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.
