Opportunities and risks in finance as the Gulf adapts to a multi-polar world

Guest speaker: UK Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade, Lord Johnson of Lainston CBE

The Gulf monarchies are a major source of investment into global financial centres and a magnet for those looking for opportunities to operate in some of the world’s most significant growth economies.

Our London invitation-only meeting will bring together an informed audience from a range of backgrounds to discuss critical trends in the Gulf monarchies, as a new generation of leaders take their countries in sometimes radical new directions, and old alliances and perceived certainties are called into question.

A changed political, social and business environment

Superpower rivalries have shifted, in places leaving the Gulf states to realign their political and business interests.

The result is a new set of opportunities and risks that may be difficult to decipher in a multi-polar world whose emergence has coincided with a concentration of power within the region’s ruling elites.

The editorial board of Gulf States Newsletter (GSN) and chosen guests will be discussing the following questions under the Chatham House Rule to allow for free and frank discussion:

Continuity and change — what has really changed in the Gulf monarchies?

• How have younger generation leaders changed the way Gulf polities are ruled and their social compacts are transacted?
• Who are the people now making decisions about money, resources and global strategic alliances? (Have networks of talent spread wider or are other forces at work?)

Beyond the middlemen – what and who do investors need to know to deal with emerging leaderships?

• How has the concentration of power in many jurisdictions affected business relations (with ruling groups, merchant families etc)?
• Is there a model emerging for new-style ‘monarcho- technocrat conglomerates’?
• Is there a grand plan for business and economic management as the energy transition unfolds?

Risk management – what macro issues do you need to worry about as you forge relationships in the region?

• We tend to assume that ‘money is no object’: is that a dangerous assumption?
• Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues that may weigh on your deal.