UAE announces new VAT rules, KSA willing to cancel costly Vision 2030 projects, Qatar to develop national AI ecosystem, Foxconn to expand Vietnam plant, India says users can delete cybersecurity app
Here’s a look at today's biggest tech stories in the MENA+:
- Masdar City Freezone launches Suzhou office, targets tech transfer
- Finance Ministry announces new VAT rules effective January, to simplify processes
- Mashreq launches retail gold, BTC, equity investment fund
- Mubadala invests in Korean reverse osmosis cleantech NanoH2O, to support MENA expansion
- US identity security firm Savyint opens Dubai regional HQ
- Finance MInister says “expansionary” spending to continue
- Saudi Arabia targets 36,000 factories, $373.3B industrial sector contribution to GDP by 2035
- Private sector now employs 2.5M Saudis
- PIF raises Liv Golf's capital to $5B
- Saudi Arabia signals willingness to cancel costly Vision 2030 projects
- Digital Egypt user base rises 28% to 10.4M in 2025 with addition of services
- Egypt to replace capital gains tax with stamp duty
- Kuwait renews $2B deposit with central bank
- Majid Al Futtaim, Lime Consumer Finance partner to offer flexible financing options
- Egypt, China state-owned firms to jointly produce armed drones
- Women's financial inclusion reaches 52%, up from 4% in 2018
- SECP amends NBFC regulations to introduce rules on digital asset management services
- PTA grants conditional approval for PTCL's Telenor Pakistan acquisition
- Pakistan aims to cut Eurasian logistics costs by 30% with new joint connectivity task force
- US tariffs expected to worsen 21-year-high jobless rate
Other MENA+ Developments
- Kuwait approves law criminalizing unlicensed currency exchanges
- Qatar MCIT signs MoU with OpenAI, PwC to develop national AI ecosystem
- PIF, Mumtalakat to establish joint Bahrain investment program
- Zelo raises $715M from IHC to expand SME financing business
- Bahrain's Infracorp eyes Kuwait Stock Exchange listing
Southeast Asia Developments
- Horizon Quantum becomes first private firm to run a quantum computer in Singapore
- Foxconn seeks expansion of Vietnam plant
- Circle Asia to launch Vietnam's first AI-powered paylater card with Visa, Pismo
- Huawei Cloud to expand Indonesia data center investments
- Panasonic to expand Philippines manufacturing
