Gulf

1. Gulf diplomacy on Ukraine...
2. …and inertia on Gaza
3. GE’s Doha, Dubai expansion
4. Kuwait tackles inefficiency
5. Six Flags coming to Riyadh

Elon Musk’s Boring plans for Dubai.

Saudi, UAE vie for Ukraine talks

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are positioning themselves to host talks aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war as US President Donald Trump pushes for a resolution. Trump has signaled Saudi Arabia as a likely venue to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, citing both leaders’ strong ties with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “We know the crown prince, and I think it’d be a very good place to be,” Trump said.

The UAE — which has brokered several prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine — has pitched itself as the host for a potential peace summit between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Reuters reported. Riyadh has also facilitated prisoner swaps, with the crown prince playing an “instrumental” role in securing the release of American detainee Marc Fogel from Russia, according to the US special envoy to the Middle East.

While the Gulf is eager to engage in Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine, they are pushing back against his Gaza plans. This week, Saudi state media attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the kingdom has “a lot of territory” and should host a Palestinian state.

Analysis: Arab states reel from Trump blitz

Arab states still lack an alternative to President Donald Trump’s proposal to take over Gaza, UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba said — highlighting the strain the president’s shifting foreign policy is placing on US partners, Al Arabiya’s Chief International Anchor Hadley Gamble writes in a Semafor column.

“It’s not only that Trump’s plan ignores the impact an influx of more than two million Palestinian refugees would have on Egypt and Jordan, two countries the US has spent decades stabilizing,” Gamble wrote. “It also sidelines the region’s role in determining its own destiny. While Israel can’t allow a future terrorist threat from Gaza, the US’ closest allies in the region also can’t absorb the instability this plan would create.”

GE Aerospace bets big on Gulf aviation

Aircraft engine maker GE Aerospace is investing $10 million to expand its operations in Doha and Dubai. The company plans to boost its workforce at its maintenance facilities in the two cities by 30%, aiming to provide better servicing for the GE9X engine, of which more than 750 are currently in use in the region. The Middle East leads globally in orders of the advanced engine, led by Gulf states’ continued push to grow their carriers. Airlines in the region generate the highest profit per passenger worldwide — $21.10 in 2024, nearly triple the global average, according to the International Air Transport Association. That number is expected to climb to $23.90 in 2025.

Kuwait takes aim at project delays

The percentage of projects behind schedule in Kuwait. The country is cracking down on chronic project delays with a new four-year plan aimed at streamlining approvals and tackling bureaucratic inefficiencies. The government will now hold departments accountable through key performance indicators, AGBI reported, requiring them to report project timelines and budgets directly to the cabinet. State-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp. will lead efforts to resolve contractor payment delays in the oil sector. The country has long lagged behind its Gulf peers in public spending efficiency, according to a UN report.

Six Flags to run Qiddiya parks

Six Flags is coming to Saudi Arabia. Qiddiya Investment Co., the Public Investment Fund-backed sports and entertainment hub, appointed the US company to operate two major theme parks set to open this year: Six Flags Qiddiya City, home to Falcon’s Flight — which will be the world’s tallest, fastest, and longest roller coaster — and Aquarabia Water Theme Park. The $9.8 billion Qiddiya City is part of Saudi’s Vision 2030 giga-projects, aimed to boost tourism and diversify the economy. While the kingdom still has a way to go to meet its 70 million annual visitor target, attractions like Qiddiya are expected to accelerate growth.

Venture Capital

• AppliedAI, an Abu Dhabi software company that automates processes like medical billing and insurance claims, raised $55 million in Series A financing. Abu Dhabi’s AI firm G42 led the round — other investors include Palantir, Bessemer Venture Partners, McKinsey, and Accrete Capital.
• Buy-now-pay-later platform Tabby is now the Middle East’s most valuable fintech after raising $160 million in a Series E round at a valuation of $3.3 billion. The Riyadh-based company plans to enhance its digital payments and management tools as it prepares for an IPO.
• Qatar Investment Authority made a “multimillion-dollar investment” in UTOPIA Capital Management, a London-based firm focused on tech startups in emerging and frontier markets. UTOPIA will establish its Middle East headquarters in Doha. The investment is part of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund’s $1 billion program to develop the country’s startup and venture capital ecosystem.

Of all the companies Elon Musk oversees, The Boring Company makes the fewest headlines. But during his appearance at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, he put it in the spotlight. The Boring Company, which operates a tunnel network in Las Vegas using autonomous electric vehicles, plans to build a similar system in Dubai. The pilot phase will have 11 stations, moving up to 20,000 passengers per hour at speeds of up to 160 kph.

“It’s going to seem so obvious in retrospect, but until you actually do it, you don’t know. It’s going to be great,” Musk said. “You just wormhole from one part of the city, boom, and you’re out in another spot.”

Dubai and other Gulf cities are exploring all options to ease traffic congestion, from rail to passenger drones. Tunnels are the next frontier, but not everyone is convinced. It’s “a bunch of Teslas running in asphalted metro tunnels and stations,” a transport consultant told The National. “Why not build an underground metro instead?”

US President Donald Trump’s constant blitz of executive orders and actions is quickly becoming a defining feature of his second time in office — and his allies say that’s by design, telling Semafor’s Shelby Talcott and Burgess Everett they planned for this during both the transition and over the last four years, when Joe Biden was in office.

“It’s blitzing as much as we can until everyone is just tired,” one Trump aide said. But the “flood the zone” strategy, as Steve Bannon dubbed it, is disorienting for lawmakers. Democrats are once again reacting as Trump dominates the news cycle, and some Republicans are unnerved by the speed at which the president is operating.