Business Extra

New US tariffs are coming into effect this week. US President Donald Trump's newest deadline of August 1 is his latest attempt to secure trade agreements with vital global economies – and bring in more revenue for the US. Take Monday’s deal between the US and the EU. They avoided a trade war by agreeing that the EU would pay 15 per cent tariffs on most goods – half the rate that Mr Trump had threatened. But other big shifts are also taking place. US tariffs are pushing international exporters to find more reliable trade partners, and countries in the Middle East are stepping up to the plate. On this episode of Business Extra, host Salim Essaid hears from Simon Evennet, a professor of geopolitics and strategy at the IMD business school in Stockholm, to understand what this means for the region. Editor’s note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our two-minute listener survey. Click here [https://surveys.thenationalnews.com/podcastsurvey25?typeform-source=www.thenationalnews.com].

Crypto has reached a critical moment in its history. The US released a slew of game-changing bills for cryptocurrency last week, signalling a long-anticipated seal of approval of crypto from the world’s largest economy. Those bills are the Clarity Act, something called the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, and – the Genius Act, which is what we are focusing on today. It is all expected to have major implications for the Middle East, which has already established its own level of crypto adoption. On this episode of Business Extra, host Salim Essaid hears from two experts; Naeem Aslam, CIO at Zaye Capital Markets in London, and Ola Doudin, CEO of UAE-based cryptocurrency exchange BitOasis. Editor’s note: We want to hear from you! Help us improve our podcasts by taking our two-minute listener survey. Click here [https://surveys.thenationalnews.com/podcastsurvey25?typeform-source=www.thenationalnews.com].

A whole new property market is to open up to international buyers and it is from the Middle East’s largest economy. Starting in January 2026, Saudi Arabia will allow foreign investors to buy property in the kingdom. It has left global investors eager to find out how they can tap into Saudi Arabia’s fast growing real estate market, which is expected to reach more than $94 billion by 2028. But how easy will it be for a foreign investor to buy property in the kingdom? Will there be a language barrier? Are the kingdom’s regulatory systems able to work with foreign buyers yet? We explore these questions and more on this episode of Business Extra, where host Salim A Essaid hears from Faisal Durrani, a partner and head of research for the Middle East and North Africa at Knight Frank Middle East.

The absence of income tax has helped to attract people from around the world to move to the Gulf. But one country is set to change direction. Oman recently announced it will be the first country in the region to introduce personal income tax. While some countries, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have other types of taxes, such as VAT, on most goods and services, Oman is making history with a levy on personal income. The tax is not set to take effect until 2028, but it has already raised questions about whether other Gulf states will follow suit. Deepthi Nair, Assistant Business Editor, discusses the subject with David Daly, a partner at the Gulf Tax Accounting Group in the UAE.

For decades, most Emiratis have worked in government roles. But now, thousands are joining private companies as part of a nationwide plan to balance the workforce. Early iterations of Emiratisation began in the 1990s, with programmes formalised in the early 2000s. About three years ago, the UAE gradually implemented quotas for hiring Emiratis and gave private-sector companies deadlines to meet them. Now, those deadlines continue to come up. In this episode of Business Extra, host Salim hears from our own Ali Al Shouk and Ben Crompton of Crompton Partners on Emiratisation, how it’s affecting companies, and what it means for the future of work in the UAE.