Industrial Excellence: a Key Pillar for 2026 Growth

To reverse a years of compromising total factor productivity, regional labour market policy is moving from easy task development to handling active labor force transitions. Federal governments and companies are scaling short, modular training programmes and micro-credentials in information analytics and digital operations to gear up employees for emerging roles. Workplace-based learning and apprenticeship-style pathways are becoming more typical as companies incorporate AI tools into everyday workflows.

With oil rates anticipated to average $55-60 per barrel in 2026, local governments are intensifying their focus on expenditure discipline and private capital mobilisation. Fiscal policy is rotating towards the monetisation of state-owned properties in logistics, utilities, and desalination to reroute funds toward higher-impact investments. While borrowing via sukuk and sustainability-linked bonds is expected to increase to money tactical deficits, the focus remains on strengthening non-oil earnings frameworks.

PwC Middle East economic policy and technique partner Jing Teow said: "Having already mobilised capital and policy at scale, GCC governments are now concentrated on shipment. In 2026, the priority is enhancing financial durability through more secure trade and financial investment relationships, efficient AI implementation, managed workforce shifts and disciplined financial policy in a more difficult and fragmented international environment.".

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Saudi Arabia and UAE are poised to lead the Gulf region's financial growth in 2026, supported by strong private-sector performance, resistant domestic demand and renewed financial investment momentum, according to the current ICAEW Economic Insight Q4 2025 report, produced by Oxford Economics. The GCC is expected to surpass most global areas peers next year, with local GDP projection to grow by 4.4%. Across the GCC, non-energy activity is forecasted to expand by 4.1% in 2026, driven by strong labour markets, enhancing credit conditions and rising financial investment in innovation and AI-related facilities.

Oil earnings will be under pressure in the very first half of 2026, production is anticipated to rise once again in the 2nd half of 2026, supporting the region's medium-term outlook, it mentioned. Saudi Arabia will stay a major contributor to GCC momentum, with GDP projection to grow 4.3% in 2026.

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Key Steps for Industrial Excellence in the GCC

Development will be supported by commercial expansion and policy reforms, including reduced foreign ownership rules that intend to stimulate more financial investment. The financial deficit is predicted to expand to 5.6% of GDP next year amid softer oil prices, while the recent five-year lease freeze in Riyadh aims to ease inflationary pressures, though it might constrain future housing supply.

Strong domestic fundamentalsThe UAE is also placed for another strong year of efficiency, with GDP forecast to rise 5.6% in 2026 as non-oil sectors continue to broaden. Tourist, trade and monetary services remain essential development drivers, supported by population growth and sustained domestic demand. Dubai's economy grew 4.4% in the very first half of 2025, showing broad-based non-oil strength.

ANSR July GCC PRs 50DR+

Oil production is anticipated to get again in the second half of 2026, matching continuous investment in infrastructure, innovation and global trade collaborations. Hanadi Khalife, the Head of Middle East, ICAEW, said: "This quarter's outlook reinforces how far the GCC has come in building diverse, durable and internationally competitive economies.

Scott Livermore, ICAEW Economic Advisor, and Chief Economist and Handling Director, Oxford Economics Middle East, said: "Saudi Arabia and the UAE are going into 2026 with strong foundations. Saudi non-oil activity is acquiring pace, supported by robust need and rising investment, even as fiscal pressures increase.""The UAE continues to benefit from strong domestic principles, a sharp uplift in government costs and continual diversity efforts.

Essential Tips for Operational Excellence in Dubai

What differentiates 2026 from preceding years is not merely the acceleration of technological change, though that velocity is genuine, but rather an essential shift in how enterprises envisage their GCCs' function. The is expected to grow to 4 hundred thirteen billion dollars by 2040, but this growth masks a more profound change.

Rather, they ask whether these centers drive innovation, own profit-and-loss obligation, and add to competitive differentiation. In 2026, the most successful GCCs will act like internal startups, nimble, cross-functional, insight-driven, and deeply lined up with international company outcomes. This shift from execution to ownership represents maybe the single most significant tactical recalibration in the GCC model's evolution.

This week, we're convening more than 3000 meetings in between investors and 119 Gulf-listed companies with a combined worth of $2.4 trillion at the HSBC GCC Exchanges Conference 2026, in London. We're combining financiers, companies, exchanges, and policymakers to discuss what is changing in the area, and what follows, including the expansion and continuous advancement of the Gulf's capital markets, and the area's growing function in global networks of capital and trade.