The King Fahd Causeway Authority announced on February 2 the launch of new travel packages through the Causeway app, offering discounts of up to 40 per cent on toll fees.

The move comes ahead of a scheduled increase in toll charges that will take effect on February 18, 2026, marking a significant update to the pricing framework for one of the region’s busiest cross-border routes, a Saudi Gazette report said.

Read more-Inside Saudi Arabia’s mega transport projects powering Vision 2030

The new packages were unveiled shortly after the authority confirmed revised toll rates for vehicles using the causeway. Under the updated structure, tolls will rise to SAR35 for cars and motorcycles, SAR55 for minibuses, SAR70 for large buses, and SAR7 per ton for trucks, according to a Saudi Gazette report.

Exemptions and historical context

The authority clarified that the toll increase will not apply to students, persons with disabilities, or daily frequent travelers, underscoring efforts to limit the financial impact on key user groups. Available data show that the bridge crossing fee for small cars is currently SAR25, following an increase from SAR20 implemented at the beginning of 2016. That adjustment marked the first toll increase since the King Fahd Causeway opened in 1986.

Three package options for travelers

To offset the higher toll rates, the authority introduced three package options designed to meet varying travel patterns. The Frequent Traveler Package offers discounts of up to 40 per cent and targets travelers who cross the bridge daily or nearly daily. Priced at SAR850, the package is valid for one month or up to 40 crossings, whether one-way or return.

A second Frequent Traveler Package provides discounts of up to 20 per cent for occasional travelers who cross the causeway at intervals. This option costs SAR1,120 and remains valid for one year or until 40 crossings are completed.

The third option, a round-trip package, offers discounts of up to 15 per cent. Priced at SAR60, it is valid for one week from the date of the first crossing or for the first two crossings, whichever comes first.

The UAE is accelerating its push for universal health coverage, aiming to ensure that every resident has access to essential healthcare.

While this move represents a major social victory, it is also redefining the economics of insurance, impacting premiums, utilisation patterns, and the financial sustainability of insurers. As mandatory insurance schemes expand across the emirates, employers, insurers, and policyholders are navigating a landscape that combines opportunity, obligation, and cost pressures.

Read more-Health Insurance in UAE: What you need to know about it

According to the Central Bank of the UAE’s Quarterly Economic Review, the UAE insurance sector maintained strong growth in Q2 2025. Key indicators such as written premiums, technical provisions, claims paid, and equity all rose, reflecting a sector that remains well-capitalised with healthy capital adequacy and earnings ratios.

The number of licensed insurance companies declined slightly to 583, comprising 22 traditional national insurers, 10 takaful national companies, 25 branches of foreign insurers, and one foreign reinsurer. Meanwhile, insurance-related professions increased to 508, demonstrating the sector’s expanding workforce.

Gross Written Premiums (GWP) rose 14.5 per cent year-on-year to Dhs40.9bn in H1 2025.

Growth was broad-based, with property and liability insurance up 17.8 per cent, health insurance climbing 12.7 per cent, and life insurance and fund accumulation products increasing 11.2 per cent, driven largely by demand for individual life insurance.

Federal health initiatives: Expanding access

The UAE has allocated Dhs5.745bn, 8 per cent of the federal budget for 2025, to healthcare and community prevention services. In a major policy shift, the UAE cabinet approved mandatory health insurance for private-sector workers and domestic employees without existing coverage, effective January 1, 2025. Under the mandate, private-sector employers and sponsors must provide insurance coverage for registered employees.

In parallel, the cabinet adopted the National Policy for Improving Women’s Health to guarantee access to preventive, therapeutic, and rehabilitative care. The Emirates Genome Council has also included genetic testing in pre-marital screening for Emirati citizens, reinforcing preventive healthcare initiatives source.

These moves, experts say, not only broaden coverage but also integrate insurance into the legal and regulatory framework, fundamentally altering how healthcare services are financed and consumed.

Mandatory insurance: A social win with financial implications

While these initiatives expand access, they also place pressure on insurers and employers.

“Health insurance premiums in the UAE have been rising steadily, with average increases of around 10 per cent year on year,” said Hitesh Motwani, deputy CEO of InsuranceMarket.ae. “This is driven by a combination of higher medical utilisation, rising treatment costs, and broader inflationary pressures within the healthcare system.”

The legal perspective is clear: coverage is increasingly seen as a necessary obligation rather than an optional employee benefit. Dubai and Abu Dhabi were the first emirates to make health insurance mandatory for residents, linking coverage to immigration and labour regulations.

According to the Central Bank’s 2024 statistics, this framework led to health insurance premiums rising 20.9 per cent year-on-year to Dhs31.3bn, with the number of policies increasing 59.9 per cent to 2.2m.

“This expansion of the insured pool increases utilisation, drives claims, and pushes renewal pricing higher,” noted Michael Kortbawi, partner at BSA Law. The federal rollout of a basic scheme across other Emirates starting January 1, 2025 further reinforces this dynamic, connecting insurance to residence permits and setting co-payment rules that shape consumption patterns.

The cost of compulsory coverage

Beyond legal obligations, rising premiums also reflect the mechanics of a mandatory system.

“When access seems free at the point of service, usage increases, and overuse becomes common,” Kortbawi explained. Controlling this “abuse cycle” requires pre-authorisation, co-insurance, and auditing, adding administrative costs that ultimately influence premiums. In short, insurers pay twice: first through increased claims, and second through mechanisms designed to manage excessive utilisation.

Medical inflation also plays a significant role. Hospital charges, specialist fees, diagnostics, and complex procedures have consistently risen faster than general inflation. Hitesh Motwani emphasised that insurers must incorporate these costs into pricing models to sustain coverage and maintain policyholder access to quality healthcare.

Lifestyle-related and chronic conditions compound the effect. Around 40 per cent of policyholders declare at least one pre-existing condition, often linked to diabetes, hypertension, or heart disease. “Ongoing medical care, regular consultations, medications, and monitoring increase overall claims utilisation, impacting average premiums across the pool,” Motwani said.

Long-term trends and economic resilience

Despite rising costs, the UAE continues to demonstrate strong long-term trends in healthcare affordability and accessibility. David Denton-Cardew, head of Propositions at Zurich International Life Ltd., noted that economic resilience, including 4.8 per cent GDP growth, financial wealth of $1.5 trillion, and more than 81,000 millionaires in Dubai, has supported improvements in healthcare standards.

“The focus on wellbeing, infrastructure development, and government initiatives has resulted in longer, healthier lives,” Denton-Cardew said. These improvements have contributed to a gradual decline in life insurance costs over time, highlighting the balance between social benefits and financial pressures in a growing insurance market.

Balancing coverage, costs, and sustainability

The UAE’s push for universal health coverage is a model of social progress, but it also underscores the economic realities of mandatory insurance. Expanding access generates higher claims, administrative costs, and pricing pressures for insurers, while employers must navigate new obligations.

The key challenge will be maintaining a system that is both socially inclusive and financially sustainable. Effective regulation, co-payment frameworks, and proactive management of claims utilisation will be critical in ensuring that the UAE can continue to provide comprehensive coverage without destabilising the insurance market.

As the federal scheme rolls out across emirates in 2025, all eyes will be on how insurers, employers, and policyholders adjust to a landscape in which health coverage is both a fundamental right and a complex financial commitment.

The rise of autonomous AI agents is forcing a rethink of how money moves through the global financial system. While banks, cards, and payment rails were designed for humans and corporates, they struggle to accommodate machines that operate continuously, independently, and at speed. According to Vincent Chok, CEO and founder of First Digital (issuer of the fiat-backed stablecoin FDUSD), this mismatch is structural, not incremental.

“Traditional payment rails were built for human identity, not AI agents,” Chok said. “Current banking systems rely on deliberate consent, such as CAPTCHA, 3D Secure, and OTPs, that require a human in the loop.”

That requirement alone makes conventional finance incompatible with autonomous systems. “Without using digital assets like stablecoins, we are essentially trying to give a credit card to a machine that doesn’t have a face for biometrics or a thumb for a scanner,” he said. “This creates a structural identity gap that only digital-native rails can bridge through the use of AI agents transacting with digital assets like stablecoins.”

At the core of the problem is how financial identity is defined. “This reflects an evolution in how financial identity is defined,” Chok said. “Humans participate in the financial system through legal identity, and corporations through legal personhood, but autonomous AI agents require a different construct altogether.”

That construct, he argues, is economic identity. “An economic identity, defined by wallets, predefined spending limits, and cryptographic rules rather than physical presence or human approval.”

In practical terms, this shifts the basis of trust from paperwork and intermediaries to code and cryptography. It also explains why stablecoins and smart contracts are becoming foundational to agentic finance.

Why stablecoins fit machine-driven finance

Stablecoins remove the temporal and operational constraints of legacy banking. “Stablecoins turn money into programmable code, allowing financial settlement to happen at the same speed as the AI’s thought process,” Chok said.

While bank transfers can take days, the blockchain operates continuously. “By moving money to the blockchain, we shift from processing that sleeps on weekends and holidays to a 24/7 liquidity layer, settling transactions in seconds, any time, any day.”

Smart contracts add conditional logic to payments themselves. “Smart contracts allow us to embed the logic of a deal (if X happens, only then execute Y) directly into the currency itself, ensuring that payment only moves when a specific task is cryptographically verified.”

This combination enables financial activity that does not require supervision, escalation, or reconciliation after the fact, a prerequisite for machine-to-machine commerce.

Through its Finance District platform, First Digital is enabling AI agents to execute real-time stablecoin transactions. The result is a new category of use cases that were previously impractical.

“We are unlocking a world of autonomous machine-to-machine commerce,” Chok said. “In the UAE, we are seeing this play out in ‘Autonomous Procurement’, where an AI agent can monitor inventory, place orders with suppliers, and settle the payment in stablecoins without any human intervention in the process.”

The implication is broader than procurement automation. “This transforms AI into an independent economic actor capable of managing budget, revenue, and supply chains,” he said. “Relieving humans from these mundane or repetitive tasks so that human workers can focus on more critical issues.”

In effect, AI moves from decision support to economic execution.

Risk, guardrails, and “Know Your Agent”

Allowing autonomous systems to move money inevitably raises concerns about risk. Chok argues that traditional controls are poorly suited to the agentic era.

“Security in the agentic era isn’t about human permission…it’s about hard-coded regulations built into the financial rail,” he said.

Smart contracts allow governance to be enforced at transaction level. “By using smart-contract guardrails, we can implement ‘Know Your Agent’ (KYA) protocols that set fixed spending limits and merchant whitelists that an AI cannot override.”

Auditability is also native rather than retrospective. “Since every transaction is public and permanently recorded on the blockchain, we gain a level of real-time auditability that traditional banking simply cannot match.”

Instead of trusting systems, rules are enforced automatically. “We are replacing simply trusting a machine with certainty via cryptographic constraints,” Chok said. “Ensuring that if an agent attempts to move funds outside of its defined parameters, the hard-coded guardrails reject the transaction.”

Beyond AI, stablecoins are already reshaping how people are paid, particularly in the UAE’s highly international labour market.

“It is not surprising that such a high share of UAE freelancers prefer stablecoins,” Chok said. “The country is home to one of the world’s largest expatriate populations, with foreign workers comprising 88 per cent of residents.”

For globally mobile workers, traditional banking creates friction. “Many freelancers—be it local or international—are paid by overseas entities or regularly move money across borders.”

Stablecoins address that pain directly. “Low transaction fees, near-instant settlement, and stable value without the friction of traditional banking rails.”

He also points to regulatory pragmatism. “The UAE has also tailored its financial infrastructure to these realities,” Chok said. “It is one of the few jurisdictions where companies can design payroll systems that maintain fiat compliance for domestic staff while offering crypto flexibility for international hires.”

Contrary to the view that regulation slows innovation, Chok sees the UAE’s approach as deployment-driven.

“Regulatory clarity can either instil confidence in digital assets, or introduce friction through increased bureaucracy,” he said. “The UAE is taking a deployment-focused approach, providing comprehensive frameworks that allow users to adopt digital assets with certainty.”

The rollout of AE Coin illustrates this model. “Following its license approval by the Central Bank of UAE in 2024, the UAE’s first dirham-backed stablecoin was deliberately integrated into real-world payments by mid-2025,” Chok said.

Adoption has followed quickly. “The fuel and convenience retailer ADNOC Distribution now accepts the AE Coin across its 980 service stations.”

Rather than sitting alongside banking, AE Coin acts as connective tissue. “This regulatory framework positions AE Coin as a bridge between traditional banking and blockchain-based finance.”

The complexity of compliance increases sharply when AI enters the financial system.

“Companies often underestimate how compliance processes differ during the transition from human actors to AI agents,” Chok said. “While humans can be verified through standard procedures such as AML and KYC, the frameworks for vetting AI agents are less established.”

That gap is also an opportunity. “This market gap also points to an opportunity for companies to provide compliance solutions for vetting AI systems.”

Operating across borders adds another layer. “Both the global stablecoin and agentic AI landscapes are fragmented,” he said. “To navigate cross-jurisdictional operations, it is critical to secure active licenses and registrations and aligns with local regulations.”

Phased deployment matters. “Phased rollouts, supported by local risk audits and legal counsel, also help keep compliance and operational risks manageable across multiple markets.”

The next five years of agentic finance

Looking ahead, Chok expects AI agents to become embedded across financial activity.

“Over the next five years, we can expect AI agents to be embedded within institutional and retail transactions alike, using stablecoins as the key settlement asset.”

The role of AI will be highly contextual. “These AI agents could make payments on behalf of individuals or businesses, with AI models tailored to different user needs across the automated financial ecosystem.”

Financial inclusion is also part of the equation. “Stablecoins have a track record of improving financial access for the unbanked,” he said. “Combining them with AI tools can make this process even more efficient.”

The UAE, he believes, will play a defining role. “The UAE is poised to lead the growing convergence of stablecoins and agentic payments.”

Its advantage lies in scale and execution. “The region’s combination of sovereign-scale stablecoin initiatives and readiness for AI-driven payments create the network effects that many other jurisdictions lack.”

By focusing on deployment rather than theory, Chok sees the UAE setting a global template. “By homing in on its strengths in real-world adoption and innovation, the UAE serves as a blueprint for integrating AI, stablecoins, and traditional financial institutions on a global scale.”

Read: Mastercard’s Prakriti Singh on integrating stablecoins into mainstream commerce

Dubai and Abu Dhabi ended Q4 2025 with sustained rental growth and resilient occupier demand, underpinned by limited Grade A supply, ongoing economic diversification and a clear shift toward smaller, more flexible office formats, according to Savills’ Dubai and Abu Dhabi Office Market in Minutes, Q4 2025.

Dubai

In Dubai, average office rents climbed to around Dhs225 per sq ft, marking a 32.4 per cent year-on-year increase. Commercial property transactions reached Dhs12.4bn in December 2025 alone, reflecting continued confidence in the market.

Demand remains firmly skewed towards smaller office units, with 63 per cent of enquiries focused on spaces below 5,000 sq ft, highlighting occupiers’ preference for agile and right-sized workplaces.

Tenant decision-making has become increasingly pragmatic, with greater emphasis on tenure security and operational efficiency. This has been supported by RERA renewal protections and a positive macroeconomic backdrop. The Central Bank of the UAE is forecasting GDP growth of 5.2 per cent in 2026, while more than 53,000 new companies joined the Dubai Chamber of Commerce during the first nine months of 2025, reinforcing underlying demand for office space.

Rental performance varied across key submarkets. DIFC continued to command the highest rents at approximately Dhs537 per sq ft, while Business Bay and JLT recorded some of the strongest annual growth. Expo City also gained traction as an emerging office destination during Q4, supported by its campus-style layout and sustainability-led positioning.

Toby Hall, Head of Commercial Agency at Savills Middle East, said: “Dubai continues to demonstrate strong fundamentals, with occupiers becoming more strategic in how they approach space. While demand remains robust for Grade A offices, we’re seeing a clear shift towards smaller, more flexible layouts, alongside increased demand for flexibility, resilience, and future-proofed workplace strategies. As we head into 2026, prime locations with high-quality stock are expected to remain well supported, underpinned by ongoing business formation and regional investment activity.”

Abu Dhabi

In Abu Dhabi, the Grade A office market remained landlord-favourable, with average rents rising to approximately Dhs2,375 per sq m per annum (around Dhs221 per sq ft), representing a 22 per cent year-on-year increase. Growth was driven by sustained demand from financial services, IT and engineering occupiers.

Prime CBD rents increased to around Dhs2,750 per sq m (approximately Dhs256 per sq ft), up 26 per cent annually. Demand for micro-offices and flexible layouts also continued to strengthen, as occupiers prioritised high-quality, ready-to-occupy space.

Harry Ransom, Head of Commercial, Abu Dhabi at Savills Middle East, added: “Abu Dhabi’s office market continues to benefit from limited Grade A supply and sustained occupier interest, particularly within core business districts. We’re seeing growing demand for high-quality, ready-to-occupy space as companies enter the market more cautiously, favouring flexible layouts and smaller footprints. With a measured supply pipeline ahead, prime assets are expected to remain well supported through 2026.”

Outlook

Looking ahead to 2026, Savills expects both Dubai and Abu Dhabi to move toward more selective opportunities as new supply enters the market. Prime assets in established locations are forecast to remain well supported, driven by continued business formation and sustained regional investment activity.

The links to the reports are here: Dubai Office Market Report – Q4 2025 and Abu Dhabi Office Market Report – Q4 2025

Etihad Rail has unveiled a nationwide awareness campaign aimed at encouraging logistics providers, manufacturers, and heavy industries to move long-haul freight from road networks to rail.

The initiative arrives as the UAE’s industrial and logistics sectors enter a new growth phase, intensifying pressure on highways, delivery reliability, and operational costs.

Read more-Etihad Rail’s details revealed: 7 new stations announced

The campaign emphasises that rail is not merely an alternative transport option in principle but a practical, scalable, and proven solution already operating across the UAE.

Rail network offers scale and predictability

Etihad Rail’s freight network spans nearly 900 kilometres, directly connecting ports, industrial zones, and logistics hubs. The network is designed to transport bulk and high-volume cargo on fixed schedules along dedicated corridors, offering a level of predictability that road-based logistics increasingly struggles to match.

Each freight train can carry the equivalent of up to 300 heavy trucks, reducing congestion on key routes while improving certainty for manufacturers operating under tight production timelines.

Omar Alsebeyi, Acting CEO at Etihad Rail Freight, said: “For heavy industry, logistics is no longer just about speed, it’s also increasingly about certainty. Delays, congestion, and volatility carry real costs. Rail addresses those challenges at their root by offering scale, reliability, and predictability, day in and day out.”

Optimising costs and production planning

The campaign highlights rail freight’s potential to stabilize transport costs, reduce inventory buffers, and enable manufacturers to plan production with greater confidence. Etihad Rail stressed that the initiative does not aim to replace road freight but to rebalance the logistics system for greater efficiency.

“Road freight remains essential, particularly for last-mile delivery,” added Alsebeyi. “Rail removes long-haul and bulk movements from roads, easing congestion and freeing trucks to operate where they are most effective. It’s about making the entire system work better.”

Industry-focused awareness campaign

The campaign will be rolled out across trade media, industry forums, and digital platforms. It will feature case studies showcasing how rail integration has improved efficiency for companies in sectors such as construction materials, petrochemicals, metals, and containerised cargo.

The initiative also aligns with broader national priorities, including strengthening supply-chain resilience, enhancing industrial competitiveness, and future-proofing logistics infrastructure as trade volumes continue to rise.

“The UAE has invested in a national rail network designed to support growth for decades, not quarters,” said Alsebeyi. “This campaign ensures industry fully benefits from that investment. Rail freight is operational, reliable, and ready to scale. Now is the time to use it and reap the benefits.”

Strategic advantage for early adopters

As industrial output continues to expand, Etihad Rail expects early adopters of rail freight to gain a strategic advantage, including lower long-term costs, improved reliability, and the ability to scale operations without adding strain to already-busy road networks.

By offering a predictable, high-capacity alternative to road transport, Etihad Rail is positioning the UAE’s freight sector for sustainable growth while tackling one of the nation’s most pressing logistical challenges: congestion.