Quick highlights

Economy

• Say hello to the new Mr. Worldwide - NEOM (Saudi’s mega-development with residential, environmental, business, tech, educational hubs, etc. — everything, right?). With the big buzz and the need to access global investors, they’ve recently opened offices in New York.

• Yep…the war still rages (?!?), and the Economic Forum has aimed to revise its outlook on the Middle Eastern economy - most impacted are Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and even Yemen (though they’ve faced their fair share of open/economic warfare for the past 8 years)

  When you hear that the US is going to attack Iraq & Syria now…

  

Real Estate

• Get ready for island holiday$ (emphasis on the $) since Abu Dhabi’s getting a $1.36bn investment from Aldar to develop new assets on Yas Island, Saadiyat Island, and Al Maryah Island 🏝️

• Bahrain is ready to host a Housing Finance Expo from Feb 8-17. Citizens will get a chance to chat with reps from Eskan Bank and 28 real estate companies about bagging the right property (anyone else think financial literacy needs to be more accessible to Gen-Z??)

Arts and Culture

• Middle East Film & Comic Con is backkk with representation from the hit TV show Loki, Oscar Isaac from Dune, and…THE WEASLEY TWINS (any HP fans out there - don’t walk, run) P.S. it’s happening Feb 9-11 in Abu Dhabi ✌🏽

• Saudi Arabia’s famed Al-Ula is turning into an open-air museum/arts festival with tons of cultural treasures for visitors - expect Saudi artists, historical expeditions, and hands-on workshops, uuu-la-laaaa (see what we did there?) P.S. it runs from Feb 9-24th

• SHOUT-OUT to Middle Eastern designers having their dresses strutted at the glitzy Golden Globes Awards: Sophie Couture (Azerbaijan), Georges Chakra (Lebanon), Monsoori (Bahrain), Safiyaa (UAE) 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Technology

• In some Will Smith dystopian news…turns out AI could become our enemy 👀 In Hong Kong, an employee was duped into paying $25 million when he joined a video call with his “CFO” from London - who turned out to be a scammer using a deep fake video 😱 Ermmm, Siri - pls recognize the real me…Up to 30% of ID verification will move away from facial recognition because of the risks of AI!

• IDC's predictions at the 2024 edition of the IDC Directions Middle East, Türkiye, and Africa conference on February 1 revealed that annual spending on ICT in the Middle East, Türkiye, and Africa is projected to exceed $238 billion in 2024 (ka-ching). Telecommunications services spending is expected to grow 5%, reaching $133 billion, and digital transformation spending in the region is forecasted to exceed $59 billion. AI spending is predicted to reach $3.0 billion in 2024, showcasing a 32% increase from 2023

• The Capacity Middle East 2024 conference took place in Dubai on February 6th, attracting over 2600 attendees from the telecommunications and technology sectors. The conference covered key industry issues, including trust in messaging services, generative AI impact, artificial traffic inflation, digital infrastructure investments in MENA, and the role of peering in the regional digital economy. Discussions also focused on the transformative impact of increased route diversity on the subsea cable map, with a spotlight on Egypt's strategic role

akhbaar Spotlight

The Japanese citizen has been protesting solo against the atrocities in Gaza for almost 4 months! Let’s show him some love & support: @furusawayusuke_

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