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By Nantoo Banerjee If global oil giant BP plc’s ‘Energy Outlook 2025’ proves to be true, India will be a global leader in energy consumption, outpacing all other countries by 2050. The country will account for 12 percent of the global demand, up from seven percent from 2023, according to BP’s chief economist Spencer Dale. […]

The article India Is At The Heart Of Driving The Global Energy Process appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).

Gulf states are emerging as influential players in digital assets, with governments across the region intensifying efforts to regulate cryptocurrencies, tokenisation and Web3 innovations. A growing number of jurisdictions are introducing licensing frameworks for virtual asset service providers, stablecoin regimes and asset-tokenisation structures, signalling a shift in strategy from reactive oversight to proactive design.

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates has introduced a Payment Token Services Regulation that obliges issuers, distributors and custodians of payment tokens to maintain full reserve backing, undergo mandatory licensing and meet robust anti-money-laundering and cybersecurity standards, thereby positioning the UAE as a regulatory pioneer in the region. Across the region, countries such as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have developed layered digital-asset frameworks, with Bahrain’s central bank among the earliest movers and Saudi launching fintech sandboxes and pilot token-asset schemes under its Vision 2030 plan.

Market data underline these developments. Analysis shows that between July 2023 and June 2024 the Middle East and North Africa region handled some US$338.7 billion in on-chain crypto value, accounting for approximately 7.5 per cent of global transaction volume. Institutional flows dominate: about 93 per cent of value transferred in the region came in amounts of US$10,000 or more.

Several regional platforms have obtained new licences under this regulatory push. The region’s first licensed crypto-asset service provider, Rain Financial Inc., has expanded its services under licence from both Bahrain’s regulator and Abu Dhabi’s ADGM-FSRA. In Bahrain, over 50 firms including nearly half focused on digital-assets are in discussions to establish operations under the Central Bank’s regime.

The tokenisation of real-world assets is gaining traction, with banks and global institutions exploring issuance of token-backed bonds, real estate and commodity-linked tokens. According to consultancy research, tokenisation could add as much as US$230 billion annually to MENA-region GDP. Major international exchanges and asset-managers are establishing footholds: for instance, the global exchange Binance uses the UAE as its regional base and has obtained a licence under Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority.

Despite this momentum, the region faces challenges. Implementation remains uneven: regulatory capacity across jurisdictions varies, local consumer-protection rules are still emerging and cybersecurity vulnerabilities in wallet providers and exchanges pose material risk. Energy-use and environmental impacts of crypto-mining have also drawn regulatory scrutiny: in one Gulf city, electricity consumption fell by over fifty per cent after enforcement of mining curbs.

Taxation and corporate-governance issues are also under development. In Saudi Arabia individuals currently pay no capital-gains tax on crypto, though businesses may face up to 15 per cent tax with corporate income taxed at 20 per cent plus a 2.5 per cent zakat levy. Given the youth-skewed demographics of Gulf markets and high smartphone penetration, regulators see digital-assets as both a diversification lever and a conduit to broader fintech innovation.

For global crypto and Web3 players the Gulf region offers a combination of clear regulation, large capital pools and government-driven ambition. However firms must navigate rigorous licensing conditions, reserve-backing rules, AML frameworks and evolving governance standards. The regulatory focus on stability and consumer protection underscores that the region expects digital-asset innovation to be embedded in mainstream finance rather than existing outside it.

Gulf Cooperation Council states are positioning themselves to tap into the projected $2 trillion global sports tourism market by 2030, with a new PwC Middle East study underlining the region’s evolving role from event host to year-round destination.

According to the report Game on for the GCC – Turning sporting ambition into lasting tourism impact, the region already boasts world-class events such as the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and a string of Formula 1 races, and now aims to leverage that prestige to build sustained tourism flows.

The global sports tourism market is estimated to account for 10 percent of all tourism spending and is expected to surpass $2 trillion by 2030. GCC nations are racing to convert episodic sporting moments into immersive fan experiences, integrated visitor journeys and continuous attraction pipelines.

Saudi Arabia is emerging as the region’s most aggressive investor in sport, with projections that its domestic sports economy may grow from about $8 billion to $22.4 billion by 2030—creating around 39,000 jobs and adding over $13 billion to GDP. The Kingdom’s Vision 2030 reforms emphasise sports as a diversifier of its oil-dependent economy.

Across the GCC, national governments, sovereign wealth funds, private investment and public-private partnerships are converging. According to PwC’s Global Sports Survey 2024, the Middle East now commands 24 percent of global sports investments, a notable shift in capital flows toward the Gulf.

To sustain momentum, the report argues, GCC states must go beyond marquee events and build a resilient sports tourism ecosystem. That means aligning infrastructure, regulation, destination branding, transport and hospitality standards—not just for big events but for ongoing seasonal and niche attractions.

Qatar’s experience is instructive. The 2022 World Cup is estimated to have generated between $2.3 billion and $4.1 billion in tourism spending and broadcast revenues, contributing $1.6 billion to $2.4 billion in GDP impact. But the challenge is to retain visitor engagement in non-World Cup years.

In that respect, the PwC analysis calls for “sport-led destinations” combining competition, culture and entertainment. The aim is to extend visitor stays, unlock repeat visitation and cross-sell other forms of tourism—heritage, wellness, sustainability and cultural experiences.

Women’s sports are emerging as a key growth frontier. In the GCC, 85 percent of sports executives expect double-digit growth in women’s sports revenues over the coming years. Investment in female participation, media rights and sponsorship is viewed as critical to widening the revenue base.

Yet several constraints loom. Many Gulf states rely heavily on imported talent in event operations, face seasonal desert climates, and must balance aggressive development with long-term maintenance costs. Ensuring accessibility, connectivity and visa ease are also essential for maintaining global appeal.

One forward move: GCC officials have greenlit a Schengen-style unified tourist visa scheme to allow seamless travel across member states—an effort aimed at boosting cross-border “bleisure” travel and strengthening regional integration of tourism flows.

Meanwhile, event diversification is underway. Saudi Arabia recently launched the Esports Nations Cup, with the inaugural edition slated for Riyadh in November 2026, expecting participation from over 100 nations and some 1,500 players across multiple titles. The country’s wider gaming and esports strategy is aligned with broader youth, technology and cultural industry goals.

Macau has unveiled an integrated resort-hospital at Studio City, combining high-end medical services with entertainment in a move aimed at redefining medical tourism. The facility, operated by Hong Kong’s iRad in partnership with Melco Resorts, features on-site MRI and CT capabilities within a 15,000 sq ft footprint — a first of its kind globally.

This development marks a deliberate pivot in Macau’s strategy to reduce its dependence on gambling revenues by cultivating alternate growth sectors. The resort hospital offers health screening, diagnostic imaging, longevity treatments, aesthetic services and medical concierge offerings, positioning itself as a premium healthcare destination linked to leisure.

Melco’s chairman and CEO, Lawrence Ho, described the facility as both “the world’s first and Macau’s only hospital with MRI and CT facilities within an integrated resort,” emphasising its alignment with the local government’s “1+4” economic diversification framework. The facility is located inside Studio City, one of Melco’s flagship casino-resorts.

The Macau administration has endorsed the venture as part of a broader push to transform the city into “one centre” that integrates tourism, medical services and other growth industries. The hospital is expected to attract visitors who might extend their stays and spend more across the city’s hospitality and leisure ecosystem.

While the resort hospital is a novel concept, Macau already maintains a public health infrastructure comprising three hospitals: Conde S. Januário, Kiang Wu and Macau University of Science and Technology Hospital. The new facility, however, is unique in being embedded within a casino resort environment and dedicated primarily to elective, wellness and diagnostic services.

Industry observers note that iRad’s entry signals confidence in the region’s potential to capture high-value medical travellers — especially those seeking convenience, privacy and a fusion of health and leisure experiences. Hong Kong’s leading imaging diagnostics group, iRad, became part of Black Spade Capital’s portfolio in 2021, positioning it to spearhead this cross-border integration.

Some specialists caution that success will depend on regulatory approvals, insurance linkages, and quality accreditation. Converting high net-worth travellers into medical tourists requires trust in outcomes, cost transparency and continuity of care. Macau’s public hospitals already contend with capacity pressures; the resort hospital will need to clarify patient referral protocols and emergency support linkages.

The RNTrust Group is set to roll out its digital-trust architecture under the banner “Infinite Trust” at GITEX Global 2025 in Dubai. The offering is built around three flagship technology pillars—BOAT orchestration, cyber-intelligence, and stratum-level time synchronisation—aimed at solving friction points faced by large enterprises operating across complex, digital ecosystems.

At the core of the strategy is Coopera BOAT, RNTrust’s enterprise orchestration and automation engine, which integrates bots, APIs, microservices, content, case-management, and AI agents under a unified platform. The company positions BOAT as a successor to legacy BPM and ECM systems, enabling long-running and cross-domain workflows across IT and business domains. Integrated AI and generative flows help with decision intelligence and unstructured data extraction. RNTrust claims the platform aligns with market forecasts that predict the orchestration market will expand markedly in the coming years.

Complementing BOAT is ThreatLeap, a cyber threat intelligence and compliance platform operating 24/7 to scan external attack surfaces, detect leaks, misconfigurations, phishing domains and advanced threats, and flag compliance gaps across regulations such as NIS2, DORA, GDPR and PCI-DSS. The system is portrayed as proactive, intended to reduce risk exposure rather than simply respond to incidents.

Lastly, the group is spotlighting StratumOne, a time-synchronisation solution leveraging GNSS signals, atomic clocks and precision engineering to deliver nanosecond-level accuracy. Target sectors include finance, telecoms, 5G networks and critical infrastructure where time precision is essential.

RNTrust leadership will host product demos and discussions at the Novotel World Trade Centre during the expo, targeting CIOs, CISOs, system integrators and partner firms. The platform claims deployments and partnerships across the GCC, Europe and the U. S., drawing on R&D centres in Southeast Europe, Italy and the UAE.

The company frames “Infinite Trust” as a unification strategy—bringing orchestration, security and timing coherence into a cohesive architecture that can scale across diverse enterprise landscapes. This positioning aims to appeal to large organisations wrestling with digital transformation, hybrid workloads, compliance burdens and the growing attack surface of distributed systems.

Market watchers note that digital trust is becoming a key battleground for software and cybersecurity vendors. The integration of orchestration and security is a direction echoed by peers embedding zero-trust and AI decision engines into automation platforms. The time-sync component adds a niche yet strategic dimension, tapping into sectors where precision timing is a regulatory and technical requirement.

Genians and RASInfotech are set to showcase a unified cybersecurity stack centred on Network Access Control, Endpoint Detection & Response and Universal Zero Trust Network Access at GITEX 2025, positioning their approach as a path to measurable security outcomes in the Middle East and Africa.

At the heart of their presentation is the proposition that NAC is not just an access control tool but a foundational anchor for Zero Trust adoption. With RASInfotech acting as their MEA distributor, Genians claims to deliver seamless transitions from on-premises NAC systems to cloud-managed deployment models with no operational downtime, while extending enforcement to both IT and OT environments.

Genians’ EDR offering, emphasised as on-premises to satisfy data sovereignty demands, is promoted as a complement to NAC—working together to fortify visibility, threat response, and enforcement. Executives point to deployments in sectors such as government, healthcare and retail across the MEA region to validate their approach.

Cybersecurity demand in the region is rising sharply. The Middle East cyber market is projected to expand significantly in coming years. Observers note that adversaries are increasingly adopting AI-driven techniques such as deepfake phishing, polymorphic malware and supply chain intrusions, making traditional perimeter defences inadequate. At GITEX, solutions built on identity, device context and continuous monitoring are gaining traction.

To that end, Genians intends to demonstrate how NAC and EDR modules integrate into a unified Zero Trust architecture—eschewing fragmented SASE modules in favour of a cohesive platform. Their roadmap emphasises enforcement from the network layer outwards, rather than additive overlays. The company also claims to have identified threat campaigns—such as a North Korean cyber espionage operation leveraging ChatGPT—that its platform is capable of detecting and analysing, reinforcing its real-world efficacy.

Regional support is central to Genians’ strategy. RASInfotech maintains a technical support centre in India to offer 24/7 engineering backup across time zones, while a regional Korean government–backed cybersecurity initiative taps Genians and partner vendors to strengthen regional infrastructure resilience. The collaboration is framed around “regional sovereignty” in data control and local compliance alignment.

Within the channel ecosystem, the role of integrators and resellers is evolving. Traditional resellers are being pushed to become resilience architects—advisors that guide enterprises from legacy infrastructure to Zero Trust, rather than merely deploying point products. Genians and RASInfotech are reportedly investing in partner training, labs, and enablement to support that shift.