450 a day when they visit, Hong Kong tourism officials have launched a new campaign aimed at the Gulf to promote their plush hotels, Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurants and South China Sea landscapes.

At a time that political friction weighs on Chinese ties with the U.S. and Europe, Hong Kong – classified as a Special Administrative Region of China with limited autonomy – is broadening its focus and finding a wealthy audience in the GCC region eager to explore Asia in style.

“Since 2010 we have watched the GCC market grow, especially Dubai, which is now a global capital,” Henry Wong, Director of Trade Development at Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), told The Circuit. “We believe it’s the right time to focus” on Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The new attention to the Gulf was evident at the Arabian Travel Market conference in Dubai that took place in May, where the HKTB set up its largest booth ever with representatives from more than 30 hotels, travel agencies and cultural institutions.

In October, the tourism agency will sponsor a trade mission to Riyadh and Dubai, bringing in representatives from Hong Kong hotels and other businesses for networking with the Gulf travel industry.

During the travel conference in May, Hong Kong officials signed draft agreements with the UAE government to expand tourism within the GCC market and with the dnata Travel Group to strengthen partnerships with Gulf airlines and travel agencies. The UAE also signed a preliminary agreement with the China Cultural Center to facilitate air travel to China and organize promotional trips to familiarize UAE travel agents with the world’s second most populous country.

Among the attractions being promoted this year are the Palace Museum, the West Kowloon Cultural District, M+ and the Art Basel Hong Kong art fair, Becky Ip, Deputy Executive Director of HKTB, told The Circuit

“GCC travelers used to travel more to Europe and even Thailand and Malaysia,” she said. “Now I think they are prepared to go beyond these places and see more of the east.”

Property investors and developers from the Gulf are eyeing Australia as a major international market, with a shortage of housing creating an environment of high returns and significant long-term growth potential.

Australian real estate companies are holding roadshows and meetings with leading developers, family offices and funds from the UAE and Saudi Arabia this week, Arabian Business reports.

And earlier this month, UAE developer Arada announced it was making its international debut in Australia, where it plans to build 2,500 homes in Sydney. Strong population growth in Australia has led to severe housing shortages in major cities, including Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane.

A potential property boom in the run-up to the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane is also driving interest from investors.

However, Gulf-based companies are likely to face some unfamiliar challenges in Australia, where the construction industry is heavily controlled by unions.

More than 10,000 workers went on strike across the country today in protest over a forced federal takeover of the main building union following allegations of corruption and criminal infiltration by biker gangs.