A recent report by renowned research & consulting firm Frost & Sullivan shares a positive outlook about GCC economies expected to rebound in 2022 after a contraction in 2020.
The regional analysis report shared that “They (GCC nations) are expected to witness impressive growth through 2030, driven by global and regional megatrends.”
The research firm states that even though the pandemic and diminishing oil prices caused the contraction in 2020, optimistically there could be visible signs of economic recovery by the second quarter of 2021.
Constant emphasis by GCC council members on the economic diversification from the oil sector and considerable encouragement to the private sector to invest and develop projects across all major sectors of their economy has been seen as the reason for the optimistic recovery.
The analysis also suggests that technological advancements in the field of 5G along with a major shift to digital platforms and market places will create new business models to explore within the economy.
The report expects the region to have a business environment that will go through a transformation with far-reaching impact on economic trends and social dynamics. It adds that driven by the surge in digital penetration over the next decade, GCC’s non-oil sectors namely, healthcare, mega-event projects, education, retail, and renewable energy will continue to dominate the region’s economy leading to the creation of “mega themes” which will further expand opportunities in the region.
Malabika Mandal, a visionary innovation group consulting analyst at Frost & Sullivan remarked that “Besides increasing mobile and internet penetration, several digital initiatives to improve city governance to citizens’ lifestyles will be the highlight of the region.”
“Going forward, sports events, religious tourism, and mega infrastructure projects are expected to catapult the GCC region into a zone of international interest and contribute to the region’s economic prosperity, Frost & Sullivan analyst stated.
Ms. Mandal further added that “Mobility solutions in GCC are moving from car-centric to customer-centric solutions, thus providing a more convenient and integrated mode of transport; for example, mass transit such as metro, rail, ride-sharing, car-hailing, etc. Additionally, the 3Ds of power – decarburization (use of renewable power, ie, less dependence on carbon), decentralization (by deploying smart grids and advanced electricity storage and managing systems), and digitalization (digital transformation of utilities by using IoT capabilities, advanced analytics, machine learning, and other forms of artificial intelligence (AI)) – are creating opportunities for a new era of vendors, delivering IT-enabled solutions.”
