The new year is shaping up as pivotal for the Middle East aviation industry as Gulf airlines look to raise money on regional stock markets and international carriers cautiously return to Israel and Lebanon.

After debating a share offering on and off for the past decade, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad is planning to talk to investors next week about the possible sale of a 20% stake through an IPO that could raise close to $1 billion, Reuters reports.

Etihad, which is owned by the ADQ sovereign wealth fund and competes with Dubai-based Emirates, would seek to arrange the share sale before the end of the first quarter with presentations aimed at both UAE and international investors, the news agency said.

In Saudi Arabia, the budget carrier flynas, which is owned by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding investment company, is waiting for regulatory approval to move ahead with its own initial share offering, CEO Talal Al-Maiman told Al-Arabiya this week.

An IPO by either Etihad or flynas would be the first for a Gulf carrier since Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways sold shares in 2008.

After making a splash last year with its designer uniforms and plush cabins, Saudi Arabia’s new national carrier Riyadh Air suffered a setback this week, announcing that it will be forced to push back its launch date to the third quarter of 2025 after delays to delivery of its fleet from Boeing.

On the other hand, ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon are leading international airlines to restore their routes to Tel Aviv and Beirut, with Lufthansa, British Airways and Wizz Air announcing Israel service will start again between February and April.

Emirates announced on Friday it will resume flights from Dubai to both Beirut and Baghdad on Feb. 1 after suspending service because of the regional conflicts.

DP World is touting stablecoin as an alternative form of payment for its cross-border shipping operations.

Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the Dubai-based port operator’s Chairman and CEO, said that introducing the government-regulated digital payment method would address a critical gap in world trade and reaffirm the company’s commitment to innovation and leadership in global commerce.

The shipping and logistics conglomerate is currently working with firms from Singapore, India and the UAE on the crypto project, Bin Sulayem said in a statement released at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

DP World said stablecoins would provide accessible, instant and transparent means of completing international transactions.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and U.S. President Donald Trump are picking up where they left off four years ago.

After congratulating Trump on his return to Washington in a phone call on Wednesday, Prince Mohammed, who is also Prime Minister, said he’s willing to boost investment and trade with the U.S. by $600 billion through 2028.

The Saudi kingdom hopes to participate in the new U.S. administration’s “ability to create unprecedented economic prosperity and opportunity,” the Crown Prince said in the SPA dispatch.

Trump responded on Thursday during a virtual address to the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“I’ll be asking the Crown Prince, who’s a fantastic guy, to round it out to around $1 trillion,” Trump said, adding, “I think they’ll do that because we’ve been very good to them.”

Trump, appearing on screen from the White House during his 15-minute speech, took questions afterward from a panel in Davos that included Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne and Banco Santander Chair Ana Botin.

Trump forged a close relationship with the heir to the Saudi throne during his first term and said he selected the kingdom for his first overseas trip as president in 2017 because of its commitment to buy U.S. weapons and other goods.

Shortly after his inauguration on Monday, Trump told reporters he’d consider visiting Saudi Arabia again if it would agree to buy “another $450 billion or $500 billion” worth of U.S. products.

Even before he stood inside the Capitol this week to take the oath of office, Trump made clear that the Gulf’s power players will find a friend in the White House.

Damac Group CEO Hussain Sajwani for one. The billionaire Dubai builder turned up a week into the new year at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., where he stood beside the President-elect and pledged an investment of at least $20 billion to build new data centers across the U.S.

Sajwani, who has described himself in press releases as “Trump’s Middle Eastern business partner,” said Damac would move ahead with the plan “if the opportunity, the market, allows us.” 

The relationship between the two men dates back a decade when Trump and Sajwani teamed up to develop luxury golf courses in Dubai. Trump said the massive investment in data centers will “keep America on the cutting edge of technology and artificial intelligence.”

A second Gulf financial chieftain who has been circulating around Trump since his election in November is Saudi Arabia’s Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Public Investment Fund.

Al-Rumayyan is also Chairman of LIV Golf, the upstart PIF-owned tournament that first challenged and now may merge with the PGA.

The new league, which poached some of the PGA’s top stars with contracts of as much as $200 million, announced Tuesday that it would hold a tournament in April at the Trump National Doral resort near Miami for the fourth consecutive year.

After leading the Gulf region as a source for IPOs last year, the UAE is kicking off 2025 with a new slate of stock offerings.

Dubai Investments, which is backed by the sovereign wealth fund Investment Corporation of Dubai, plans to take four of its subsidiaries public this year, CEO Khalid bin Kalba tells The National.

The company’s business units span a range of sectors, including real estate, building materials and construction, education and financial services, though Bin Kalba declined to be specific. “We talked to the local authorities with [regards to] our intention to IPO,” he said.

“The discussion is going on now [around] what multiples we are going to get and what value we are going to get for our divestments.”

When London-based Salica Investments launched its Oryx Fund four years ago, the central strategy was to nurture early-stage startups in the Middle East and North Africa, preparing them to take calculated risks and reap higher returns.

Backed by Saudi Arabia’s Jada Fund of Funds, the Saudi Venture Capital Company, UAE-based Mubadala and state-owned investors in Oman and Jordan, the $50 million fund now operates from offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Muscat, Oman.

Some of the standout companies in Oryx’s portfolio are digital mortgage platform Holo, quick delivery service Barq and Grubtech, which modernizes restaurant operations.

In an interview with The Circuit, Ivo Detelinov, a General Partner in both Salica and Oryx, said the fund looks for startups that address “big themes,” such as digital economics, construction technologies and connected communities. Detelinov is a Board Member of the Middle East Venture Capital Association.

Sara Enan, a Principal at Oryx who also joined the interview, said she’s “magnetized by founders who see blind spots in complex markets. Some of my most exciting finds have been women entrepreneurs in rigid sectors.”

Among Oryx’s successes was co-leading last July’s Series A funding round for 44.01, a climate tech startup based in Oman, which raised $37 million. In October, the fund participated in a $3.7 million pre-seed round for Neuphonic, a text-to-speech AI startup based in London that is seeking to expand in the GCC market. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What trends do you see in the Middle East that are driving Oryx’s investment strategy?

Sara Enan: As we enter 2025, we see four key trends shaping MENA’s venture landscape: the continued growth in Embedded FinTech, ConstructionTech, FoodTech, and Real Estate Tech; increasing AI integration across regional technology solutions; the return of mega deals fueled by international investor interest; and the emergence of regional technology IPOs.

Are there specific sectors or industries that Oryx Fund is particularly interested in when making investments?

Ivo Detelinov: We have witnessed the MENA VC ecosystem reach its third iteration – MENA 3.0. – whereby the MENA region emerges as a hub for globally innovative startups. When evaluating sectors, we first look at “big themes”, such as digital economics, construction technology and connected communities. Within these broad themes, we particularly like technology verticals that drive consumers and businesses through access to embedded finance, improved productivity, or those that enable individuals through innovative technologies to receive better, faster and more cost-efficient delivery of healthcare or education.

What are the most exciting aspects as a VC investor of identifying startups that show real promise?

Sara Enan: When I scout for investments, I’m magnetized by founders who see blind spots in complex markets. Some of my most exciting finds have been women entrepreneurs in rigid sectors who showed me a completely different way of looking at old industry problems.

How does Oryx approach risk when evaluating new opportunities in the Middle East?

Ivo Detelinov: We are particularly focused on understanding the regulatory/licensing process in industries that are subject to regulation in our region. Our team works extensively with regulators in our main geographical markets in a continuous effort to keep current with not only what the current regulation is, but also with where the direction of future regulation may be going next. Other risks inherent in our industry are assessing the competition and the risk that the technology we invest in becomes obsolete in the future. Our extensive due diligence process and collaborating with our colleagues in Europe help us understand and manage these risks well.

What key principles or values guide your investment decisions?

Sara Enan: We focus on three core areas: First, we identify technology verticals with accelerating momentum that create tangible value for clients across B2B, B2G, and B2C sectors. Second, we seek founders who combine a growth mindset with the ability to build empowering cultures. Third, we bring a mission-driven approach, aligning with our portfolio companies on value creation while maintaining transparent relationships throughout our journey together.

How do geopolitical factors, such as regulatory changes or regional instability, influence your investment decisions?I

Ivo Detelinov: Our decade-long experience in MENA venture capital has been marked by stability and growth, supported by forward-thinking regional policies. We maintain close relationships with regulatory bodies across financial services, healthcare, and other key sectors. This stability, combined with visionary economic policies, continues to drive the region’s robust growth trajectory.

President Donald Trump’s inaugural promise to unleash the U.S. oil industry and stifle the Biden administration’s push toward renewable fuels produced muted reactions in Saudi Arabia, the world’s No. 2 oil producer after America.

Asked about what Trump’s vow to “drill, baby, drill” and vastly increase U.S. petroleum production meant for OPEC countries, Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said he’s confident that rising world oil demand – particularly from China – will cushion the impact.

“We still think the market is healthy,” Nasser told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “Last year we averaged around 104.6 million barrels (per day); this year, we’re expecting an additional demand of about 1.3 million barrels … so there is growth in the market.”

UAE Economy Minister Abdulla bin Touq, meanwhile, expressed frustration with the European Union over maintaining his country on its “black list” of countries that are not doing enough to combat money laundering.

Bin Touq said the UAE will hold talks with the E.U. to settle the issue. “I do not understand how the UAE is still on the black list,” he told Bloomberg in an interview at Davos. The Paris-based watchdog Financial Action Task Force’s decision dropped the UAE from its parallel “gray list” last year.

At its pavilion on the Davos Promenade Tuesday morning, the UAE delegation hosted a breakfast talk featuring Minister for Cabinet Affairs Mohammad Al Gergawi, International Holding Co.  CEO Syed Basar Shueb and 2PointZero CEO Mariam Almheiri.

Abu Dhabi introduced its new Government Digital Strategy on Tuesday, allocating $3.5 billion to digitize and fully automate the emirate’s administrative processes.

The $3.5 billion project aims to make Abu Dhabi the world’s first fully AI-native government by 2027, Ahmed Al Kuttab, Chairman of the Department of Government Enablement, said in a statement.

“By incorporating AI, cloud technologies, and data-driven insights into our government’s DNA, we will transform public service delivery, optimize government operations, and drive sustainable economic growth,” Al Kuttab said.

The project is projected to add $6.5 billion to the emirate’s GDP, while creating 5,000 jobs. It is structured to align with the UAE’s broader 2031 vision, in which the country expects AI to contribute $96 billion to the economy by 2030, or 13.6% of GDP.

Dubai is taking new steps to make its prime property more attractive to foreign investors.

The emirate issued regulations on Sunday enabling private property owners of all nationalities in the Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Jaddaf areas to convert their ownership to so-called “freehold” status, The National reports.

Under freehold classification, an investor has a direct title of ownership of the property and the land on which it is built.

“This news is huge because it could be the beginning of what I suppose will be the opening up of all areas to be bought by non-locals,” Mario Volpi, head of brokerage at Novvi Properties, told the newspaper.