Schools prepare for new school year as uncertainties around the war remain

1

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

THIS MORNING: UAE authorities are probing Binance on “third-party” fund flows, reports say + UAE-Russia trade services agreement enters into force

Good morning, lovely people. It’s a (very welcome) shortened workweek this week, and the final one before back-to-school season.

Schools are in the final rush to get things in order ahead of the school year, and while sources we’ve spoken to say enrollment targets have been met (and even crushed) at a majority of schools, the mood is still one of “let’s give it one more week” for many families who are abroad for the summer.

Despite that, school operators say they’re optimistic about demand heading into the school year, and two major ones — Taaleem and Gems Education — are pouring bns of AED into investments in new schools, despite the headwinds. We have everything you need to know about what it’s been like for schools and what they’re preparing for in the year ahead in the news well below.

Elsewhere this morning: Adnoc Distribution checks a box on its way to closing in South Africa, bringing in a local empowerment partner ahead of the Shell acquisition completion in 2027. And building-materials company Bildco is about to become a strategic shareholder in an insurer whose license the Central Bank yanked less than a year ago.

Destination Sahel Issue IV, the final issue in the series, drops this week, and we’re exploring how Egypt’s North Coast could become more than a summer story.

Living in Sahel year-round is moving from a seasonal idea to a serious question; an industrial push is reshaping the Coast’s economic base, and Egyptian homebuyers are weighing Sahel against Dubai, London, and other Mediterranean markets for where to put their money.

In this issue, we get into what it would take for Sahel to work beyond the summer, how industry fits into the Coast’s next chapter, and the numbers behind the Sahel-vs-everywhere debate.

Click here to subscribe to the Egypt edition, coming straight to your inbox, Wednesday, 26 August.

Binance friction

UAE police detained two Binance employees in recent weeks and questioned a third, testing a relationship the exchange has spent years building in one of its most important global bases. The New York Times reported on Thursday that officers stopped both employees at airports — one, a mid-level staffer, was held overnight at a Sharjah police station — while a third, who leads Binance's Dubai subsidiary, was questioned separately in July. Bloomberg and Reuters confirmed the account over the following two days.

“Routine” investigations? Binance said in a statement to Reuters that the investigation was part of routine inquiries into third-party fund flows through a Binance client money account, and that it’s working with authorities to establish coordination procedures. “Our employees were never the targets or subjects of these inquiries, and all who provided statements were promptly cleared and released,” Bloomberg quoted the firm as saying.

BACKGROUND- Three weeks before the detentions, a Reuters investigation traced at least USD 4 bn moved since May 2024 through an unlicensed Dubai exchange called Shelbit — a hub for an Iranian gambling network with direct ties to Iran's central bank and wallets Israel has linked to the IRGC. Of that, roughly USD 676 mn flowed from Shelbit-linked addresses into Binance. Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority has since ordered Shelbit to shut down. Binance says it never held a Shelbit account, didn't consider the flagged transactions high-risk at the time, and froze and reported them once it did. Dubai’s Vara had warned at the time that the exposure extended beyond consumer protection to cross-border transactions that could affect the integrity of the UAE’s financial system.

Why it matters: The UAE is the best regulatory pitch Binance has anywhere in the world right now — three licenses from Abu Dhabi Global Market landed in December, a USD 2 bn investment from state-backed MGX followed in March 2025, and co-founder Changpeng Zhao himself calls Dubai home.

The recent friction also highlights a more prickly side of crypto that the UAE has to grapple with as it leads the race to become “the Wall Street of cryptocurrencies,” as it has been named previously, due to the influx of crypto heavyweights including Binance, Crypto.com, OKX, and Bybit. That, alongside sector-friendly regulation and initiatives, has established the Emirates up as a global crypto haven.

UAE-Russia trade framework takes effect

The UAE-Russia Trade in Services and Investment Agreement (TISIA) kicked into force yesterday, expanding the bilateral framework beyond goods to cover services and cross-border investment, state news agency Wam reports.

“The entry into force... represents the full activation of a comprehensive trade and investment framework,” UAE Foreign Trade Minister Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi said. Inked in Moscow last August, the agreement is designed to improve market access for services exporters, beef up investor protections, and reduce barriers to market entry.

Trade is already catching up: UAE-Russia non-oil trade was up 77.7% y-o-y, reaching USD 20.4 bn in 2025 — nearly double the USD 10.8 bn recorded in 2022. The agreement targets high-growth areas, including fintech, healthcare, transport, logistics, and professional services, creating a framework for greater private-sector collaboration.

Why it matters: The TISIA complements the UAE’s Economic Partnership Agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union, which covers goods. The pact is a precursor to the UAE’s target to double trade with Russia and other Eurasian countries over the next five years.

Data point

500k — That’s the volume of TEUs DP World has moved across the GCC through its road and rail network since March, as shipping lines and cargo owners lean on inland routes to dodge disruption in the region's main shipping lanes, the company said in a statement. The network now handles some 3k truck movements a day, after DP World added 700 trucks to the fleet last month.

The build-out is a hedge against Red Sea and Hormuz risk: DP World has opened fast-track bonded corridors linking east coast gateways directly to Jebel Ali, a bonded corridor from Sohar in Oman, and new routing through Jeddah Islamic Port’s South Container Terminal — each a way to keep cargo moving if Bab Al Mandab or the Strait of Hormuz become less reliable.

Wagering against the next bottleneck? The company opened a 100k sqm empty-container depot in Al Awir, Dubai, adding storage and release capacity outside Jebel Ali itself. The site sits on Emirates Road and is positioned for future rail links via Etihad Rail. DP World's logistics COO for the GCC said the goal is to cut unnecessary trips to the port and give shipping lines more flexibility to reposition boxes across Dubai, Sharjah, and the Northern Emirates. It's the same inland-first playbook behind DP World's new multi-client warehouse in Riyadh.

The EnterpriseAM Egypt Forum is back — and we’re devoting the full day to the singular set of questions on everyone’s mind: What does AI actually mean for your company, your people, your economy, your own job — and your kids’ future?

Every session on stage answers one question: “So, what do I actually do about it?”

Join us on 5 October in Cairo. Seats are limited and attendance is by invitation only.

Request your invitation here.

PSA

WEATHER- The mercury reaches 43°C in Abu Dhabi today and 42°C in Dubai, with lows between 32-33°C in both emirates, according to our favorite weather app.

The big story abroad

As the regional war continues without a definitive timeline for peace, markets are waiting for definitive clues on Washington’s impending round of Iran sanctions. Here are the top business stories on the front pages.

Fashion’s next big listing: China-born fashion giant Shein is looking to raise up to USD 1.8 bn in its Hong Kong IPO — putting up 280 mn shares — expected to debut on 1 September. After a year of waiting on Beijing’s sign-off, the Singapore-headquartered firm has seen its valuation suffer on the back of fierce competition with Temu, regulatory hurdles, and tariff threats. Among the listing’s cornerstone investors are Boyu Capital, Tiger Global, and Tencent Holdings.

Speaking of China-related stock action, Alibaba is looking to raise as much as USD 10.2 bn via share placement in a bid to increase capital expenditure and bolster its competitive edge in the AI space. The firm will allocate all offering proceeds to AI investments, leveraging a Chinese stock market surge that has driven tech valuations to record highs.

Also in the AI world: Anthropic’s foothold in the US is under threat from more affordable models, casting some doubt on the startup’s upcoming listing, which is expected to be the biggest IPO in history. Over two months after its launch, spending on Fable 5, Anthropic’s largest AI model, has plateaued at roughly 11% of total customer spend on the company's tools, according to Ramp data tracking 70k businesses.

***

You’re reading EnterpriseAM UAE, your essential daily roundup of business, economics, and must-read news about the UAE, delivered straight to your inbox. We’re out Monday through Friday by 7am UAE time.

EnterpriseAM UAE is available without charge thanks to the generous support of our friends at Mashreq and Hassan Allam Properties.

Were you forwarded this email? Tap or click here to get your own copy of EnterpriseAM UAE.

Want to send us a story idea, request coverage, ask for a correction, or otherwise get in touch? Reach out to us on [email protected].

DID YOU KNOW that we also cover Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the MENA logistics industry?

***

Circle your calendar

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

Schools have hit their enrollment targets heading into the school year, but it’s all about who actually shows up

Schools in the UAE are heading into FY 2026/27 with the majority of their student base intact and teacher retention rates broadly stable compared to previous years, according to major school operators we spoke to. Gems Education, Taaleem, and Nord Anglia — which together run dozens of the UAE’s biggest premium and mid-market schools — all tell EnterpriseAM that the conflict-driven exodus of families and teachers doesn’t seem to have materialized at the scale anyone was budgeting for in the spring.

Editor’s note: For perspective, Gems Education operates 45 schools in the UAE, while DFM-listed Taaleem operates 14 premium schools and 34 government partnership schools nationwide. Nord Anglia, the only non-homegrown firm of the bunch, has four schools: two in Dubai and two in Abu Dhabi.

By the numbers: Retention rates stood at around 85% for Gems Education, CEO Dino Varkey tells EnterpriseAM, broadly flat y-o-y, while Taaleem CEO Alan Williamson tells us their premium schools have added around 4k students when accounting for the 10% annual churn that usually takes place. Nord Anglia, meanwhile, says more than 90% of students have returned, and the waitlist has filled the remaining seats fast enough that its biggest school, Nord Anglia School Dubai, is full again for September. Even in segments where there was more concern — like boarding for Nord Anglia and early-years education for Taaleem — the numbers have bounced back.

The harder-hit segments have recovered: Nord Anglia provides one of only two boarding offerings in the UAE at its Swiss International Scientific School Dubai, and despite expectations that they would have only half as many boarders this year, Regional Managing Director at Nord Anglia Elizabeth Lamb tells us they’ve hit their target for boarders. It’s a similar story for nurseries: Taaleem’s Kids First Group nurseries lost roughly AED 30 mn in net income at the peak of the disruption — a function of how nurseries bill, with many parents paying monthly rather than termly and no online pivot equivalent to what K-12 schools managed. “There was a time in the conflict where we thought Kids First Group this year will be loss-making,” Williamson said. Instead, the division is now forecasting AED 120 mn-range net income — a sharp recovery, though still below an original AED 150-160 mn target.

The numbers mask some nuance, though: While retention was stable, schools did lose some people when the conflict hit. “About 1% of our student base had indicated that they were relocating back to their home country […] of that, about 30-40% have already come back or indicated their willingness to come back,” Varkey says. “Even now, I think some families are still thinking, ‘let’s give it one more week and just check everything remains quiet,’” Lamb says.

The next few weeks will tell all: “I’m optimistic, but I will know for certain a week into September,” Williamson says, explaining that a lot of families extend their summer vacations and have sent in security deposits to hold their seats. Varkey adds: “We’ve achieved well over 90% of the new sales we need to achieve [...], but we have an enrollment cycle that effectively starts the middle of August through to the end of September where we would be adding a number of students, so it’ll be another few weeks before I have an affirmative answer on how the year is looking.”

Staffing is solid too

Teacher attrition is actually better than most years: GEMS reported turnover of 16-17% this year against a norm of 25% for international schools — its lowest in a decade — alongside an employee net promoter score of 54. Taaleem’s CEO said the group typically loses about 15% of staff annually against a UAE-wide average of 20%. This year it lost 9%, of which only 1 percentage point was tied directly to conflict-related departures. Nord Anglia’s Lamb, meanwhile, said the group is starting the year with a full roster of staff across its UAE schools, though she acknowledged some newer or younger teachers chose not to return after the initial missile activity.

The reasons? Everyone we spoke to agreed that the solid retention rates are a testament to how much less transient the UAE has become as a destination for expats. Lamb attributes this to lifestyle perks and career progression prospects, while both Varkey and Williamson point to the booming property market as something that has helped anchor people in the UAE in a way that wasn’t as common a decade ago. GEMS’ data backs the same shift from a different angle: average student tenure across its portfolio has risen from 2.7 years to almost six.

There are still headwinds

Dubai’s education authority, the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, froze private school fees for the FY 2026/27 academic year. That’s after an up to 2.35% increase last year, depending on the school’s inspection rating. “That puts some pressure on the business because we’re having to deliver the same high quality at last year’s costs,” Lamb explains, adding that the company’s group-wide earnings-sharing is cushioning the Middle East division through “a rough patch,” even though the impact on the balance sheet was minimal.

Williamson also pointed to rising costs, including teacher wages and prices of iPads and other materials, as a problem that a 2.5% increase would’ve been able to help solve, but he admits the fee increase would be “the icing on the cake” rather than the difference between making a gain or suffering a loss. He credits that to increased revenues at recently opened schools, where students are entering higher year groups and paying a higher fee as a result.

Construction was deferred on some new projects, though growth and expansion plans remain on track. Nord Anglia had to defer several projects planned for FY 28 to FY 29, attributing the delay to supply chain disruptions, while Varkey says the firm “lost a couple of months of construction,” though he still expects projects to be delivered on time. Williamson managed to open Harrow Dubai as planned for this school year while hitting his enrollment target. He also expects upcoming projects, including Dubai British School Ghaf Woods and Harrow Abu Dhabi, to be delivered on time.

All three firms are keeping their investment plans on track. Gems announced plans to invest AED 2 bn in new capacity over the next three years across Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile, Williamson tells us Taaleem is putting in between AED 1.5-2 bn toward growth, with some 5-6 potential M&A targets lined up for Kids First Group and more premium school openings planned across its different brands.

The general sentiment among school heads? This year will be one of growth, but not at the high margins seen over the past few years. “We’re probably not going to see the growth rate or the momentum that we’ve witnessed over the course of the last three to four years post-Covid,” Varkey says. But both Varkey and Williamson remain “optimistic,” even if not as optimistic as they were pre-conflict. For Nord Anglia, a global group — which counts Dubai Holding and Mubadala as backers — the Middle East is still a growth story: “We see this current conflict as a blip […] we’re still fully committed to the UAE and the Middle East region, and we still think it’s going to be one of our major growth regions,” Lamb says.

Adnoc taps Reatile Group to satisfy South Africa's ownership rules for its USD 1 bn Shell deal

Adnoc now has a local partner in South Africa: Adnoc Distribution has signed a definitive agreement with Reatile Group, under which the South African investment holding company will take a minority stake in Shell Downstream South Africa (SDSA) once Adnoc Distribution's own acquisition of the business closes, according to an ADX disclosure (pdf).

What we know: The tie-up satisfies South Africa’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment rules, which require local ownership in the country’s fuel retail sector. While the statement does not disclose the size of the stake, Adnoc had said that it plans to sell around 28% of SDSA to a local empowerment partner and an employee ownership scheme.

REMEMBER- Adnoc Distribution agreed in July to buy SDSA from Shell for around USD 1 bn before debt and working-capital adjustments — its fourth retail market and first outside the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. The agreement, expected to close in 2027, hands Adnoc 580 fuel stations plus SDSA’s wholesale fuels, aviation, and lubricants businesses.

Why it matters: Reatile has 23 years of investing and partnering across the energy sector in Africa, including South Africa, which makes it more than a name on a cap table brought in to check a compliance box.

What’s next? The underlying acquisition still needs regulatory sign-off in South Africa, and the completion of the Reatile stake sale is conditioned on that acquisition closing first. It’s expected to close in 2027.

Bildco moves into ins. with planned Al Khazna stake

Abu Dhabi National Company for Building Materials (Bildco) is set to become a strategic shareholder at Al Khazna Ins. through a capital increase of up to AED 3 bn. The transaction would see Al Khazna issue new shares to Bildco, with the final stake, share count, and issue price to be set after valuation and subject to final agreements and regulatory approvals, according to ADX disclosures here (pdf) and here (pdf).

What Bildco would be buying into: Al Khazna has operated in the UAE ins. market since 1996, when it was founded by the late Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Last year, the CBUAE revoked its license after finding it hadn't met licensing requirements during a prior suspension — meaning Al Khazna currently cannot legally write ins. in the UAE.

Why it matters: The transaction would bring a new strategic shareholder into Al Khazna after the Central Bank of the UAE revoked its ins. license over continued non-compliance with licensing requirements.

This is Bildco's third acquisition outside building materials in under a year. In December 2025, Bildco acquired Arabian Nights Village, a tourist camp operator, by issuing AED 1.2 bn in new shares plus an AED 931 mn reserve in exchange for a contribution of roughly 36 mn sqm of land — not cash. In July 2026, it completed a 50% takeover of Dubai-based food trader AG Group, which runs 22 warehouses and a 351-vehicle fleet for clients including Emirates Flight Catering and Majid Al Futtaim, with terms undisclosed. It has also moved into new investment and AI ventures while pursuing an engineering consultancy stake.

What’s next? Al Khazna shareholders will vote on the proposal — which was already approved by the board of directors — at a general assembly on 18 September.

Social Support Authority in Abu Dhabi gets a new director general

Salwa Fouad Fadhel (LinkedIn) has been named director general of the Abu Dhabi Social Support Authority, replacing Abdulla Humaid Al Ameri, who’d held the role since 2021, according to a statement. The appointment came via a resolution from the Abu Dhabi Executive Council. The authority oversees social welfare and financial support programs for UAE nationals in the emirate.

BACKGROUND- Fadhel joins from the Abu Dhabi Executive Office, where she served as executive director of the Government Operations Sector.

Abu Dhabi exploring joint AI lab with US research institutions to test quantum computing on water and power problems

Abu Dhabi is deepening its US energy-tech ties. The Department of Energy (DoE) signed a series of MoUs with US regulatory and academic partners covering electricity and water regulation, network modernization, AI, and advanced technologies, according to an Abu Dhabi Media Office statement. It also explored setting up an AI-powered laboratory with international research institutions to test energy and water solutions, including quantum computing, forecasting, and resource management.

ICYMI- The policy backdrop is getting friendlier, too: Washington eased some export controls on advanced AI chips and energy-related equipment last month.

What Bitcoin’s 22% week says about fiscal dominance

BTC closed Friday up 22% on the week at USD 76,944, its strongest weekly performance since March 2024. Ethereum gained 8%, XRP climbed 19%, and crypto-linked equities ripped — Strategy up 29%, Coinbase 25%, and Robinhood 13%. The mechanical drivers were a USD 2.7 bn short squeeze and White House momentum on the Clarity Act, but the structural driver runs deeper.

The rally began Wednesday, hours after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the department would at least double bond buybacks. Yields dropped, then rebounded within 48 hours. BTC kept rallying. The decoupling — crypto surging while the sovereign bond selloff resumed — is where the argument sits.

Institutional voices are naming what happened: VanEck’s digital assets research head framed the Treasury intervention as reigniting fears of “fiscal dominance”, the condition in which fiscal authority effectively sets monetary conditions and the central bank accommodates. 21shares senior strategist Matt Mena told Fortune-syndicated coverage the market read the intervention as “a quiet form of quantitative easing, a move that weakens the USD and sends scarce, debasement-hedge assets like [BTC] higher.” Investing.com’s read of the flow data was blunter: “a Treasury doubling repurchases of its own long-dated paper while the annual deficit runs USD 2.1 tn and total debt approaches USD 40 tn reads to a large slice of the market as debt monetization wearing a liquidity-management costume.”

Spot BTC ETFs recorded their largest daily inflow since May on Thursday, with BlackRock taking 83% of the USD 606 mn that entered. Four consecutive days of net inflows is the first flow breakout of 2026 that has aligned with a price breakout. The pattern that has been missing since spring showed up in the same week the Treasury Secretary’s toolkit publicly failed.

Why this matters for our region: The UAE has built the most sophisticated crypto regulatory infrastructure among major economies through Vara, ADGM, and the DIFC framework. Bahrain has been aggressively positioning itself as a digital asset hub since 2019 through the CBB’s regulatory sandbox. Saudi Arabia has crypto-adjacent exposure through PIF vehicles. When institutional research notes are arguing the fiscal sustainability hedge has become an asset class, the GCC is the only regional bloc with the regulatory infrastructure to trade it institutionally at scale. Egypt has approached crypto more cautiously, leaving Egyptian institutional investors with the analytical exposure but limited operational access.

The honest counter: Bespoke’s David McCarthy told Bloomberg that “gold carries this week’s real macro signal: it rallied cleanly on the Treasury doubling its bond-buying operations, with none of the forced buying that inflated [BTC]’s price. If you’re looking for where investors are actually hedging against currency and inflation risk this week, gold shows it, and [BTC] doesn’t.” Gold hit its highest level since May in the same window. Token Bay Capital’s Lucy Gazmararian told CNBC the crypto bear market may need “one final flush” before a sustained recovery.

Bottom line: The 22% week either marks the moment institutional capital started treating digital assets as a fiscal sustainability hedge, or it fades as a short squeeze amplified by regulatory news. The test is Warsh’s Jackson Hole speech Friday. A Fed signaling accommodation of Treasury pressure confirms the fiscal dominance frame. A Warsh pushback against political interference removes the rally’s structural anchor. For the Gulf sovereign complex, the calibration question is whether digital assets belong in the same portfolio conversation as gold and long-duration Treasuries by year-end. This week’s data says yes.

(** Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to our background as well as external sources.)

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets were mixed in early trading, with Japan’s Nikkei gaining 0.1% and South Korea’s Kospi down 1.1%. Investors held off on major moves as they await more information on incoming US sanctions against Iran, expected later in the trading session. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.2%.

ADX	10,004	-0.7% (YTD: +0.1%)
DFM	5,857	+0.3% (YTD: -3.2%)
Nasdaq Dubai UAE20	4,832	-0.3% (YTD: -1.1%)
USD : AED CBUAE	Buy 3.67	Sell 3.67
EIBOR	3.5% o/n	4.2% 1 yr
TASI	11,079	+1.1% (YTD: +5.6%)
EGX30	55,350	+1.1% (YTD: +32.3%)
S&P 500	7,674	+0.4% (YTD: +12.1%)
FTSE 100	10,817	+0.6% (YTD: +8.9%)
Euro Stoxx 50	6,462	+0.6% (YTD: +11.5%)
Brent crude	USD 93.70	-0.7%
Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 2.74	-1.2%
Gold	USD 4,672	-0.2%
BTC	USD 77,627	+0.9% (YTD: -11.4%)
Lunate JP Morgan UAE Bond UCITS ETF	AED 3.60	+1.1% (YTD: -4.0%)
S&P MENA Bond & Sukuk	150.64	-0.2% (YTD: -0.8%)
VIX (Volatility Index)	15.13	-5.5% (YTD: +1.2%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The ADX fell 0.7% on Friday on turnover of AED 794.6 mn. The index is up 0.1% YTD.

In the green: Dhafra Ins. (+14.9%), Al Khaleej Investment (+13%), and Emirates Ins. (+12.7%).

In the red: Oman & Emirates Investment Holding (-5%), Lulu Retail Holdings (-2.4%), and International Holding Company (-1.9%).

Over on the DFM, the index rose 0.3% on turnover of AED 476.1 mn. Meanwhile, Nasdaq Dubai fell 0.3%.

CALENDAR

SEPTEMBER

1-3 September (Tuesday-Thursday): Middle East Energy, Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai.

7-9 September (Monday-Wednesday): AIM Congress, Dubai World Trade Center.

7-9 September (Monday-Wednesday): International Property Show, Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai.

12-13 September (Saturday-Sunday): Emirates International Congress on AI & Visionary Leadership in Transforming Healthcare, Adnec Center Abu Dhabi.

14-17 September (Monday-Thursday): Arabian Travel Market, Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai.

15-16 September (Tuesday-Wednesday): Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

17-19 September (Thursday-Saturday): International Real Estate & Investment Show (IREIS), Adnec, Abu Dhabi.

29-30 September (Tuesday-Wednesday): AFCM Annual Conference, Abu Dhabi.

OCTOBER

4-10 October (Sunday-Saturday): World Space Week, Abu Dhabi.

5-7 October (Monday-Wednesday): AI Everything Global, Adnec Center, Abu Dhabi.

12-14 October (Monday-Wednesday): Airport Show, Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai.

14-15 October (Wednesday-Thursday): Sharjah Investment Forum, Jawaher Reception and Convention Center, Sharjah.

13-15 October (Tuesday-Thursday): Annual Meeting of Global Future Leaders, Dubai.

20-22 October (Tuesday-Thursday): Future Health Summit, Adnec Center Abu Dhabi.

21 October (Wednesday): Reuters NEXT Gulf, St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Abu Dhabi.

27-28 October (Tuesday-Wednesday): Arab Competition Forum, Dubai.

27-28 October (Tuesday-Wednesday): Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

30 October (Friday): Large businesses achieving annual revenues equal to or above AED 50 mn must appoint an accredited service provider for e-invoicing implementation.

Signposted to happen sometime in October 2026:

Abu Dhabi Space Week, Abu Dhabi.

NOVEMBER

2-6 November (Monday-Friday): Dubai Future Finance Week, Dubai.

4 November (Wednesday): Digital Transformation Summit, Sofitel, Abu Dhabi.

9-10 November (Monday-Tuesday): Annual government meetings, Abu Dhabi.

9-12 November (Monday-Thursday): EMEA Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education Conference, Dubai College of Tourism, Dubai.

10-12 November (Tuesday-Thursday): Dubai International Electric Vehicle Exhibition & Conference, Dubai World Trade Center.

16-18 November (Monday-Wednesday): World Police Summit, Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai.

18-19 November (Wednesday-Thursday): Touchdown Middle East 2026, Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi.

25-26 November (Saturday-Sunday): Doers Summit, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai.

DECEMBER

2-4 December (Wednesday-Friday): UN Water Conference, UAE.

4-6 December (Friday-Sunday): Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Abu Dhabi.

8-9 December (Tuesday-Wednesday): Capital Market Summit, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.

8-9 December (Tuesday-Wednesday): Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

7-10 December (Monday-Thursday): Abu Dhabi Finance Week, Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi.

8-10 December (Tuesday-Thursday): Abu Dhabi Water & Power Week, Adnec Center, Abu Dhabi.

8-10 December (Tuesday-Thursday) Middle East & North Africa Business Aviation Association Show, DWC, Dubai Airshow Site.

Signposted to happen sometime in 2027:

1 January: Deadline for large businesses to implement e-invoicing;
1Q 2027: Completion of the first phase of Hassyan seawater desalination project;
1-3 February (Monday-Wednesday): World Governments Summit;
31 March: Small businesses with annual revenues of less than AED 50 mn are obliged to contract with an accredited service provider for e-invoicing implementation;
31 March: Government entities are required to appoint an accredited service provider for e-invoicing implementation;
21-22 April (Wednesday-Thursday): Token2049, Dubai;
1 July: Deadline for small businesses to implement e-invoicing;
1 October: Deadline for governments to implement e-invoicing;
Abu Dhabi’s solar and battery energy facility, combining 5.2 GW of solar capacity and 19 GWh of battery storage, is set for commissioning.

Signposted to happen sometime in 2028:

Artificial Intelligence Summit.

Signposted to happen sometime in 2029:

Sibos 2029 organized by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), Dubai;
Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, Abu Dhabi;
The commissioning of the seventh phase of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

Sections

About

Privacy & Support