UAE renewables company Masdar says it will continue to chase green energy projects in Europe, where high interest rates and rising debt costs are pushing utilities to sell stakes in wind farms and solar plants.

Masdar, which is owned by Mubadala, ADNOC and Abu Dhabi National Energy Co., has a goal of reaching 100 gigawatts of capacity in its portfolio by 2030 and has been quick to pounce on European projects that will help it rapidly scale up.

Last week it reached an $885 million agreement with Madrid-based Endesa to buy a 49.9% share of 48 solar farms with 2 gigawatts of capacity.

And in June it agreed to buy a majority stake in Greece’s biggest renewables company Terna Energy, in a deal that valued the company at $3.4 billion.

Masdar CFO Mazin Khan told Reuters that “normalization” of asset prices had created big opportunities in Europe and the Endesa deal was just a first step in its investment plans. 

The UAE has granted its first lottery license, a key step in establishing a regulated commercial gaming sector in the emirates, where construction of the Gulf’s first casino resort is underway in Ras Al Khaimah.

Approval of the new UAE Lottery, to be run by commercial gaming operator The Game LLC, was announced on Sunday by the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority, a federal body which was set up late last year to oversee gaming activities in the country, including lottery, online gaming, sports wagering and casino resorts.

“The launch of the UAE Lottery is a pivotal event that not only marks the establishment of a disciplined world-class regulatory framework for lottery activities but also underscores our commitment to nurturing a secure and enriched commercial gaming environment in the UAE,” Jim Murren, chairman of the GCGRA, said in a statement.

The new lottery license comes after existing raffle-style draws in the Emirates, including the popular weekly draw by Mahzooz, were required to pause business in January while the GCGRA developed its framework for gaming regulation.

It comes amid anticipation of Las Vegas casino operator Wynn Resorts’ $4 billion development on the Marjan islands, about one hour’s drive north of Dubai, which is expected to open in 2027.

Long a key regional commercial partner for the Gulf states, despite political disputes, Turkey is seeking to strengthen its ties by securing an across-the-board free trade agreement with the six member-states of the GCC.

Turkish officials began talks in Ankara on Monday with a delegation from Saudi Arabia, the largest of the Gulf states and first in the roster of GCC countries to negotiate the comprehensive deal.

The kingdom will be followed by Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE before an agreement can be reached that reduces import taxes and other tariffs. The UAE, which does the largest amount of trade with Turkey among the Gulf states, will follow up to join the GCC pact.

Besides trade in oil, arms, construction and agricultural products, the pact is expected to have a broader impact on the region. Iraq, in particular, would benefit from its potential for becoming a corridor between Turkey and the Gulf states, according to a report by the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank.

Iraq announced the launch last year of a 1200-kilometer (750 mile) highway and rail project that would connect with Turkey’s transportation network.

More financial services firms that cater to ultra-high-net-worth families are popping up in the Arabian Peninsula as family offices emerge as one of the fastest-growing segments for wealth creation.

Octagon, a Dubai-headquartered family office-as-a-service firm, announced on Thursday it is now taking UAE clients.

The Great Wealth Transfer is forecasted to pass nearly $20 trillion from the older generations to Gen-X, Millennial and Gen-Z adult children and grandchildren over the next two decades.

This phenomenon will be acutely felt in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where family businesses make up about 90% and 60% of private companies, respectively, according to government figures.

More family offices are cropping up to deploy this expanding pot of wealth as diversification from oil picks up pace in the region and opportunities for investment expand.

Octagon says it is geared specifically to family offices – for established and newly incorporated entities – with services including asset management, corporate services, business management and investment development in “lifestyle verticals” such as real estate, education and health.

Family office clients “have different wealth management perspectives – with more diversified portfolios, and a greater technology and impact focus,” the company said in a media release.

A lobbying firm run by Brian Ballard, a top fundraiser for Donald Trump, is opening an office in Riyadh, its third outpost in the region where it already has a presence in Tel Aviv and Istanbul.

Ballard Partners has tapped Jasmine Zaki, a former senior legal counsel for Bechtel and the chair of the board of the Middle East Policy Council, to lead the new office and its MENA practice as Managing Partner, joined by influential Saudi businessman Sheikh Abdullah bin Zaid Al-Meleihi and former Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) Politico reports.

“After meeting with government officials during my recent trip to the region, I am confident in the success of the kingdom’s strategic framework for reform, Saudi Vision 2030,” Ballard said in a statement, adding that the firm’s footprint there “will allow us to better serve our clients’ interests in the region and beyond.”

Amid Boeing’s global travails ranging from delays in the delivery of its new generation airliners to lawsuits from the mid-flight blowout of a cabin door, the world’s No. 2 planemaker is determined not to lose Saudi Arabia.

Peter Bellew, chief operating officer of Riyadh Air, says Boeing executives have sought to assure the kingdom’s new flag carrier that the first aircraft in its fleet of purple-hued 787 Dreamliners on order will arrive in time for the airline’s projected launch in the summer of 2025.

“We have to take them on their word,” Bellew told The National in an interview on the sidelines of the U.K.’s Farnborough International Airshow that was published on Wednesday.

“They are aware we’re a startup and we don’t have older or leased aircraft to fall back on,” he said, adding “We’re in close contact with them constantly.”

Riyadh Air, which is owned by the Public Investment Fund, is a key element in Saudi Arabia’s plan to open the kingdom to visitors and attract international business.

With chic designer uniforms unveiled on a Paris runway last month, Bellew expects to hire more than 700 pilots and 3,000 cabin crew over the next two years.

Also generating pressure on Boeing is the competition for Riyadh Air’s second order which Bellew suggested is still a toss-up between the U.S. planemaker and the industry leader, Europe’s Airbus.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has hired from within to lead its Investment Strategy and Economic Insights division as the kingdom looks to tap foreign investors and lucrative sectors to fund its massive economic transformation plan.

Fahad Al Saif will start in the role immediately and continue as Head of the Global Capital Finance Division, overseeing government asset transfers, fundraising and investor relations, according to a statement from the PIF.

Prior to joining the nearly trillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund in 2020, Al Saif was CEO of the Saudi National Debt Management Center and an adviser to the Finance Minister.

In his new role, Al Saif will be the official informant on what should drive the PIF’s overarching investment strategy and lead research on market trends and net zero strategies, according to the PIF. 

The UAE’s steady campaign to conclude free trade agreements with partner nations around the world has reached Africa.

In a ceremony on Monday, senior leaders of the UAE and Mauritius met in Dubai to sign a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement that will eliminate more than 97% of all import tariffs between the two countries.

Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, and Maneesh Gobin, the Mauritius Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, signed the document while Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth looked on via video link.

In the past three years, the UAE has signed free-trade pacts with India, Israel, Indonesia, Turkey, Cambodia and Georgia.

The agreement with Mauritius was the first with an African country. The UAE is also seeking to reopen trade talks with the EU by the end of the year, Al Zeyoudi told Reuters on Monday.