JPMorgan is accelerating its expansion across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, hiring 30 senior bankers by year-end.

The recruits will support the firm’s effort to facilitate $1.5 trillion in financing for industries tied to national security, including up to $10 billion of its own capital, Reuters reports.

JPMorgan has doubled its workforce in the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and Poland over the past two years and plans to increase staffing in those markets by another 60% over the next five years.

The bank also said it has expanded lending in the Middle East as the U.S.-Iran conflict prompted some competitors to pull back from the region. 

UAE property developer Mohamed Alabbar is making the biggest private-sector investment yet in Syria’s reconstruction, unveiling plans for at least $20 billion of housing, tourism and business developments in Latakia and Damascus.

The Dubai-based founder of Emaar Properties plans to build tens of thousands of homes alongside resorts, offices, schools and hospitals, telling Bloomberg that years of war have created one of the region’s last large-scale development opportunities.

“There hasn’t been much development for the past 50 years in Syria,” said Alabbar, who built Dubai’s 162-story Burj Khalifa. “Arabs are looking for investments in the Arab world.”

Alabbar’s investment is one of several signs that Gulf companies are moving into Syria after Washington lifted sanctions and President Donald Trump met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, dramatically changing the country’s investment outlook.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE have also announced projects including ports, airports and infrastructure, as governments and investors race to secure an early foothold in the reconstruction effort.

A  property boom in the UAE emirate of Ras Al Khaimah is losing momentum as project delays, rising construction costs and the Iran war take their toll.

Years of expansion following the announcement of the Wynn Al Marjan Island casino resort in 2022 have left developers facing a crowded pipeline, with registered projects more than doubling.

Several developments have been delayed, canceled or put on hold as contractors confront supply chain disruptions, Arabian Gulf Business Insight reports.

Government data shows the slowdown is spreading, with sales values dropping 55% year-on-year in January and mortgage activity plunging 88%.

Lucid Motors, the Saudi-backed maker of electric cars, has hired restructuring adviser AlixPartners to cut costs, tighten operations and help deliver lower-priced vehicles.

The California-based company denied reports that it is considering bankruptcy, calling the claims “completely false,” and said it has enough cash to fund operations into next year, Bloomberg reports.

The review comes as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund reins in spending, slows parts of NEOM, cuts funding for LIV Golf and pushes portfolio companies to focus more on returns.

PIF officials have repeatedly said Lucid remains a cornerstone of the kingdom’s plan to build a domestic electric-vehicle industry, with its Saudi factory expected to anchor the country’s automotive manufacturing ambitions.

Lucid’s shares plunged as much as 57% on Tuesday, their worst intraday drop ever, before paring the decline to 13%.

Saudi Arabia has put Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman in charge of both energy and industry after the Iran war exposed how disruptions to oil shipments, trade routes and manufacturing can quickly spill across the economy.

In appointing Prince Abdulaziz Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources in addition to his current post, the government aims to centralize decisions across oil, mining and factories as it works to reduce its dependence on crude exports, Asharq Al-Wasat reports.

Under the new structure, Prince Abdulaziz will lead efforts to expand manufacturing, increase non-oil exports and raise the sector’s contribution to the economy to almost $240 billion by 2030.

Former Industry Minister Bandar Alkhorayef will remain in the cabinet and take charge of the kingdom’s military industries regulator.

DP World is drawing up plans to build a new port on the UAE’s east coast after the Iran war exposed the risks of relying on the Strait of Hormuz.

The Dubai-owned conglomerate has been discussing construction of a port and container terminal in Fujairah that would let cargo reach the UAE through the Gulf of Oman and then travel by truck to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and elsewhere in the Gulf, the Financial Times reports.

The move is part of a wider UAE effort to protect its economy after fighting with Iran caused shipping through Hormuz to collapse and sharply reduced traffic at Jebel Ali, the country’s biggest port.

DP World has said broadly it is working on plans to keep cargo moving during future disruptions. People familiar with the project told the newspaper that construction could begin soon enough for the first phase to open in about 18 months.

Meanwhile, Iran struck two supertankers with cruise missiles in the Strait of Hormuz, killing an Indian crew member. One of the vessels belonged to ADNOC Logistics & Services.

Foreign leaders and royals are heading to Qatar this week following the death of the former Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, at 74.

Qatar held funeral prayers on Sunday and planned to bury Sheikh Hamad at Lusail Cemetery, while declaring four days of national mourning.

Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Sheikh Hamad’s son, will receive condolences at Lusail Palace through Wednesday. During his 1995-2013 rule, Sheikh Hamad developed Qatar’s vast gas reserves and turned the country into a leading LNG exporter.

The resulting wealth financed major infrastructure projects and global investments through the Qatar Investment Authority.

The U.S. just made it much easier for the UAE to buy America’s most advanced technology, including Nvidia AI chips, military equipment and commercial satellites.

The new rules eliminate export license requirements for the UAE government and approved companies, including G42, Core42 and MGX, as well as U.S. firms operating in the emirates such as Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle and xAI.

U.S. officials said the move announced on Friday reflects the UAE’s growing strategic importance, citing its cooperation against Iran and its proxies and more than $1 trillion of UAE investment in the United States.

The Commerce Department also placed the UAE in a preferred export-control category that grants broader access to military and dual-use technology, making it the only country in the group that is outside the major multilateral export-control regimes.

The decision locks in a framework announced last year, expands access to technology used in oil, gas and civil nuclear projects, and signals Washington’s intention to deepen its technology partnership with the UAE.