GCC economies are expected to rebound in 2022 after contraction this year, researcher Frost & Sullivan has said in a report. 
“They are expected to witness impressive growth through 2030, driven by global and regional mega trends,” Frost & Sullivan said in a recent regional analysis.
According to Frost & Sullivan, the pandemic and diminishing oil prices caused the contraction in 2020. However, in the optimistic scenario, there will be signs of economic recovery by Q2, 2021.
This will be due to Qatar and other member nations of the council emphasising economic diversion from the oil sector to non-oil sectors and strategy implementation to encourage private enterprises to invest in and develop projects across all major sectors of the economy. Advancement in technologies such as 5G, shift towards digital platforms and market places will pave the way for new business models.
The business environment in the region will experience a transformation that will have a far-reaching impact on economic trends and social dynamics.
Further, with the surge in digital penetration in the next decade, the GCC’s non-oil sectors – retail, healthcare, education, mega-event projects, and renewable energy – will continue to dominate the economy, which will lead to the emergence of “mega themes”, creating future opportunities in the region.
“Besides increasing mobile and internet penetration, several digital initiatives to improve city governance to citizens’ lifestyles will be the highlight of the region,” said Malabika Mandal, visionary innovation group consulting analyst at Frost & Sullivan.
“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, Mandal said.
“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 – decarburisation (use of renewable power, ie, less dependence on carbon), decentralisation (by deploying smart grids and advanced electricity storage and managing systems), and digitalisation (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,” Mandal said.