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DUBAI: Gulf Cooperation Council countries are taking substantial steps to diversify their economies based on a model of the economy of ideas, the World Governments Summit was told on Tuesday.

Multiple schemes and visions have been launched within the GCC, reflecting the region’s commitment to long-term economic diversification beyond the energy sector, economic ministers from the bloc said.

At the World Governments Summit 2025 annual meeting in Dubai, Saudi Economy Minister Faisal Alibrahim said that collaboration is essential among GCC member states and should not be seen as a weakness, but an opportunity.

“Economies such as logistics, healthcare and the new health tech, there’s agriculture, there’s agricultural tech, financial stocks and funds globally,” he added.

“It is important to recognize that GCC countries share common opportunities and challenges, so collaboration is key on both the regional and global levels. Integration should not be seen as a compromise, but a potential big opportunity on integration, on infrastructure and logistics policies,” said Albrahim.

Bahrain’s minister of finance and national economy, Salman Al-Khalifa, said: “Diversification means the need to reinvest, reinvent and lower our dependence on oil, nurture emerging sectors, but also to build new economic fields.”

Economic diversification has made the GCC resilient and boosted economic development, he added, highlighting that Saudi Arabia has made huge strides in that regard.

“Non-oil sectors made up 83 percent of Bahrain’s gross domestic product, and Bahrain is already investing in the future economy of human capital, technology and building a strong infrastructure for that, such as the first worldwide Data Sovereignty Law,” Al-Khalifa said.

“We are seeing great progress in non-oil sectors in the GCC; non-oil sectors now makes up 50 percent of the economy,” he added.

In the UAE, non-oil sectors now make up 74 percent of the economy and in Saudi Arabia, the figure stands at 70 percent, Al-Khalifa said.

The speakers highlighted the GCC’s falling reliance on oil and gas revenues by investing in renewable energy, technology and knowledge-based industries.

Discussions highlighted the need for sustainable economic policies that balance development with the preservation of natural resources for future generations.

GCC Secretary-General Jasem Al-Budaiwi said that the economy was a topic of discussion for everyone but the world was looking to the GCC for guidance.

“The world discovered a truth: We (the GCC) are, in fact, an economic entity. We are credible, we follow up on our word and as the GCC the world is listening to what we say, and following what we do,” he said.

Human capital is at the core of developing a sustainable economy in the GCC, Al-Khalifa said.

“First is the human capital. There is a need to make sure that the human capital we have in the GCC region is the finest human capital in global standards,” he added.

“The GCC has the most developed infrastructure, from the data center to telecom and cloud internet, and regulations are well suited for the economic transition from industrialized economies to an economy of ideas.

“There are many other examples, whether it is in fintech, whether it’s in logistics, whether it’s in technology, where governments can make a difference by exhausting the right set of regulations. So, those are the three things that we need to make sure that we’re always focused,” Al-Khalifa said.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that deepening regional economic integration and pooling resources together makes the GCC more powerful and creates healthy competition in the region.

“Trade among GCC countries grew rapidly; good exports tripled in the last decade to $70 million,” she added.

DUBAI: The International Monetary Fund remains committed to helping countries that need support in the MENA region with financing of $33 billion, IMF’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told the World Government Summit on Tuesday.

“Today the IMF is supporting over 50 vulnerable countries, half of them are in sub-Saharan Africa … more important is we help countries build the foundations to get on a better part,” Georgieva told the WGS during a session with Richard Quest, CNN correspondent and anchor.

“By the way, in this region, $33 billion, IMF is financing for countries that need that support,” she said.

When asked by Quest if she was concerned that inflation was going to resurge, the IMF’s top official said that there was a need to see how things evolved.

“If we are in a situation where in some parts of the world there is a slowdown that may push central banks to bring interest rates down, that actually may not be inflationary … there are many things that we don’t know, but what we do know is that we have a situation in which the US economy has been performing quite strongly and will likely continue to be strong and that pushes the dollar up,” Georgieva explained.

Addressing a packed hall during WGS’s first day, the IMF chief added that the US had outperformed the rest of the G20 members; the only economy to exceed its pre-pandemic trend.

“What does that mean? Capital is moving much more forcefully toward the US … before the pandemic many on the move went to many places, 18 percent went to the United States and today it is over 30 percent.

“So that is the foundation for a strong dollar, and a strong dollar all other things are equal for the majority of emerging markets and developing economies is trouble … so then we have inflationary impact,” she said.

The IMF sees a picture of a “remarkably resilient world economy despite a series of unprecedented shocks,” Georgieva said, elaborating that “we are projecting growth this year 3.3 percent and next year 3.3 percent.”

The Gulf countries were doing quite well, she said, but expressed more concern about “Europe, and some ... (places) are vulnerable emerging markets where they are doing less well.”

Another concern highlighted was “how the tremendous transformations that are happening in the world are integrated in countries’ policies.”

Taking AI as a case in point, Quest asked: “Do you see us having a good handle on the growth of new technologies?”

“So, we look at the front, what is happening with artificial intelligence? It can be a great story, a world that becomes more productive, or it can be a sad story, a world that is more divided … the haves have more, and the have-nots are completely lost.

“What we assess is that AI is already like a tsunami hitting the labor market in advanced economies … 60 percent of jobs over the next period of time will either enhance and become more productive, or transformed or eliminated,” she said. 

Georgieva added that there was a need to recognize that “we are in a multipolar world” so cooperation as it used to be “before when we had a world with one country dominating” was going to be different.

“We still have one economy that is the strongest (the US) but we also have many economies, emerging market economies that are moving forward much faster, usually because of the 3 Ds; deregulate, digitize and diversify. These islands of excellence need to connect more, and we at the IMF are actually promoting more inter-region and cross-region collaboration. I think it is a moment to recognize our host (the UAE) because they are absolutely fantastic in working with everybody,” she said.