Global maritime trade is being reshaped by geopolitical tensions, climate pressures, changing trade policies and shifting manufacturing hubs, increasing the need for more flexible shipping and logistics networks, DP World said in a new whitepaper.

More than 80 per cent of world merchandise trade by volume is transported by sea, while maritime networks carry an estimated $14tn worth of containerised goods, the Dubai-based ports and logistics operator said.

Its whitepaper, Navigating the Future of Maritime Trade, published to mark World Maritime Day 2026, said disruption to established trade routes was becoming more structural, rather than episodic, as tariffs, manufacturing shifts and geopolitical tensions alter cargo flows.

DP World said businesses increasingly require alternative routes and gateways to reduce their exposure when major trade corridors are disrupted, creating a bigger role for feeder, coastal and shortsea shipping services.

Those services, when integrated with rail, road and inland waterways, can connect emerging manufacturing centres and regional ports to major international trade lanes while providing alternative options when established routes are affected, it said.

“With more than 80 per cent of world merchandise trade by volume transported by sea, agility and the ability to adapt are becoming essential to business confidence and growth. A key part of this is optimising what we call ‘Connected Trade Corridors’, building more choice and adaptability into the system by linking ports, marine services and inland logistics so cargo has alternative routes when conditions shift. The first generation of global trade connected markets. The next must connect those markets through smarter, more adaptable networks,” said Ganesh Raj, global chief operating officer of Marine Services at DP World.

The company said global trade was being reconfigured rather than reversing. Its 2026 Global Trade Observatory found that 94 per cent of more than 3,500 supply chain and logistics executives surveyed expected trade growth this year to match or exceed 2025 levels.

Manufacturing is also becoming more geographically dispersed, with India, Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa taking larger roles in global production, according to the whitepaper.

That shift is contributing to stronger trade flows between developing economies. DP World said merchandise exports between developing economies had risen from about $500bn in 1995 to $8.8tn in 2025, while more than half of developing-country exports now go to other developing markets.

The changing geography of production is creating new regional shipping patterns and increasing demand for stronger links between local ports, regional networks and major global trade corridors, the company said.

DP World’s Marine Services network connects more than 200 ports across Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, supported by a fleet of more than 500 vessels.

The company said the next phase of maritime trade would increasingly depend on the resilience and flexibility of networks connecting regional and global trade corridors, rather than on established shipping routes alone.

A boardroom rupture at India’s Tata Sons, where the controlling charity arm says it is unable to assert its rights, is rippling across India Inc, with founders and investors studying the fine print of their shareholder pacts to avoid the same fate.

The 158-year-old electronics-to-retail Tata empire operates in over 100 countries. It owns brands like Air India, Tetley tea and Jaguar Land Rover, runs Indian joint ventures with Starbucks and Inditex’s Zara, and makes parts for Tesla and Apple, so the fight for control has ramifications well beyond India.

This month, the six-member board of Tata Sons, the group’s holding company, reappointed chairman N. Chandrasekaran despite objections from the Noel Tata-led Tata Trusts, the charity arm that owns 66 per cent of the conglomerate. During the September 17 meeting, the charity’s boss Noel Tata also argued against Tata Sons’ potential stock market listing, but the board overruled him.

The charity has publicly lashed out, saying the internal governance rules explicitly state that Noel Tata’s lone vote against any key decision is enough to sink it. Tata Sons disagrees, saying Noel lacked the support of the other trust nominee, and so the decision was taken on the basis of a simple majority.

The governance clash is raising the alarm among Indian companies about how far a board can go to overrule a majority shareholder.

Strategic investors, company owners and directors in sectors such as manufacturing, steel and textiles are reviewing their shareholder agreements to check they have enough protection to prevail if a boardroom battle erupts, according to nine lawyers and board directors.

“We have received multiple queries from business families and founders on the issue related to the management versus owners debate,” said Rajesh Narain Gupta, chairman of law firm SNG & Partners.

“It has raised a sense of insecurity and fear among owners.”

In one case, a Delhi-based lawyer who specialises in mergers and acquisitions, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said an Indian manufacturer and its European joint-venture partner were close to signing off on a shareholder agreement when the investor called a halt citing the Tata dispute, asking for extra safeguards.

The lawyer declined to name the companies due to confidentiality concerns.

The current dispute has prompted strategic investors and private equity funds who have veto rights in a company to check if they can be diluted if the boards read governance frameworks differently, said Parag Bhide, partner at Indian law firm Aquilaw.

“The question clients are asking is whether a board can proceed with a decision first and leave the shareholder to seek remedies later,” said Indian M&A lawyer Nitin Potdar, who has previously advised the Tata Group.

“Will the owner be the one who then has to run around for remedies?”

Founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868, the Tata Group is made up of 31 companies which had revenues of over $180bn last year. The group’s principal holding company is called Tata Sons, and 66 per cent of its equity share capital is held by the philanthropic arm, Tata Trusts.

Before becoming head of Tata Trusts, Noel Tata, who is the half-brother of family patriarch Ratan Tata who died in 2024, built Tata’s retail and trading businesses.

Tata Sons’ stated governance philosophy, published on its website, holds that companies must be run “not merely in the interests of their owners” but also for employees, customers, the local community and the country.

To be sure, Tata’s unique governance structure and the principles behind it are the exception to most Indian companies. And this is not the first time it has led to high-profile conflicts — in 2016, the then chairman was sacked after he fell out with Ratan Tata over corporate governance issues, triggering years of legal disputes.

“The stand-off at Tata Sons is a result of the Tata Trusts’ limited board representation (of two members),” said Umakanth Varottil, a professor at the National University of Singapore who specialises in corporate law and governance.

“That combination of majority ownership, limited board representation and divided nominee directors is unlikely to be replicated in many companies,” he added.

The Gulf’s economic transformation is presenting employers with a challenge that is becoming increasingly difficult to address through traditional talent-development approaches: the world of work is evolving faster than conventional education and workforce-preparation systems can respond.

Across the UAE and wider GCC, economies are becoming more diversified, technology-enabled and knowledge-intensive.

Businesses are adopting artificial intelligence, automation and new digital operating models while responding simultaneously to changing consumer expectations, sustainability imperatives and increasingly complex global markets.

For employers, the challenge is no longer simply where to find talent, but how to ensure that talent is equipped to contribute effectively in an environment where the nature of work itself is continually changing.

At this intersection, the relationship between business and academia needs to evolve.

Traditionally, discussions of employability have focused largely on what universities should do to prepare graduates for the workplace. That remains important, but it represents only part of the challenge. Universities alone cannot create a genuinely future-ready workforce, just as businesses cannot expect graduates to arrive fully formed with every capability required by a rapidly changing economy.

What is needed is a more dynamic relationship in which employers become active participants in the educational process, while universities become more deeply connected to the problems, possibilities and emerging demands of the economy.

From education to a shared talent ecosystem

The strongest corporate-academic relationships are therefore not defined by occasional internships, guest lectures or annual careers fairs. Their significance lies in creating a continuous exchange between the classroom and the workplace.

The frequency and form of that interaction will inevitably vary across sectors, but the principle is consistent: education should be informed by the world of work without becoming subordinate to it.

Most employers have a reasonably clear understanding of the capabilities they require today and increasingly sophisticated views about the skills and expertise they are likely to need over the medium to longer term.

Universities bring complementary strengths: disciplinary depth, academic rigour, research expertise, critical inquiry and a broader perspective on how knowledge and professions are evolving.

Neither perspective is sufficient in isolation. Industry sees the problems that need solving; academia contributes the intellectual frameworks through which those problems can be understood, interrogated and reframed.

The opportunity, therefore, is not simply to align curricula more closely with current employer requirements, but to create a dynamic interface between knowledge creation and knowledge application.

Industry can articulate emerging professional practices, real-world problems and changing capability requirements. Academia can subject these to research, theory and critical analysis, ensuring that education remains sufficiently grounded in practice while retaining the independence and intellectual ambition necessary to prepare graduates for a world that cannot yet be fully predicted.

This points to a more sophisticated conception of employability.

The objective is not merely to produce graduates who can perform effectively in their first job, but individuals who possess both the technical and professional capabilities to contribute immediately and the intellectual agility, adaptability and capacity for lifelong learning to remain effective as their roles evolve.

Industry consequently becomes more than a destination for graduates or a source of curriculum advice. It becomes a partner in defining authentic problems, creating experiential learning environments and testing the application of knowledge.

In return, universities offer businesses access not only to emerging talent, but also to research, new ideas and alternative ways of framing complex challenges.

The most productive intersection is therefore not one in which academia becomes more like industry, nor one in which industry dictates what universities should teach. It is one in which the two co-create learning, knowledge and innovation.

The distinction matters.

If education responds too closely to immediate employer demand, it risks becoming narrow and potentially obsolete. If it remains too detached from practice, it risks becoming disconnected from the realities graduates will encounter.

The challenge is to hold these tensions productively: to create graduates who are professionally relevant without being narrowly trained, academically grounded without being insulated from practice, and prepared not only to enter existing professions but also to influence how those professions develop.

From consultation to co-creation

Curriculum development provides one of the clearest opportunities to translate this principle into practice.

Too often, industry engagement begins once a programme has already been designed, with employers invited to comment on whether the curriculum reflects workplace requirements.

A more consequential model brings industry into the conversation much earlier, helping universities understand how occupations are changing, which capabilities are becoming more significant, where professional practice is heading and what kinds of problems graduates will increasingly be expected to address.

This should not, however, mean allowing short-term business requirements to determine academic provision.

Universities have a wider social and intellectual responsibility: to develop independent thinkers with the conceptual foundations, critical judgement and capacity to adapt across careers that may themselves be transformed by technological and economic change.

The objective is not to train students for a particular job, but to combine deep academic foundations with meaningful exposure to the complexity of professional practice.

This is where co-creation becomes more than a rhetorical ambition.

Students can work on live organisational challenges, engage directly with practitioners, analyse real-world datasets, undertake consultancy assignments, test ideas against practical constraints and develop solutions to problems for which there may be no predetermined answer.

Such experiences move learning beyond the acquisition of knowledge towards its application, interpretation and creation. They expose students to ambiguity, competing priorities and imperfect information — the conditions under which professional judgement is actually exercised.

The value is reciprocal.

Students develop a richer understanding of how their discipline operates in practice and greater confidence in applying knowledge to unfamiliar problems. Employers gain earlier and more meaningful access to emerging talent while benefiting from fresh perspectives and a better understanding of how the next generation approaches technology, learning and problem-solving.

Industry consequently becomes not simply a consumer of graduate talent, but a participant in the creation of learning, knowledge and innovation.

AI and the new co-creation dynamic

Artificial intelligence introduces a further dimension to this relationship.

AI has the potential not merely to change what students need to learn, but also to alter how universities and businesses can learn from one another.

Industry partners can bring authentic business problems, operational datasets and strategic challenges into the curriculum. Academics can frame those challenges through disciplinary knowledge, research methodology and critical inquiry.

AI can then act as a catalyst, enabling students to interrogate complex problems, analyse large datasets, model alternative scenarios, generate hypotheses, test possible solutions and examine the consequences of different decisions.

This creates a potentially powerful three-way relationship:

Industry provides the problem.
Academia provides the intellectual framework.
AI expands the capacity to explore, test and solve the problem.

Consider an engineering student working with an industrial partner on an energy-efficiency challenge.

The university contributes engineering principles, research methods and disciplinary expertise; the company provides the operational context, constraints and authenticity of the problem; and AI enables the student to model scenarios, interrogate large datasets, compare alternative solutions and rapidly iterate designs.

The educational value does not reside in AI producing an answer. It lies in enabling students to ask better questions, evaluate evidence, challenge assumptions, recognise limitations and exercise informed judgement.

This distinction is fundamental.

The purpose of AI-enabled education should not be to automate thinking, but to raise the level of thinking expected of students.

As AI becomes increasingly capable of generating text, analysing information and proposing possible solutions, greater value can be placed on capabilities that are difficult to automate: critical reasoning, ethical judgement, creativity, synthesis, contextual understanding, communication and the ability to distinguish between an answer that is merely plausible and one that is genuinely defensible.

The implications extend beyond individual courses.

AI could support a more continuous feedback loop between industry and academia by helping institutions identify emerging occupations, changing skill requirements, new technologies and shifts in professional practice.

Used intelligently, this could enable curriculum development to become less episodic and more adaptive — moving from periodic consultation towards an evidence-informed process of continuous renewal.

International campuses as strategic bridges

This model has particular significance in the Gulf, and especially in the UAE, where international universities occupy a distinctive position at the intersection of global knowledge and a rapidly changing regional economy.

The value of an international branch campus should therefore not be judged solely by the quality or international reputation of the education it imports. Its greater strategic potential lies in its ability to bridge global academic capability and local economic priorities.

An international university brings disciplinary expertise, research networks and perspectives shaped by different economies and societies.

The UAE, in turn, offers a highly international business environment in which global companies, regional enterprises, government entities, entrepreneurs and an increasingly diverse talent pool operate alongside one another.

The opportunity is to connect these worlds deliberately rather than allowing them to coexist in parallel.

An international presence has limited value if it remains isolated from the economy around it. The real strength of a branch campus lies in its ability to connect what students learn with what businesses are experiencing, anticipating and trying to solve.

That requires sustained relationships with employers, industry bodies, professional organisations and practitioners and, more importantly, bringing those relationships into the educational experience itself.

Such engagement can extend across research collaboration, incubation and entrepreneurship, executive and lifelong learning, internships and placements, graduate apprenticeships, sustainability initiatives, industry certification, professional qualifications and careers development.

These activities create a more connected ecosystem in which knowledge moves in multiple directions: from university to industry, from industry into the curriculum and increasingly between the two through joint problem-solving and applied research.

For students, this creates a richer educational experience and a more meaningful understanding of the region in which they will build their careers.

For employers, it creates stronger connections to emerging talent, academic expertise and new ideas.

For the wider economy, it creates a mechanism through which the capabilities developed within universities can remain connected to the sectors, technologies and challenges shaping the next phase of economic development.

In this sense, an international branch campus is not simply an offshore extension of a foreign university. At its best, it becomes part of the host economy’s knowledge and talent infrastructure.

Preparing people for careers that will continue to change

This raises a broader question about what it actually means to be a future-ready graduate.

There is an understandable tendency to focus on the next technology or the next technical skill. Those competencies undoubtedly matter, but they are unlikely to remain sufficient for long.

Businesses increasingly need people who can work across disciplines, communicate effectively, navigate ambiguity, question assumptions, make judgements with incomplete information and continue learning as technologies and organisational models change.

The paradox is that as technology becomes more capable, distinctly human capabilities may become more, not less, important.

A graduate who can learn quickly, evaluate competing perspectives, frame unfamiliar problems and apply knowledge in new contexts is likely to retain value even when the tools surrounding them change.

Future readiness, therefore, should not be reduced to a list of currently fashionable skills.

It is better understood as the combination of expertise and adaptability: sufficient depth to contribute meaningfully, coupled with sufficient intellectual flexibility to continue developing.

The role of university-industry collaboration is consequently not simply to identify what employers want graduates to know, but to create environments in which students learn how to keep learning.

Building the workforce as a shared responsibility

The Gulf’s economic ambitions will ultimately depend not only on investment, infrastructure and technology, but also on people capable of turning those ambitions into reality.

Talent development must therefore be understood as a shared responsibility.

Universities cannot be expected to anticipate every development in the labour market in isolation. Nor can businesses reasonably expect graduates to emerge fully equipped with every capability required by a future they themselves cannot completely predict.

The more meaningful the interaction before graduation, the greater the opportunity students have to test ideas, encounter uncertainty, learn from failure and develop the confidence to apply knowledge in unfamiliar circumstances.

The result is more than a smoother transition from education to employment. It is the creation of a more connected talent ecosystem in which education, research, business and professional practice continually inform one another.

The future-ready workforce in the Gulf will therefore not be produced by academia or industry working independently.

It will emerge through collaboration: businesses helping to shape authentic learning environments; universities bringing disciplinary depth, research and intellectual perspective; AI expanding the capacity to experiment, analyse and innovate; and students developing the knowledge, judgement and adaptability to operate in a world whose parameters are still being defined.

As the UAE and wider Gulf continue their transition towards more diversified, innovation-driven and knowledge-intensive economies, the institutions that bring these worlds together will assume increasing strategic importance.

The strongest partnerships will not simply prepare people for the jobs that exist today. They will help develop the people capable of creating, adapting and leading the jobs, organisations and industries of tomorrow.

(By Dr Matthew Sukumaran, COO at Heriot-Watt University Dubai)

When Mohamed Juma Al Musharrkh describes where investment is flowing into Sharjah, the striking thing is how little of it rests on any single bet. Food and beverages made up 28 per cent of the emirate’s foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in 2025, and consumer products a further 20 per cent, but the money also spread across industrial equipment, logistics, technology and manufacturing. That breadth is deliberate. “We do not want investment growth to depend on one or two sectors,” says the CEO of Invest in Sharjah (IIS).

It is a proposition built on an industrial base that already exists at scale. Sharjah accounts for around 40 per cent of the UAE’s industrial establishments and roughly a third of the country’s manufacturing output, with more than 2,800 factories across 21 industrial zones and locally made products reaching over 120 countries.

Investors from 113 nationalities are now active in the emirate, up from 97 a year earlier, drawn from markets as varied as India, Italy, the UK, the US and, increasingly, China.

Ahead of this year’s Sharjah Investment Forum, themed “Building Adaptive Economies”, Al Musharrkh spoke to Gulf Business about where the strongest investor interest is emerging, why the emirate is positioning itself as a place to commercialise technology rather than simply develop it, and what it takes to turn foreign investment into the kind of long-term reinvestment that signals an economy is working.

As global capital flows shift amid geopolitical and economic uncertainty, where is Sharjah seeing the strongest investor interest, and which sectors and source markets are driving new FDI?

The picture is quite broad, which is important because we do not want investment growth to depend on one or two sectors. In 2025, food and beverages accounted for 28 per cent of FDI projects, followed by consumer products at 20 per cent, with investment also extending across industrial equipment, logistics, technology and manufacturing.

Looking ahead, we see particularly strong potential in sectors that combine Sharjah’s established strengths with areas where global investment is moving. Advanced manufacturing is central to this. Sharjah accounts for around 40 per cent of the UAE’s industrial establishments and around one-third of the country’s manufacturing output, so investors are entering an industrial economy that already exists at scale. There are also opportunities across mobility and logistics, greentech, healthcare, agri-food technology and other innovation-led sectors.

Geographically, India, Italy, the UK and the US were among the key markets contributing to Sharjah’s FDI in 2025. China is also an important priority market, particularly across advanced manufacturing, mobility and logistics and green technology. Our focus is ultimately on matching investors with sectors where Sharjah offers a genuine long-term proposition.

AI and advanced technologies are becoming central to investment strategies across the Gulf. Where does Sharjah have a genuine competitive advantage in attracting AI, digital and technology-led investment?

Sharjah’s competitive advantage lies in its ability to connect technology with an established economic and industrial base. AI companies are not entering an isolated technology ecosystem; they can develop practical applications across manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, sustainability and new-product development. This gives companies opportunities to move from developing ideas to testing, commercialising and applying them in real operating environments.

We are already seeing this ecosystem take shape. More than 1,000 AI-related companies operate from Sharjah Publishing City Free Zone, including 691 working in AI research, innovation and consultancy, 125 in AI model training, 110 developing AI-powered solutions and 26 focused on intelligent systems and robotics.

These companies are supported by an increasingly connected ecosystem. Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park provide a platform linking research, technology development and industry across advanced manufacturing, healthcare, sustainability, environmental technology, and the digitalisation of mobility and logistics. Sharjah’s universities further strengthen this ecosystem by contributing research capabilities and specialised talent.

Together, these elements give companies access to talent, research capabilities and industries in which their technologies can be tested and applied. As AI adoption expands across the economy, Sharjah offers a particularly relevant proposition for companies seeking to move beyond technology development and create commercially viable solutions with real-world applications.

Industrial development is a major pillar of the UAE’s economic diversification. Which manufacturing and advanced industry segments offer the biggest investment opportunities in Sharjah over the next three to five years?

Over the next three to five years, I see some of the strongest opportunities in industrial automation and precision manufacturing, medical technologies, clean-energy and environmental technologies, and advanced agri-food production. These are areas where Sharjah can combine its established manufacturing base with technology, specialised production and access to regional and international markets.

The next stage is not simply about producing more, but about increasing the technology, specialisation and value embedded in what is produced. Robotics, AI and 3D printing are already part of Sharjah’s advanced manufacturing proposition, while Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park connects research and technology development with industrial applications.

Sharjah has the scale and infrastructure to support this transition, with more than 2,800 factories across 21 industrial zones and locally manufactured products exported to more than 120 countries. The expansion of Khorfakkan Port towards a capacity of 10 million TEUs, together with the Al Dhaid Logistics Complex connecting Sharjah and Oman, will provide manufacturers with more efficient routes to market and greater supply-chain flexibility.

Our priority is therefore not simply to attract more manufacturers, but to bring greater technology, specialisation and long-term value into Sharjah’s industrial ecosystem.

Public-private partnerships are increasingly being used to fund infrastructure and economic development. Where do you see the greatest scope for PPPs in Sharjah, and what opportunities are currently emerging for private investors?

I see the greatest scope in areas where Sharjah’s continued growth requires both long-term infrastructure and specialist private-sector capabilities. Logistics and industrial infrastructure are obvious areas, particularly as trade and supply chains become more complex. Clean technology and sustainability represent another important area, with considerable scope for research, commercialisation and public-private collaboration.

We are also seeing new models of collaboration emerge beyond traditional infrastructure projects. Sharjah AcquireHub is the product of a public-private partnership between Invest in Sharjah and Transworld GCC and was launched as the region’s first government-led digital platform for acquisitions and strategic investment opportunities. It gives investors a more direct route to identify opportunities and participate in Sharjah’s economy.

While specific project announcements sit with the relevant authorities, the broader direction is clear. The private sector can contribute much more than capital. Investors bring technology, operational expertise and experience in developing and managing projects over the long term.

The public sector, in turn, provides the long-term direction, regulatory environment and infrastructure that allow those investments to succeed. As Sharjah continues to grow and diversify, I believe there will be increasing room for partnerships that bring these strengths together and create commercially viable opportunities.

Competition for foreign investment across the GCC is intensifying. What differentiates Sharjah from other regional investment hubs, and what more needs to be done to attract companies that will establish long-term operations and reinvest in the emirate?

Competition is healthy because it encourages every investment destination to understand what it genuinely offers. Sharjah’s proposition combines an established industrial base, access to ports on both the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, an international airport and extensive free-zone capacity, alongside competitive operating costs, a strong SME ecosystem and access to the wider UAE and GCC markets.

We also offer something less easily replicated, but equally important for long-term investment: the ability to attract and retain people. Sharjah has 135 private schools, 161 nurseries, 22 higher education institutions in University City and 25 research centres.

Combined with its cultural institutions and family-oriented environment, this gives executives, entrepreneurs, researchers and skilled professionals the foundations to live, work and build long-term careers in the emirate.

The growing international diversity of Sharjah’s investor base reflects this appeal. Investors from 113 nationalities are now active in the emirate, compared with 97 in 2025.

The next stage is to make these advantages increasingly accessible to investors. That means continuing to simplify the business environment, strengthening connections between industry, research and talent, and providing the aftercare that encourages companies to expand and reinvest over time. Attracting FDI is important, but sustained reinvestment is one of the clearest signs that an investment environment is delivering long-term value.

This year’s Sharjah Investment Forum is themed “Building Adaptive Economies”. What does an adaptive economy mean in practical terms for Sharjah, particularly when it comes to talent, entrepreneurship and building resilience against future economic or geopolitical shocks?

An adaptive economy can respond to change while maintaining its long-term direction. We cannot predict every geopolitical event, technological breakthrough or disruption to global trade, but we can build an economy with enough diversity, talent and infrastructure to respond when they occur.

Diversification is fundamental to that. For Sharjah, it means developing manufacturing alongside technology, logistics, healthcare, greentech, creative industries and other sectors so that economic growth does not depend on one source.

It also means investing continuously in people. Technology will change the skills businesses require, so universities, employers and the government need to remain closely connected. Talent development cannot sit separately from investment because companies increasingly make location decisions based on whether the skills they need will be available as their businesses evolve.

Entrepreneurs are another important part of that resilience. Smaller, younger companies are often among the quickest to spot new needs and respond to changing conditions.

At the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival 2026, Sheraa vice chairperson Najla Al Midfa noted that more than 70,000 SMEs operate in Sharjah, supported by incubators, accelerators and research facilities. UAE media reported the same figure in her SEF remarks.

For me, that is what the SIF theme comes down to in practical terms. Resilience is not about assuming disruption can be avoided. It is about giving businesses and people enough capacity to adapt when conditions change and continue investing, producing and creating value.

Note: The 9th Sharjah Investment Forum will take place on October 14 -15 at Al Jawaher Reception and Convention Centre. More than 140 activities are planned across the two-day programme.

As Riyadh’s hospitality sector expands at pace, operators face the challenge of absorbing new supply while meeting the evolving expectations of business and leisure travellers.

Firas Mneimneh, general manager of Radisson Collection Residences, Riyadh, discusses the rise of luxury serviced residences, the growing convergence of business and leisure travel, and why differentiation, Saudi identity and sustainable profitability will define the market’s next chapter.

Riyadh is seeing an extraordinary amount of new hotel supply coming into the market. Are you confident demand is growing quickly enough to absorb it?

I would say we are cautiously confident. Riyadh is experiencing an exceptional level of new hotel supply, so there will undoubtedly be some short-term pressure on occupancy and rates. However, we believe the underlying demand drivers remain very strong, supported by Vision 2030, business and government activity, the regional headquarters programme, major events and growing tourism.

The key is that demand will not necessarily absorb all new supply immediately. We expect a period of normalisation and increased competition in the near term, with performance increasingly differentiating between well-located, well-positioned assets and more commoditised hotels.

So, rather than assuming the market will absorb supply across the board, our confidence is based on the quality and resilience of demand growth relative to the specific location, segment and positioning of the hotel.

You’ve chosen a serviced-residence model rather than a conventional luxury hotel. What does that tell us about how the profile of visitors coming to Riyadh is changing?

I think it tells us that Riyadh is evolving from a city people visit into a city people increasingly spend time in.

The traditional luxury hotel model is built around transient travellers: a few nights, meetings, dining and then departure. But Riyadh’s transformation is creating a much broader demand base: executives relocating for regional headquarters, consultants and project teams, government and corporate visitors, and families who may be in the city for several weeks or months.

That changes what people value. They still want five-star service, but they also want space, privacy, flexibility and the ability to live normally while they are here.

So, I wouldn’t describe serviced residences as a compromise from a luxury hotel. I see them as a more relevant luxury product for the next phase of Riyadh’s growth.

And importantly, it gives us access to a different demand pool and potentially a more resilient revenue profile, because we’re not relying entirely on short-term transient demand.

Riyadh’s recent hotel performance has shown that new supply can put pressure on conventional hotel occupancy and rates, which makes having a differentiated demand proposition even more important.

Ultimately, the bet is that as Riyadh becomes a regional business and investment hub, the definition of a luxury stay will increasingly be about how well you can live in the city, not just how well you can stay in a hotel.

Who is actually driving your business today — Saudi guests, international executives, government-related travel, consultants, families or longer-term corporate residents? And has that mix surprised you at all?

What has been interesting is that it’s not one single customer segment driving the business. The mix is broader than we initially expected.

We see a strong base of corporate and professional demand — executives, consultants, project teams and government-related business — but increasingly we are also seeing families and guests who are staying for longer periods. That is particularly relevant to a serviced-residence model because the same unit can serve very different needs: a senior executive on a long assignment, a relocating family, or a project team that needs a home rather than simply a hotel room.

What has surprised us is the degree of overlap between these segments. Someone may initially come to Riyadh for business, but the nature of their stay becomes much more residential. They extend, bring family or return repeatedly.

I think that is an important signal about where Riyadh is heading. The city is developing a much deeper and more permanent business ecosystem, rather than relying purely on short-term visitors. Corporate demand remains a major driver of Riyadh hospitality, particularly around the regional headquarters programme, while the market is also seeing increasing domestic and leisure demand.

So, if I had to summarise the shift, we’re not just accommodating visitors to Riyadh; we’re increasingly accommodating people who are becoming part of Riyadh. And that is exactly where we think the serviced-residence model has an advantage.

Riyadh has traditionally been a heavily business-driven hotel market. As the city develops its entertainment, events and tourism offering, how quickly are you seeing the leisure segment become meaningful?

I think the leisure segment is becoming meaningful faster than many people expected, but I would still describe Riyadh as a business-led market with an increasingly powerful leisure layer.

What has changed is the frequency and scale of reasons to come to Riyadh. Events, concerts, sports, dining and entertainment are creating more weekend and short-break demand, both domestically and internationally. Riyadh Season, for example, attracted 17 million visitors in its latest edition, which gives you a sense of how quickly the entertainment ecosystem is scaling.

But I don’t think the story is that Riyadh is suddenly becoming a traditional leisure destination. The more interesting story is that business and leisure are starting to overlap. Someone who comes for a conference may extend for an event; an executive may bring their family; and a business trip can increasingly become a broader lifestyle experience.

That’s particularly relevant for us as a serviced-residence operator. The ability to accommodate a couple of nights, a weekend extension or a several-week stay means we can participate in that changing demand without being dependent on one segment.

So, I would say leisure is already meaningful, but the real opportunity is the convergence of business, events and leisure. As Riyadh’s calendar and destination offering mature, I expect that blended demand to become an increasingly important part of the market.

There are now some of the biggest luxury hospitality brands in the world entering Riyadh. In such a competitive market, what does a hotel actually have to do to command a premium rate rather than simply compete on location and brand name?

I think the days when a hotel could command a premium simply because of its brand name are becoming less relevant in Riyadh. With so many internationally recognised luxury brands entering the market, guests have more choice than ever.

To command a genuine premium, a hotel must give the guest a reason to choose it beyond the name on the door. That comes down to three things: a distinctive sense of place, exceptional and consistent service, and an experience that feels genuinely difficult to replicate.

For us, that also means understanding the Riyadh customer rather than simply importing a global luxury formula. The winning properties will be those that combine international standards with a strong understanding of the local market, how people live, entertain, work and spend their time.

And I think this is increasingly important because Riyadh already has strong pricing power, but the rapid arrival of new supply is putting more pressure on operators to differentiate.

Ultimately, a brand can get you considered; it can’t guarantee you a premium. The premium must be earned every day through the product, the service and the experience.

For me, the real test is very simple: if you took the logo off the building, would the guest still be willing to pay the same rate? If the answer is yes, you’ve created a genuinely valuable hotel.

This is being billed as Saudi Arabia’s first Salmani Architectural Tower. How do you translate Saudi identity into the guest experience without it becoming something superficial or simply decorative?

For me, the key is that Saudi identity cannot just be something you see; it must be something you feel.

Salmani architecture is fundamentally about finding a balance between authenticity and modernity, rather than recreating the past. So, the same principle should apply to the guest experience.

We can use local materials, patterns, craftsmanship and references to Najdi architecture, but if that is where the story ends, it becomes decoration. The more important question is how Saudi culture influences the way the guest is welcomed, how spaces are designed, how people gather, how privacy is respected, how food and service are presented, and how the property connects guests with Riyadh itself.

For us, architecture gives the building its identity, but hospitality has to give that identity meaning. A guest should be able to recognise that they are in Riyadh without us having to explain it to them.

And I think that is the real opportunity with a Salmani tower: to create something unmistakably Saudi, but at the same time completely contemporary and globally relevant. That balance is what makes the identity authentic rather than nostalgic.

Ultimately, we don’t want guests to leave saying, “That hotel had Saudi decorations.” We want them to leave saying, “That could only have been Riyadh.”

Riyadh itself is changing incredibly quickly — new districts, infrastructure, businesses and a rapidly growing population. From where you sit, what has been the biggest change in the city’s hospitality market over the past two or three years?

I think the biggest change is that Riyadh has moved from being a strong business hotel market to becoming a much more diversified destination.

Three years ago, the conversation was largely about corporate travel, government business and the shortage of quality hotel rooms. Today, we’re talking about a much broader ecosystem: international companies establishing themselves here, major events, entertainment, dining, tourism and increasingly guests who are coming to Riyadh for the experience as much as for business.

You can see that transformation in the scale of new supply. Riyadh had roughly 25,000 hotel rooms at the end of 2024, with another 16,000 expected by 2030. At the same time, the market is seeing a significant increase in luxury and international-branded supply.

But perhaps the biggest change from our perspective is the sophistication of the customer. Guests have far more choice now, and their expectations are evolving very quickly. They are comparing Riyadh not just with other Saudi cities, but with the best hospitality experiences globally.

So, the market has become much more competitive, but also much more interesting. Riyadh is no longer simply adding hotel rooms; it is building an entirely new hospitality ecosystem. The challenge for operators is making sure the product evolves at the same speed as the city.

Saudi Arabia has ambitious targets around tourism as part of Vision 2030, but ultimately hotels have to produce returns for their owners. What metrics are you watching most closely to judge whether Riyadh’s hospitality boom is translating into sustainable business?

Ultimately, I think the test is whether top-line growth is translating into durable profitability, rather than simply whether we can fill rooms.

We watch the traditional hotel metrics very closely — occupancy, ADR and RevPAR — but I would put even more emphasis on the relationship between them. If occupancy is growing only because we are discounting rates, that is not healthy growth. Equally, a high ADR is not meaningful if it comes at the expense of occupancy.

The other metrics I would focus on are GOP margins, flow-through, cost per occupied room, length of stay, booking mix and repeat business. Those tell you whether the demand is genuinely high quality and whether the asset is becoming more efficient as it matures.

And in a market like Riyadh, I would add one more metric: how much new supply the market can absorb without permanently losing pricing power. That is probably the biggest test over the next few years. Riyadh has already seen pressure on occupancy and RevPAR as new supply has come into the market, so simply pointing to rising tourism numbers isn’t enough.

For us, the ultimate measure is therefore cash flow and return on invested capital. If demand is growing, rates are holding, margins are improving and the asset is generating an attractive return despite the additional competition, then I would say the hospitality boom is translating into sustainable business.

So, I would summarise it quite simply: we’re not measuring success by how many people come to Riyadh; we’re measuring it by the quality of that demand and the returns it generates.

Talent is one of the biggest challenges facing a hospitality sector expanding at this speed. How difficult is it to recruit and retain enough people, and how important is developing Saudi nationals into management and leadership positions?

It is certainly a challenge, because the hospitality sector is expanding at a pace that the traditional talent pipeline cannot fully match. But I see that as one of the most important opportunities created by the transformation of the Kingdom.

For us, the objective isn’t simply to recruit enough people to operate the hotel. It is to build a generation of Saudi hospitality professionals who can eventually lead the industry.

That means creating genuine career paths, bringing Saudi nationals into the business early, giving them exposure to different departments, investing in training and international experience, and most importantly giving them real responsibility rather than treating Saudisation as a headcount exercise.

I think the market is moving in the right direction. Recent research shows that Saudi employers are increasingly investing in upskilling, while employees place a very high value on development and opportunities to build transferable skills.

And I think leadership development is particularly important. You can recruit an experienced international hotelier today, but the long-term success of Saudi hospitality depends on transferring that knowledge and creating local leaders who understand both international hospitality standards and the Saudi guest.

So yes, talent is one of the biggest constraints on growth. But I would frame it positively: the goal isn’t to solve a talent shortage; it is to turn hospitality into one of the sectors that creates Saudi talent.

If we can do that successfully, then we’re not just building hotels, we’re building an industry and a leadership pipeline that can sustain the Kingdom’s hospitality ambitions well beyond Vision 2030.

If we came back five years from now, how different do you think Riyadh’s hotel market will look — and do you ultimately see it competing with cities such as Dubai, London or Singapore for international business and luxury travellers?

Five years from now, I think Riyadh will look fundamentally different from the market we know today. It will be a much deeper hospitality market, with a far broader range of international brands, luxury experiences, serviced residences, entertainment, events and business infrastructure.

The scale of investment is extraordinary. Saudi Arabia is currently heading toward more than 281,000 hotel rooms by 2030, with Riyadh one of the principal markets for that growth. At the same time, the city is attracting major international hospitality brands and developing the infrastructure needed to support a much larger international visitor base.

But I don’t think the ambition should be to simply “compete with Dubai.” Riyadh has the opportunity to become something different.

Dubai is an established global tourism and business destination. Riyadh is building its proposition around something broader: a global business capital, a centre of government and investment, and increasingly a destination for culture, entertainment, sport and luxury. That combination is quite unique.

And I think the next five years will be less about proving that people can come to Riyadh and more about giving them compelling reasons to choose Riyadh, and then stay longer, return more frequently and potentially relocate here.

So yes, I absolutely see Riyadh competing for international business and luxury travellers. But the real measure of success won’t be whether we become the next Dubai, London or Singapore.

It will be whether, five years from now, Riyadh is itself a city that international travellers and businesses feel they cannot afford to ignore.

That, to me, is the much bigger opportunity.