The Middle East is an important site of early settled agriculture, and the centre of origin and diversity of several major cereal and legume crops, and of the early domestication of sheep and goats, but due to the severe harsh environment, The MENA region is generally characterized by food shortage in most of the food commodities.

The MENA region is a difficult environment for agriculture. Land and water are scarce, and both rain-fed and irrigated land in use suffer from ongoing degradation caused by wind and water erosion and unsustainable farming practices. In most countries, farms are quite small.

Furthermore, the region is predicted to become hotter and drier in the future due to climate change. The demand for food is constantly increasing, driven by high population growth and an increase in the income of the middle class. Therefore, the demand on imported food and beverages products will be always in big demand, which consists in some countries around 90% of total food bill; therefore, countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia have started implementing new food security strategies for better utilization of agricultural resources, using new agriculture technologies such as vertical farming, and having favourable policies, which started to transform and stimulate the agricultural sector in MENA.

The Middle East and Africa region’s food basket was valued at USD380 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 33% during the period 2022-2027. The rise in the purchasing power of millennials and a significant proportion of the affluent population in these countries, it will attract more foreign players to launch their food products in the region.

The Middle East North Africa region and particularly the GCC countries have emerged as a key market for FMCG products. The growing middle-class population, high urbanization rates, and expanding retail infrastructure and increase number of tourists in countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia have fuelled the demand for consumer goods. Moreover, the young and digitally-savvy population in the region is driving the adoption of e-commerce platforms for FMCG purchases, presenting new opportunities for both local and global players.

The GCC is very attractive for consumer-packaged goods manufacturers, as governments in the GCC are generally stable and accustomed to business interests. In addition, more than 60 free economic zones, known as free zones or special economic zones, provide business incentives that include tax exemptions and modern infrastructure.

The UAE E-commerce sector witnessed significant growth in recent years, which has been actively supported by the government’s pro-innovation initiatives with the aim of positioning the UAE as a regional E-commerce hub. As the UAE embraces the digital era, eCommerce will continue to revolutionize the retail landscape, offering businesses and consumers new opportunities, convenience, and access to a wide range of products and services, where the recent COVID19 pandemic transformed online retail and purchasing behaviour towards safer cashless payment adoption, with the number of online shoppers consistently increasing.

The MENA region, and particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), are leading the region in decarbonizing their power grids and seek regional and international leadership roles in the new energy world.

Dubai Government driven as part of its objective to push for net zero by 2050 and is in line with the goals of COP28, has recently inaugurated the world's largest concentrated solar park project in Dubai, as the emirate continues its push to clean energy. The project is part of the US$4.3 billion fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, which covers an area of 44 square kilometres and has a capacity of 950 megawatts. The fourth phase will provide about 320,000 houses with clean energy and reduce carbon emissions by about 1.6 million tonnes annually.

Under Vision 2030, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia launched the Saudi Green Initiative in 2021. This initiative seeks to unite environmental protection, energy transition and sustainability programs to offset emissions, increase the Kingdom's use of clean energy and address climate change.

Through the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI), Saudi Arabia aims to bring together regional stakeholders to collectively achieve more than a 60% reduction in emissions from regional hydrocarbon production. The MGI target to reduce emissions by 670 million tons of CO2e constitutes the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) from all countries in the region. This represented 10% of global contributions at the time the target was announced in 2021. To achieve this, MGI will facilitate collaboration at the highest levels of government to enable businesses and civil society to scale up carbon capture, invest in the green economy and encourage innovation and growth in renewables.

Saudi Arabia is undergoing a significant economic shift, focusing on diversifying its economy away from oil and gas by developing its untapped mineral resources. This presents exciting opportunities within the country’s mining industry.

The mining sector under Vision 2030 indicated to be the third pillar of the country’s industry which is estimated to be worth of USD$ 2.5 trillion; therefore, opportunities in exploration, mining equipment and technology services are on high demand.

The MENA region especially the UAE, Saudi Arabia , Qatar, Kuwait and Oman have recognized the importance of education and research and has taken several steps to support it, by increasing research funding and establishing world-class universities, as well as attracting vocational training to serve as a viable alternative to traditional academia.

As outlined by the Human Capacity Development Program (HCDP), a key educational and human capital pillar of the Vision 2030 strategy, it is essential that Saudi professionals can develop and practise the skills needed to compete at a global level. This in turn will help Saudi Arabia’s shift to a more knowledge-based economy.

Saudi Arabia ranked first globally in Technical and Vocational Education and Training based on Global Knowledge Index 2022.