McLaren Automotive is planning to invest $674 million in a new U.K. factory, as Abu Dhabi’s L’Imad sovereign wealth fund works to reboot the cash-strapped British supercar-maker and help launch its first SUV.

The move, which will create 1,000 new jobs by 2032, is a welcome boost for U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham amid thousands of job cuts at Jaguar Land Rover and wider cost pressures on Europe’s carmakers.

McLaren CEO Nick Collins told Bloomberg that an SUV would broaden the brand’s appeal beyond racing fans, following a similar path to luxury supercar makers like Ferrari and Lamborghini.

“In the way we’re going to do it, there’s absolutely space for another one,” he said.

L’Imad took control of McLaren from Abu Dhabi’s CYVN Holdings, which had purchased it from Bahrain’s Mumtalakat sovereign fund.

The UAE may temporarily overtake Saudi Arabia as the Gulf’s largest oil exporter after drone attacks shut a pipeline that had become Riyadh’s primary export route.

Saudi Arabia has halted the flow of oil through its East-West pipeline and is believed to have paused Red Sea exports entirely, potentially removing about 3 million barrels a day from the market, Arabian Gulf Business Insight reports.

Repairing damage from the drone strikes could keep the pipeline closed for six weeks, costing the kingdom tens of billions of dollars in oil revenue, Bloomberg reports.

The UAE national oil company ADNOC meanwhile, has restored production to about 3.6 million barrels a day and is expanding its pipeline network to its Fujairah port, allowing more crude to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

Any lead is likely to be brief: Saudi Arabia has far greater production capacity and long-standing customer relationships that the UAE cannot easily displace once its export routes reopen, according to AGBI.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa pitched his country as an investment opportunity for the Gulf countries as it emerges from years of civil war and economic disaster.

Speaking in Dubai on Tuesday at the Arab Media Summit, al-Sharaa proposed using Syria as a regional logistics hub and farming resource.

“Syria has enormous investment opportunities, particularly for Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, as well as investors from the UAE and elsewhere,” al-Sharaa told a packed hall at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

Syria has attracted more than $30 billion in investment commitments, with projects in real estate and tourism in final negotiations, he said.

After nearly two years without a U.S. ambassador in Saudi Arabia, President Donald Trump has nominated Texas Congressman Wesley Hunt to fill the post.

Hunt, one of the first Black Republicans elected to the House from Texas, recently fought an unsuccessful three-way Republican primary battle for a U.S. Senate seat, Politico reports.

Hunt’s nomination arrives amid new strains to the U.S.-Saudi relationship after Trump reportedly declined Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s request for direct U.S. strikes against the Houthis, offering intelligence and targeting support instead.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is preparing to send more oil through the Strait of Hormuz after attacks shut down the main pipeline that had allowed it to avoid the dangerous waterway. The move will expose more Aramco crude shipments to a route at the center of the U.S.-Iran war, where tankers face the threat of attacks and prolonged disruption, Bloomberg reports. 

The kingdom’s East-West pipeline, which carries millions of barrels a day to the Red Sea, could remain closed for several weeks after being struck at two points last week.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed met Citigroup Chair and CEO Jane Fraser to discuss developing closer banking ties and ideas for promoting business growth in the UAE.

Joining the prince at the meeting with Fraser in the UAE capital were Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, and Saif Saeed Ghobash, Secretary General of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, the Emirates News Agency reported on Monday.

Fraser, who became the first woman to lead a major U.S. bank in 2021, has overseen a broad restructuring of Citi, which uses the UAE as its regional hub for the Middle East and Africa. The bank has been expanding its wealth business in the Gulf and has plans to triple the assets it manages in the UAE.

“The meeting explored opportunities to strengthen cooperation in the banking sector and develop financial solutions that enhance the efficiency of the business ecosystem and support sustainable growth across various economic sectors,” the state news agency said.

As the first visitors made their way through the halls of Dubai World Trade Centre today for the opening of Arabian Travel Market, a cautious sense of optimism around the Gulf’s tourism recovery was evident. 

Finally underway after being rescheduled twice since the outbreak of the Iran war, ATM is one of the first major events to kick off a packed year-end calendar in the Gulf, with Dubai alone preparing to host more than 100 exhibitions before the end of the year. GITEX Global, rescheduled to December, is expecting to draw 200,000 attendees. 

Airlines, hotel chains, travel agencies and tourism authorities were all keen to put aside the disruption and disappointments of the past seven months and make the most of being in the same room once again.

Muna Mustafa, Co-Founder of luxury dining concierge business Supper Club, told The Circuit’s Omnia Al Desoukie that she was “pleasantly surprised at the energy, the number of people that are here, the hotels that are here.”

The return of major events comes amid signs of recovery in Dubai’s tourism sector, with new figures showing that August saw 869,000 international overnight visitors and hotel occupancy of 66% – a recovery to about 89% of August 2025 levels and a far cry from the lows of 36% seen in March. 

With schools returning from the long summer break, analysts are also watching to see if residents will return in strength. Dubai-listed Taaleem Holdings has seen enrollment across its private schools rise roughly 7% from the previous academic year, Bloomberg reports.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is weighing a merger of Electronic Arts and Savvy Games to create one of the world’s largest gaming companies.

The PIF closed its $55 billion take-private deal for Electronic Arts, backed by private equity firm Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, last month, almost a year after it launched its bid.

A merger would see EA’s large stable of gaming franchises, including “Battlefield” and “The Sims” combined under the same roof as Savvy’s “Pokemon Go” and mobile hits from China’s Moonton, which it is in the process of acquiring for $6 billion.

Any merger would be unlikely to happen before that deal closes, Bloomberg reports.

A merged entity would give the PIF and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, an ardent gamer, a single vehicle to exploit intellectual property, make acquisitions and develop future hits.  

The UAE is betting $46 billion on Germany, pouring money into artificial intelligence, energy, defense and other key industries.

The commitment was announced during UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed’s state visit to Berlin, where he met Chancellor Friedrich Merz and attended a dinner hosted by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

“For the UAE, our investment commitment and the new Council bring world-class German capabilities into the UAE’s rapidly growing economic platform,” Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Industry and Advanced Technology Minister and CEO of the ADNOC national oil company, said in a statement.

“They create opportunities to invest alongside leading German industrial and technology companies, deepen UAE capabilities in strategic sectors, and build businesses that can serve growth markets across the Gulf, Asia and Africa,” Al Jaber said.

Meanwhile, Emirates secured permission to serve a fifth German city, clearing the way for the Dubai airline to begin long-sought flights to Berlin despite opposition from Lufthansa. The Circuit reported last week that the German government was coming under increasing pressure to let Emirates add flights to Berlin and Stuttgart.

The UAE has already invested close to $40 billion in Germany. It has pledged roughly the same amount to Italy, up to $58 billion to France and $1.4 trillion to the U.S.