Developers of New Murabba, Neom, Diriyah and other multibillion-dollar construction projects across Saudi Arabia occupied center stage this week at the Real Estate Future Forum in Riyadh.

Until former U.S. President Bill Clinton mounted the podium Wednesday night at the Four Seasons.

Praising Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 plan that set off a torrent of building activity across the kingdom, Clinton told a packed ballroom, “It’s worth investing in.”

The 78-year-old statesman, who met with MBS earlier in the day, added: “I think that we Americans should come here and study this 2030 plan and ask ourselves what is our equivalent,” Arab News reports.

Clinton capped the final day of the conference in Saudi Arabia’s capital, where the cube-shapped New Murabba development promises to be the “most complex structure known to man or woman,” the project’s CEO Michael Dyke told a conference panel.

“We will have something like two to three Empire State Buildings on each corner, which anchor the four corners of Mukaab,” Dyke said. At the center will be a residential tower the size of the Eiffel Tower “that will be the only skyscraper in the world that lives inside another building.”

“Below the ground is enormous as well,” he said, adding, “It’s a complete cavernous labyrinth of various different asset classes” with retail space “the size of Dubai Mall that will be capable of extending to be bigger.”

The UAE’s Ministry of Defense displayed its first Dassault fighter jet at a ceremony in Paris that inaugurating its $17.4 million deal with the French aviation firm.

The acquisition of 80 Rafale jets, among the most advanced combat aircraft, is part of a broader effort to upgrade the UAE’s defense capabilities.

“Our strategy focuses on acquiring the most advanced weaponry and systems that align with the evolving nature of modern warfare and technological advancements,” Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Minister of State for Defense Affairs, said at the ceremony on Thursday.

Al Mazrouei was joined at the event by French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu and other representatives from France and the UAE.

Bustling with new hospitals and medical startups, the UAE is a global center for innovative health care this week, proclaiming its aspirations from the world’s tallest skyscraper.

The annual Arab Health conference took over the 162-story facade of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa on Tuesday night to announce with a laser light show that it will henceforth be known as WHX – as in, the World Health Expo.

On hand for the event were some of the biggest names in the healthcare industry, including Merck, Baxter AG, the Cleveland Clinic, GE Healthcare, Siemens and the UAE’s PureHealth.

Abu Dhabi’s M42 – backed by Mubadala and G42 – showed off the integration of artificial intelligence into treatment regimens at hospitals and clinics across the country.

Over the three days of proceedings in the vast halls of the Dubai World Trade Centre, some 3,800 companies from 180 countries – including Saudi Arabia, Morocco, the U.S., the U.K., China, India, Singapore and Taiwan – are pitching their wares.

One exhibit that captured attention was a display of Dubai’s use of facial recognition by its ambulance services through an app that can identify unconscious residents who aren’t carrying an ID card.

“This event embodies Dubai’s long-term vision of building innovative and comprehensive health systems based on strong international partnerships and platforms that bring together thought leaders and experts,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Second Deputy Ruler of Dubai, hailing the city’s “growing status as a global hub for anticipating and shaping the future” of healthcare.

Also present at the conference were Mansoor Al Mahmoud, Qatar’s Minister of Public Health; Dr. Jaleela bint Al-Sayed Jawad Hassan, Bahrain’s Minister of Health; and Dr. Khaled Atef Abdel-Ghaffar, Egypt’s Minister of Health.

The emergence of DeepSeek, the Chinese startup whose artificial intelligence capabilities rival those of Nvidia and triggered a 17% plummet in the U.S. chipmaker’s shares, is being felt in the Gulf.

G42, International Holding Co. and other Abu Dhabi companies that have billions of dollars in active deals with Nvidia stand to lose if DeepSeek can follow through with its plans to provide advanced AI functions at a fraction of the cost. Nvidia’s market value plunged $589 billion on Monday.

Damac Properties Chairman Hussain Sajwani, for example, pledged $20 billion to U.S. President Donald Trump two weeks ago to build AI data centers, which may not ever be built if DeepSeek’’s technology proves itself.

“The introduction of DeepSeek’s cost-effective solutions has disrupted… anticipations of expansive investments in AI, leading to a sharp market correction,” Roberto d’Ambrosio, CEO of Axiory Global, told The Circuit’s Omnia Al Desoukie in Dubai.

“From a risk management perspective, this development underscores the perils of over-reliance on anticipated technological trajectories,” d’Ambrosio said, noting the possible downside for G42 and other companies backed by IHC – which is led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, the UAE National Security Advisor and Chairman of sovereign wealth funds ADQ and ADIA.

“The rapid advancement of AI capabilities, coupled with the emergence of more affordable alternatives, necessitates a reassessment of investment strategies,” he said.

New rules taking force on Monday now allow foreigners to invest in publicly traded companies owning real estate in the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Madinah, another step in Saudi Arabia effort to attract overseas funds.

According to a statement from the Capital Market Authority, those who wish to invest can purchase shares and convertible debt instruments in firms listed on the Saudi stock exchange that own real estate within the boundaries of the cities, Bloomberg reports.

Still, the CMA said that foreign ownership cannot exceed 49% of a company’s listed shares.

Following the news, property stocks rose, including shares of Jabal Omar Development Co. that jumped as much as 10%.

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.