Bangladesh plans to offer Pakistan a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for investment during the ninth Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting scheduled for October 27 in Dhaka, according to officials from the Economic Relations Division (ERD).

The meeting, the first in nearly two decades, is expected to focus on enhancing bilateral trade and cooperation, particularly in textiles, agriculture, and halal food production, sectors where both countries see strong potential for collaboration.

“This is a warm-up meeting between the two nations after almost 20 years,” said Dr Mizanur Rahman, additional secretary at the ERD. “We hope Dhaka and Islamabad will reach a consensus on boosting trade, investment, and overall economic cooperation.”

Bangladesh’s delegation will be led by finance adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, joined by special assistant to chief adviser Dr Anisuzzaman and ERD secretary Shahriar Kader Siddiky, while Pakistan’s delegation will be headed by federal minister for economic cooperation Ahad Khan Cheema, officials confirmed.

Officials said the two countries are expected to discuss joint ventures in halal food production aimed at expanding exports to overseas markets. The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) and the Pakistan Halal Authority (PHA) are also likely to sign a cooperation agreement to promote halal certification and industry growth.

According to ERD officials, reducing the trade imbalance will also be a key discussion point. In fiscal year 2025, Bangladesh imported $787 million worth of goods from Pakistan but exported only $80 million, highlighting a significant deficit.

Bangladesh will seek duty- and quota-free access for key products including jute, pharmaceuticals, ready-made garments, electronics, and tea, in a bid to diversify and strengthen exports to Pakistan.

The JEC meeting marks a thaw in bilateral relations after years of political distance. The last such meeting took place in September 2005, but subsequent sessions were postponed as ties cooled under the Awami League government, which took power in 2009.

Relations began to improve following the fall of the Awami League government in 2024, after which several high-level Pakistani delegations visited Dhaka. 

Officials in Dhaka say the renewed engagement and the upcoming JEC meeting could set the stage for deeper trade, investment, and industrial cooperation between the two South Asian nations.

Pakistan and Malaysia signed six agreements to strengthen bilateral cooperation during Pakistan premier Shahbaz Sharif’s first state visit to the Southeast Asian country. 

The agreements included memorandum of understandings on higher education, tourism, halal certification, small and medium enterprises as well as combating and preventing corruption.

Both sides memorialized cooperation to train diplomats, too.

Malaysia announced a $200 million quota for meat exports from Pakistan which, the Pakistan premier assured, will be regulated by market price mechanisms and comply with halal certification requirements set forth by Malaysian authorities. 

The two countries agreed to continue to explore new avenues for collaboration across sectors covering IT and telecom, halal industry, connectivity, green energy, electrical and electronic manufacturing, climate change and agriculture. 

The Pakistani premier’s visit comes a year after Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim’s state visit to Pakistan. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to expand bilateral cooperation, with particular focus on strengthening economic and trade ties.

The Malaysian premier said both nations saw potential in deepening ties in defense, agriculture, energy and digital technologies, against the current backdrop of geopolitical uncertainties. 

Speaking to state-run Associated Press of Pakistan, Sardar Tahir, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry head, said both countries can enhance bilateral trade to $5 billion in the next three years. 

Trade between the two countries reached $1.76 billion in 2024, soaring 25.5% year-on-year. Key Malaysian export products include palm oil, petroleum and chemical items, while imports cover textile, apparel, footwear and petroleum items.

The Southeast Asian country aims to increase palm oil exports to Pakistan to fulfil increasing demand within domestic food processing and manufacturing sectors. 

Malaysia and Pakistan established diplomatic relations in 1957, which elevated to a strategic partnership in 2019.
 

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company was the most active sovereign investor across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) during the first nine months of 2025, as the region gains prominence as a hotbed of economic activity and financial strength. 

MENA sovereign investors ploughed $56.3 billion in 97 transactions from the beginning of January through September, Global SWF said in its 2025 MENA Playbook launched on Wednesday.

MENA SWF activity made up about 40 per cent of all global activity, with over a third of the capital deployed in the US, 28% across Europe, including the UK, and 16% domestically. 

Mubadala invested $17.4 billion, followed by Abu Dhabi Investment Office, which spend $9.6 billion. They were trailed by Qatar Investment Authority ($7.6 billion), Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund ($6.2 billion) and Abu Dhabi's ADQ ($4.8 billion).

The funds, dubbed as the Oil Five, in the report, comprised 81% of all sovereign dealmaking across the MENA region, with Abu Dhabi’s three wealth funds funds comprising more than half of it. 

On balance, state-owned investors − which includes SWFs, public pension funds and central banks – spend $8.2 trillion in the nine months through September. While it was a modest increase over 2024’s $8 trillion, MENA state-owned investment is projected to reach $12 trillion by 2030. 

Inbound capital from global state-owned investors into MENA remains limited, despite recent partnerships with Canada’s La Caisse and investments by Singapore’s GIC and China’s CIC.

“The war has made it worse, as Norway’s NBIM, the world’s largest SWF, recently sold $2.8 billion of Israel-related stocks. However, governments across the region - especially in the GCC - are making significant efforts to attract offices of asset managers," the report added. 
 

Saudi Arabia is expected to record a fiscal deficit of $44.2 billion (166 billion Saudi riyals) next year, the kingdom’s finance ministry has estimated.

The deficit for 2026, estimated at 3.3% of the kingdom’s gross domestic product, is a sharp drop from 5.3% projected for this year. 

Despite the projected deficit for 2026, the government will continue to adopt “expansionary spending policies that are contrary to the economic cycle”, the finance ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The funds will be directed towards national priorities with social and economic impact. 

Government revenues for 2026 are expected to total $305 billion (1.147 trillion Saudi riyals), with expenditures totalling $350 billion (1.313 trillion Saudi riyals). Inflation is set to rise 2.3% this year, before dipping to 2% in 2026. 

Total revenues are expected to reach about $345 billion (1.294 trillion riyals) in 2028, with total expenditures estimated to touch $378 billion (1.419 trillion riyals) the same year. 

Mohammed Aljadaan, Saudi minister of finance, said that the kingdom’s ratio of public debt to GDP is still at relatively low levels compared to other economies, and that it is within safe limits compared to the size of the economy, and supported by financial reserves.

The government continues to support economic growth by continuing development projects and implementing national strategies and motivating the private sector to be an effective partner in development, he added. 

Saudi economy is expected to grow 4.4% this year, according to ministry data, higher than the International Monetary Fund’s July projection of 3.6%. The fund expects the kingdom’s GDP to grow by 3.9% in 2026, lower than the ministry’s projections of 4.6%. 

The kingdom has been running budget deficits since 2022, as reduced oil revenues squeeze state coffers. Brent crude, which serves as a benchmark for roughly two-thirds of the world's crude oil supplies, dipped nearly 14% since the beginning of the year. 

Saudi Arabia needs oil to be north of $92 per barrel this year and at $86.6 per barrel in 2026 to balance its books, according to the IMF. It is currently hovering around $65 per barrel mark, well below levels needed for fiscal equilibrium. 
 

Tehran and Moscow have signed an agreement to construct small nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Iran. 

The memorandum of understanding was signed between Alexey Likhachev, CEO of Rosatom State Corporation and Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, in Moscow. 

The two nuclear officials discussed the progress of ongoing projects and cooperation prospects in peaceful nuclear energy, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported. 

Eslami, who is also Iran's vice president, recently spoke of the plan to construct eight nuclear power plants backed by Russia as Tehran seeks to reach 20 gigawatts of nuclear energy capacity by 2040.

“We will visit the facilities of the contracting parties and hold meetings with scientific and research institutions on ways to strengthen research and educational interactions and relations,” Iranian news agency cited Eslami as saying, at the beginning of his Russia trip. 

The latest agreement precedes the pacts signed in 1992 between the two countries, on nuclear energy cooperation and the continuation of the construction of the nuclear plant near the Southern Iran city of Bushehr. The first power unit was connected to the grid in September 2011 and handed over to Iran two years later.

The Russian state corporation is constructing the Bushehr plant at present. In November 2014, a contract to construct the second stage of the NPP was signed, constituting the second and third VVER-1000 power units. The two power units are expected to be put into operation in 2025 and 2027, respectively.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has restated the country's commitment to peaceful nuclear pursuits, adding that Iran has no goal to develop a nuclear weapon. 

"We are not pursuing nuclear weapons, and this is a principled belief backed by a religious decree from the Leader. As a result, we have never sought weapons of mass destruction, and we never will do so,” the premier said at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.

Tehran is prepared to permit inspection of its nuclear activities within the bounds of international regulations and its entitlement under law, the Iran president added on the sidelines of the event. 

Water scarcity is affecting countries across the world and is becoming increasingly front of mind with governments.

Global water demand has more than doubled since 1960, driven by population growth and industrialization. Water stress, defined as the share of renewable water withdrawn, reveals how tight the balance has become: “high” stress means at least 40% of resources are used yearly, while “extreme” stress means 80% or more.

According to the latest figures from WRI’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, 25 nations, home to roughly a quarter of the world’s population, are under extreme water pressure.

Around four billion people globally experience high water stress for at least one month annually, highlighting how widespread the shortage has become.

Muslim countries feature prominently in the list of the most water-stressed countries. Across the 57 member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), many countries now rely on costly stopgaps like desalination and fossil groundwater. 

This article explores the ten most water-stressed OIC countries, ranked by the UN’s SDG 6.4.2 indicator, which measures freshwater withdrawals as a percentage of available renewable resources. Anything above 25% signals severe stress; above 100% means withdrawals exceed natural supply. 

Kuwait
With just 4.83 cubic meters of renewable water per person annually, Kuwait’s natural supply is effectively zero. By contrast, the Falkenmark index defines 500 m³ as the threshold for “absolute scarcity.” Kuwait’s staggering 3,851% water stress score means its withdrawals are almost forty times higher than its renewable supply. All this demand is met through desalination, powered by oil and gas. While desalination guarantees taps do not run dry, it comes with high costs that threaten fragile Gulf ecosystems. 

United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is close behind, with a stress score of 1,667%. Like Kuwait, it sits on almost no renewable water - just 15.57 m³ per capita. Desalination has enabled this desert country to grow rapidly, but the risks are mounting. The UAE has invested in recycling wastewater and promoting water efficiency in agriculture, but the reality is that its natural endowment cannot support its population without permanent technological intervention.

Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia withdraws water at 993% of its renewable supply. With per-capita availability of just 71 m³, it falls deep into absolute scarcity.

For decades, the kingdom pursued self-sufficiency in wheat and other crops by pumping ancient non-renewable aquifers. That policy drained reserves at unsustainable rates and was eventually abandoned, but its legacy endures: vast tracts of desert now bear the scars of empty wells.

Today, Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest producer of desalinated water, and food security has shifted from local production to imports. But even desalination has limits, both environmental and financial. Rising demand, climate change, and energy transition pressures make the kingdom’s water future precarious.

Libya
In Libya, water stress stands at 817%, with just 105 m³ per capita of renewable supply. The country relies almost entirely on the Great Man-Made River Project, a colossal pipeline system that taps into fossil aquifers beneath the Sahara. Built in the 1980s, it once symbolized national pride and self-reliance. Today, the system is crumbling under the strain of war, neglect, and over-extraction.

Qatar
Qatar, despite its wealth, faces water stress of 431%. Per-capita renewable water stands at just 20.85 m³, among the lowest in the world. Like its Gulf neighbors, it has built an economy reliant on desalination, but with additional vulnerability: agriculture consumes a disproportionate share of water, even as local production remains limited.

Yemen
With a stress score of 170% and just 74 m³ per person, Yemenis face chronic shortages even in the best of times. Conflict has destroyed water infrastructure, leaving millions without safe access.

Algeria
Algeria records water stress of 138%. With 276 m³ per person, it is in absolute scarcity, worsened by erratic rainfall and climate variability. Agriculture consumes more than 70% of withdrawals, making the country especially vulnerable to drought. Algeria has invested in desalination and dams, but these measures are playing catch-up against demand that already outstrips renewable supply.

Bahrain
Bahrain faces water stress of 134% with per-capita renewable availability of just 74 m³. Historically reliant on underground aquifers, Bahrain has seen those reserves salinized by seawater intrusion. Today, desalination provides most drinking water, but the ecological costs of brine discharge weigh heavily on the surrounding marine environment.

Egypt
Even with the Nile, Egypt, with a population of over 110 million, is experiencing water stress. Its renewable supply amounts to just 584 m³ per person. Egypt’s stress score is 117%, meaning it withdraws more than the river can sustainably provide. Rapid population growth, upstream pressures from Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam, and climate change-induced variability in Nile flows are intensifying the strain. 

Oman
Rounding out the list is Oman, with stress at 117% and just 290 m³ per person. The country’s traditional aflaj irrigation systems, recognized as UNESCO heritage, have long allowed Omanis to live with scarce water.

But modern pressures - urban growth, rising consumption, and industrial demand - are pushing the system to breaking point. Oman has turned to desalination, yet its water balance remains fragile.

Looking ahead
Even under an optimistic climate scenario where global temperatures rise only 1.3°C to 2.4°C (2.3 °F to 4.3 °F) by 2100, another billion people could be living under extremely high water stress by 2050. Over the same period, global water demand is forecast to climb 20–25%, and the number of watersheds with highly unpredictable year-to-year supplies is expected to grow by about 19%.

The numbers make clear the need for multi-layered solutions, including better governance, reduced agricultural demand, investment in recycling and efficiency, and regional cooperation on shared rivers and aquifers.

The OIC, as a bloc, has an opportunity to lead in fostering the political cooperation that is often lacking in transboundary water management. Without that, the region risks turning water from a source of life into a trigger for conflict.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday after the Israeli military said it carried out a strike targeting Hamas leadership in Qatar’s capital Doha, widening its years-long military operations across the Middle East. 

Brent crude futures hit a session high of $67.30 at 3.01pm GMT time, before settling at $66.42. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures shot to a session high of $63.58 before settling at $62.67.

Qatar said that the attack on the residential headquarters of several members of Hamas’ political bureau, was a “flagrant violation of all international laws and norms” and presented a serious threat to national security. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt read a statement Tuesday during the press briefing in which she said that unilaterally bombing inside Qatar does not advance Israel or America's goals.

Qatari Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani spoke with US President Donald Trump, who expressed his solidarity and assured that such a thing will not happen again on Qatari soil.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states, too, condemned the Israeli attack.

The oil benchmarks were already trading higher before the attacks, bolstered by a decision by producer group OPEC+ to opt for a modest output hike.