Analysis: Saudi Arabia eyes Dubai's crown with HQ ultimatum | Reuters
Saudi Arabia has ratcheted up the stakes in an intensifying competition with neighbouring Dubai for foreign talent and money.
From 2024, the Saudi government will stop giving state contracts to companies and commercial institutions that base their Middle East hubs in any other country in the region, the Saudi finance minister told Reuters.
The measure is the latest attempt by the kingdom, one of the world’s most conservative countries, to remould itself as a financial and tourism hub under the leadership of de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
But challenging the dominance of Dubai, based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as the region’s commercial and financial capital will not be easy. With little of the oil wealth of its neighbours, it has built its economy on its open-for-business credentials and the promise of a glitzy lifestyle for well-heeled expatriates.
“It’s a further challenge to UAE business, especially Dubai, though the superior operating environment, legal environment and facilities (there) suggests that businesses may continue to have offices across the region,” said Rachel Ziemba, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank.
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