Anthon Garcia

Across the Gulf, an events industry that had been tracking toward sustained expansion has been forced to recalibrate. Calendars cleared, revenues fell and companies that closed 2025 on a high have spent the first half of 2026 drawing down reserves and rethinking plans. The disruption is real, but so is the resolve to come back. The scale of the challenge is not lost on those managing it.

The global Islamic fintech market is worth $198 billion today. By 2029, according to the latest Global Islamic Fintech (GIFT) Report, it is expected to reach $341 billion. This market is growing at 11.5 percent annually, slightly faster than the broader fintech industry’s projected 11 percent rate. That trajectory says something real about the demand for Sharia-compliant digital financial services. However, it does not guarantee the industry gets there without friction.

The UAE’s Economic Integration Committee convened its second meeting of 2026 with a focused agenda. The goal was to tighten the connective tissue between federal and local governments. As a result, it would become measurably easier to start, scale, and sustain a business. The session was chaired by H.E. Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy and Tourism. He addressed two distinct but strategically linked priorities. First, he discussed strengthening the SME and startup ecosystem.