{"id":85399,"date":"2025-12-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/mena-india\/another-week-another-mobile-phone-surveillance-flap\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T00:00:00","slug":"another-week-another-mobile-phone-surveillance-flap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/mena-india\/2025\/12\/08\/another-week-another-mobile-phone-surveillance-flap\/","title":{"rendered":"Another week, another mobile-phone surveillance flap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, wonderful people, and happy Monday. <\/strong>Modi and Putin dominated India's news stream throughout the weekend as the two signed 15 agreements including a pledge to take bilateral trade to USD 100 bn by 2030. Social media users are locking horns about the vegetarian menu for Putin\u2019s dinner, but we\u2019re not letting that distract us \u2014 we rang up an expert to help us make sense of it all.<\/p>\n

THE BIG STORY this morning on the MENA-India corridor: <\/strong>UAE lender ENBD<\/strong> isn\u2019t stopping with its USD 3 bn bid for RBL \u2014 it\u2019s looking at taking a stake in state-owned IDBI Bank <\/strong>that could be worth north of USD 7 bn in what\u2019s expected to be a sharply competitive bidding process.<\/p>\n

MEANWHILE-<\/strong> Adia-backed ReNew<\/strong> is pushing ahead with a 6 GW solar component <\/strong>manufacturing facility<\/strong> and more non-sanctioned Russian crude<\/strong> will flow into two key state-owned refineries. In other energy news, the Modi government is proposing to expand its use of coal<\/strong> through 2047.<\/p>\n

Market watchers welcomed the Reserve Bank of India\u2019s decision to cut interest rates<\/strong>, hoping the move might throw a floor under the stock markets after a week that saw foreign portfolio investors head for the exits. And there\u2019s a new proposal afoot to enhance the surveillance capacity of investigative agencies<\/strong> that will give Apple, Samsung, and Google executives some sleepless nights. <\/p>\n

^^ We have all of that and more, below.<\/p>\n

IN MENA THIS MORNING-<\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to be \u201cAll Abu Dhabi, All The Time\u201d in MENA this week as Abu Dhabi Finance <\/strong>Week kicks off.<\/strong> The emirate is looking to cement its position as the self-proclaimed \u201ccapital of capital\u201d with word on the street that the world\u2019s largest listed hedge fund, Man Group<\/strong> (with USD 213.9 bn in AUM), is targeting a 2026 entry. The macro picture supports the hype: The UAE\u2019s non-oil private sector<\/strong> expanded at its fastest clip in 11 months in November (PMI: 54.8) <\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia is matching that optimism with hard assets:<\/strong> Policymakers are pressing head with the buildout of essential infrastructure<\/strong> even as they signal they\u2019ll be taking a go-slower approach with gigaprojects: The Kingdom has tendered major capacity expansions for King Salman International Airport and its phosphate rail network, while awarding a SAR 3 bn sewage treatment contract in Makkah. Riyadh is pivoting toward a particularly Saudi flavor of \u201cspending efficiency,\u201d not signalling a stop. Meanwhile, officials are pushing ahead with a policy initiative to triple industrial capacity<\/strong> by 2035.<\/p>\n

The World Bank thinks Saudi and the UAE had a good 2025: <\/strong>On track to expand at a 4.8% clip for the year, the UAE\u2019s economy is the envy of the region. Saudi, meanwhile, grew a bit faster than the bank had originally expected this year \u2014 it now thinks KSA\u2019s economy will expand at a 3.8% when all the numbers are in. <\/p>\n

In Cairo, the Madbouly government is pushing ahead with aggressive incentives to court <\/strong>the private sector. <\/strong>That includes a package of three-year tax exemptions for new IPOs<\/strong> and an EGP 10 bn financing program for startups<\/strong>. It\u2019s a signal to the IMF delegation in town that the reform drive is very much alive. Meanwhile, the USD 35 bn Leviathan gas agreement<\/strong> with Israel remains stuck in regulatory limbo until year-end, EnterpriseAM Egypt reports. <\/p>\n

^^ Want to go deeper? Check out our UAE<\/a>, Saudi<\/a>, and Egypt<\/a> editions.<\/p>\n

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WATCH THIS SPACE- <\/p>\n

<\/a> #1- Telcos look to have sparked a new surveillance and privacy <\/strong>controversy for the Modi government.<\/strong> Officials are reviewing a controversial proposal from the country\u2019s telecom operators that would require smartphone makers to keep satellite-tracking (A-GPS) permanently enabled on all devices, Reuters reports<\/a>, citing internal documents.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a pass-the-buck strategy:<\/strong> The proposal comes from the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents giants like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.<\/p>\n