Good morning, nice people. We’re kicking off September with a very packed issue, featuring a flurry of investment, M&A, capital markets, rail, and aviation updates from UAE and Qatar. Let’s get the ball rolling.

HAPPENING TODAY-

The Syria Recovery and Investment Forum is opening its doors today and will run until tomorrow, Tuesday 2 September in Bahrain’s Manama. The forum is set to host global industry leaders, policymakers, and stakeholders to discuss Syria's most urgent rebuilding needs — and attract investments — across key sectors including education, energy, housing, smart cities, ports, and metro systems.

The Transport Middle East Exhibition is kicking off today and will run until Wednesday, 3 September in Salalah, Oman. The exhibition hosted by Salalah Port is featuring 35 international speakers and over 50 exhibitors from the maritime sector to discuss global transportation and logistics.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- UAE, other small nations to launch trade bloc: The UAE is preparing for the launch of a new trade bloc focused on “trade openness and international trade rules” with other small and medium-sized World Trade Organization (WTO) members, one official involved in the talks told the Financial Times on Friday. The group will focus on establishing common understandings in digitized trade — including digital documents, e-signatures, and electronic trade regulation, one official told the outlet. The bloc is expected to launch in November via a virtual meeting, with an in-person event to follow next July.

Who’s involved? The new group — to be named the Future of Investment and Trade Partnership — is slated to include 10 countries with the UAE, Singapore, and New Zealand as core founding members. Other members could potentially include Morocco, Rwanda, Malaysia, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Panama, Paraguay, and Norway, though the final member list is yet to be confirmed.

#2- The Turkish government said it shut down Israel’s access to Turkish ports and airspace over its conduct in Gaza, Reuters reported on Friday, citing comments made by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. This confirms last week’s reports that Turkish port authorities have started — informally — demanding written pledges from shipping agents to ensure their vessels are not linked to Israel.

The airspace ban, however, does not cover transit commercial flights, with Fidan leaving out the important caveat that it only applies to flights carrying Israeli officials or weapons and ammunition, an unnamed diplomatic source told the newswire.

#3- Egypt will begin construction of a USD 400 mn long-stalled gas pipeline with Israel next year, a government source told EnterpriseAM, adding that the project was agreed to years ago, but was put on hold due to financial issues and geopolitical turmoil. This comes as we prepare to more than double Leviathan gas imports under the recently inked USD 35 bn agreement to send 130 bn cubic metres of gas to Egypt from 2026 through 2040.

Construction is expected to wrap up by 2028, with Egypt covering USD 200 mn of the cost and Israeli companies contributing a similar amount.

This will facilitate Egypt’s plan to expand gas exports to Europe, according to our source. Egypt, now an importer rather than a net exporter of LNG, is hoping to reposition itself as a regional energy hub by bringing in gas from neighboring countries and liquefying it in its plants in Damietta and Idku before reselling as LNG on global markets at a margin.

MEANWHILE- Bangladesh eyes LNG flows from Aramco: Bangladesh’s interim government is preparing to sign an MoU with Saudi Aramco covering liquified natural gas (LNG) supply, Petrobangla’s Chairman Rezanur Rahman told S&P Global Commodities Insights ’ Platts on Thursday. A draft has already been drawn up and is currently under review, Rahman said.

Aramco has expressed interest in both short- and long-term LNG agreements. Aramco Trading has already delivered spot LNG cargos to Bangladesh via competitive bidding and is now looking at a short-term sales and purchase agreement, Rahman said. He added that the proposed pact would give Aramco a formal foothold in Bangladesh’s LNG supply chain beyond ad hoc spot trades. Aramco was among many companies that received approval from Bangladesh to supply spot LNG in December 2024.

Bangladesh already has other regional LNG partners: Bangladesh secured its first-ever short-term LNG contract with Oman’s OQ Trading, covering cargoes between August and December, priced at a premium of USD 0.15 / MMBtu over JKM. The country also procures Qatari LNG through a 2024 long-term supply agreement with the US-based Excelerate.

Bangladesh's play: Officials see short-term contracts with suppliers like OQ and Aramco as a way to balance rigid Brent-linked long term contracts with QatarEnergy LNG, adding flexibility and supply security during peak demand, S&P Global said. This comes as the country struggle to close a supply gap, with natural gas demand exceeding 4 bcf/d against available supply of just 2.83 bcf/d, including 1 bcf/d of regasified LNG, S&P Global added. The country expects to import around 52 spot cargoes in 2025.

#4- Jordan eyes regional railway project revival: The Jordanian government is planning to revive a regional rail connection project linking it to neighboring countries, as part of a broader focus on mega-projects, Jordanian Economic Affairs Minister Muhannad Shehadeh told CNBC last week, without providing further details on the project. The initiative looks to boost trade and economic resilience in line with Jordan’s wider Economic Modernization Vision 2033.

A long time coming? Jordan has kept a railway project in its drawers — first proposed in 2011 — to develop an 897-km-long corridor connecting the country’s logistics and industrial centers to Saudi Arabia, Syria (via Aqaba), and Iraq (via Zarqa), according to a Transportation Ministry document (pdf). The project was initially slated to be operational by 2020, with a targeted freight capacity of around 55 mn tons by 2040.

The latest on Jordan’s rail ambitions: The UAE and Jordan signed four agreements to build a USD 2.3 bn freight railway a year ago. Once completed, the link would move up to 16 mn tons of phosphate and potash from Al Shidiya and Ghor es-Safi mining regions to Aqaba Port. Construction tenders for the railway are scheduled to be issued by early 2026.

#5- Talabat parent company cuts earnings forecast amid weaker USD: Delivery Hero — Talabat’s German parent firm — has slashed its full-year earnings forecast on the back of foreign exchange headwinds, according to its earnings release published on Thursday. The company now expects some EUR 900-940 mn in adjusted EBITDA for the year, down from previous guidance of EUR 975 mn - 1 bn. Bloomberg namechecked the weakening USD and KRW as the main reasons behind the downgraded forecast.

In context: Asia — where several currencies are tied to the weaker USD or have suffered setbacks due to soaring trade tariffs — represents Delivery Hero’s largest market.

The company recorded a 25% y-o-y growth in like-for-like revenues to EUR 7.2 bn in 1H 2025, according to its earnings, beating analyst forecasts.

It’s a different story for its Middle East unit: Talabat reported a solid growth in earnings and income in 2Q and 1H of 2025, raising its forecasted full-year revenue growth to between 29-32% — up from 18-20%.

MARKET WATCH-

#1- Oil prices dipped this morning amid worries over rising supplies despite disruptions to Russian oil operations after Ukrainian attacks on energy sites, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures went down by USD 0.30 to reach USD 67.18 / bbl by 05.00 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) decreased USD 0.28 to trade at USD 63.73 / bbl.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia could lower October crude prices for Asia: Aramco is expected to cut October’s official selling price (OSP) for Arab Light bound to Asia by USD 0.40-0.70 a barrel from September, bringing it to a range of USD 2.50-2.80 a barrel above the Oman-Dubai benchmark, Reuters reports, citing a survey of five refining sources. The OSPs for Arab Extra Light, Arab Medium, and Arab Heavy are also expected to fall by USD 0.40-0.60 a barrel for the month.

REMEMBER- Aramco raised the price of its flagship Arab Light crude bound to Asia by USD 1 a barrel for September deliveries, taking the premium to USD 3.20 per barrel above the Oman-Dubai benchmark. September was the second consecutive month where the Kingdom hiked prices, signaling confidence in the strength of demand.

Elevated Saudi prices have slowed buying in Asia, with refiners in China turning to cheaper Russian crude and other Asian buyers sourcing more US barrels. Indian state refiners also resumed Russian purchases, adding further pressure on spot prices. Refiners told Reuters that a sizable price cut may be required for Saudi crude to regain demand.

#2- Baltic index maintains upwards trajectory: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — rose 0.4% to 2,025 points on Friday. The capesize climbed 1.4% to 2,925 points, while the panamax index dropped 1.4% to 1,847 points. The smaller supramax index inched up by 0.3% to 1,465 points.

#3- The Drewry World Container Index fell by 6% to USD 2,119 per 40-ft container on Thursday, according to the latest index readings. The drop comes on the back of market turbulence driven by the ongoing US tariffs’ bonanza since April. The container forecaster projects the supply-demand balance to fall in 2H 2025, causing spot rates to fall further.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Oman will host the Comex Global Technology Show on Sunday, 7 September until Wednesday, 10 September in Muscat. The event will host over 360 participants and 133 tech startups to show achievements in eGovernment, fintech, smart cities, health tech, agritech, and cybersecurity.

Saudi Arabia will host the Smart Ports and Logistics Transformation Summit on Monday, 15 September and Tuesday, 16 September in Jeddah. The summit will host over 40 global and local speakers, industry experts, and policymakers to explore smart port solutions, port operations, and logistics within Saudi Arabia.

The UAE will host the Syria Recovery and Investment Forum on Wednesday, 24 September in Abu Dhabi. The forum will host leaders in business, regional investors, policymakers, and advisory experts to develop practical solutions for Syria’s road to recovery and economic revival.

The UAE will host the Global Rail Transport Infrastructure Exhibition and Conference on Tuesday, 30 September until Thursday, 2 October in Abu Dhabi. The event will be hosted by Etihad Rail and is set to welcome over 200 global speakers and upwards of 20k industry attendees to share innovative solutions and develop partnerships.

Check out our full calendar at the bottom of this email for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events and news triggers.