How Well Can UAE and Gulf Family Businesses Make the Succession Transition?

The influence of family firms in the Middle East cannot be underestimated. They contribute about 60 per cent of the GCC’s GDP and employ more than 80 per cent of its workforce. Moreover, 90 per cent of the private sector in the UAE and Saudi Arabia consist of family-owned companies.

Such is their dominance that the future prosperity of the Middle East is arguably in their hands. Family firms will be responsible for steering the region through transition – as it moves from being an economy underpinned by oil reserves to one driven by technology and sustainability.

The debate around succession and governance has come to the fore. Partly driven by the unprecedented challenges flowing from the pandemic, both for the family’s business and the family itself. As a result, authorities across the GCC, in particular in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have had to step in and provide critical regulatory and legal support to help families and their businesses overcome, mitigate and resolve on a long-term basis some of these pertinent issues.

The wave of regulatory and legal support has been innovative, cutting edge and truly ground-breaking.

Read Faizal’s complete Gulf News article here