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Climate goals: Ahead of the COP28 climate talks in Dubai, the UAE has set out a national action plan to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 – while also remaining a world-leading oil producer.

China LNG deals: QatarEnergy has been lining up long-term sales contracts for its major North Field developments. It signed a deal on 4 November to sell 3m t/yr of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) over 27 years from the North Field South (NFS) expansion project. This followed a string of similar deals with European energy majors

Economic slump: The economy shrank by 4.5% year on year in Q3 2023, a sharp change from the 1.2% expansion reported in Q2 23. It was the first decline in real GDP since the start of Q1 21 and was entirely due to a slump in the oil and gas sector, where activity contracted by 17.3% yr/yr due to voluntary production cuts.

KIO allegations: Finance minister Fahd Al-Jarallah has referred the Kuwait Investment Authority’s London outpost, the Kuwait Investment Office (KIO), to the public prosecutor over a series of alleged offences including the illegal disclosure of confidential information between 2018-22. The move was announced by the Ministry of Finance on 16 October.

Gas privatisation: Shares in state energy firm OQ’s gas pipelines business OQ Gas Network (OQGN) began trading on the Muscat Stock Exchange on 24 October. OQGN had raised OR288m ($750m) in its initial public offering of 49% of its shares, making it Oman’s largest IPO, ahead of previous front-runner Oman Telecoms Company, which floated in 2005.

Turkish attacks: Türkiye (Turkey) launched a sustained aerial bombardment of Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) bases in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) in early October, following a suicide bombing at the Ministry of Interior building in Ankara on the opening day of the month, a few hours ahead of the reopening of the Turkish parliament after a three-month summer recess.

Saladin governor warrant: An arrest warrant was issued by Iraq's Federal Commission of Integrity against a former governor of Saladin province, following accusations of corruption involving contracts for water services in the area. A statement by the commission on 7 October said the warrant had been issued under Article 331 of the Penal Code.

Grundberg diplomacy: United Nations special envoy Hans Grundberg has been meeting senior figures around the region, in an effort to inject new momentum into the peace process. He was in Riyadh on 9 August where he met Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) head Rashad Al-Alimi, Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik, foreign minister Ahmed Bin Mubarak and Saudi ambassador to Yemen Mohamed Al-Jaber. The following week, Grundberg was in Muscat for talks with Foreign Ministry undersecretary Khalifa Al-Harthy and Houthi chief negotiator Mohammed Abdel Salam.

G20 summit: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was a prominent figure at the G20 summit in New Delhi on 9/10 September. He held talks with a series of other leaders, including India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Dubai economic recovery gives emirate upgrade: The number of visitors to Dubai surpassed pre-Covid levels in H1 2023, marking the vital tourism sector’s full recovery and prompting a change in GSN’s economic risk grade for the emirate, with the previous downward economic indicator removed. Data from the Department of Economy and Tourism in early August showed a record 8.55m international overnight visitors in H1 23, compared to 8.36m in H1 19.

Slowing growth: The UAE economy grew by 3.8% in Q1 2023, compared to Q1 22, according to Federal Centre for Competitiveness and Statistics data issued in early August. GDP was AED418.3bn ($113.9bn) in the January-March period, when non-oil GDP expanded by 4.5%.

Political upgrade: It may seem not the most opportune moment to remove the downwards negative trend arrow from Saudi Arabia’s ‘B’ political risk rating – coming amid more speculation that King Salman Bin Abdelaziz’s health is fading and with the International Monetary Fund giving the kingdom its “steepest growth downgrade among major economies”, as Bloomberg put it on 25 July, and longer-term investment plans in question.

A decade in power: Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani marked his tenth anniversary as ruler on 25 June. He took over aged 33, after his father (now ‘father emir’) Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani chose to step down voluntarily – if under international pressure over his foreign policy – telling Qataris it was time for a new generation to take over.

Hydrogen economy plays: Underlining Oman’s determination to be a first mover in the predicted new global hydrogen economy – an apparent cornerstone of Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said’s more progressive economic policy – energy and minerals minister Salim Al-Aufi signed agreements for two green hydrogen (GH2) projects on 21 June.

Audit chief resigns: State Audit Bureau (SAB) president Faisal Al-Shaye resigned on 6 July, citing political interference in his work. A number of members of the recently elected National Assembly including Hamad Al-Mudlej had called on Al-Shaye to resign or be sacked over unspecified violations and mismanagement.