Iraq's Wasit province issues tender for 3,000 MW renewable energy projects
Iraq's Wasit province has launched tenders for more than 25 renewable energy projects with a combined capacity of 3,000 megawatts (MW), targeting both solar and wind power generation.
International companies are invited to submit investment bids starting 4 May 2025, with the submission window open for 30 days, according to an Arabic language news report by 964media.com.
The announcement was made during the province's First Conference on the Transition to Clean Energy where investment opportunities were outlined for all districts and sub-districts in the province. The report didn't provide further details.
(Writing by Majda Muhsen; Editing by Anoop Menon)
(anoop.menon@lseg.com)
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Campaign ME
11 hours ago
- Campaign ME
Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Leaders reach a consensus on critical marketing strategies
Campaign Middle East has successfully concluded its third event of the year – Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Marketing Strategies 2025 – which witnessed a room full of client-side marketers, agency and adtech leaders reaching a consensus to get back to the fundamentals of curiosity, creativity, consumer-first mindsets and cold hard business outcomes at the Grand Plaza Mövenpick in Dubai Media City on 29 May. The event began with a look at the fundamental shift towards 'outcomes' to drive business impact. Panel discussions at the event also dissected human-first approaches, personalisation, and the importance of brand fundamentals as channels fragment at speed. Panelists discussed how B2B and B2C expectations are converging, and how AI is increasingly shaping how audiences discover and interact with content and brands. Marketers and industry leaders also discussed the benefits of a fragmented media landscape, the shift from traditional media to precision media, the impact of AI on marketing strategies and the need for brands to adapt to consumer behaviour in an era when consumer attention is fleeting. Challenges around cross-channel measurement were voiced and the potential of creative storytelling and innovative marketing strategies were reinforced. Additionally, the 'education piece' and cultural relevance were discussed while keeping an eye on brand and business outcomes as well as creative ambition. Panellists discussed how to craft creative campaigns that not only inspire but also drive tangible results and resonate deeply with diverse communities. Here's an in-depth look into how the event – organised by Motivate Media Group's Campaign Middle East, in partnership with Bloomberg Media, Platformance, and SRMG Media Solutions – panned out: Welcome speech The event began with a welcome speech by Nadeem Quraishi, Publisher, Campaign Middle East, who briefed the attendees about the brand's latest developments. Quraishi introduced Campaign Middle East's first bilingual edition of The Saudi Report, which marked the brand's first inclusion of Arabic-language content in print in its 16-year history. He also announced the official launch of the brand's Arabic-language website, expanding its digital offering to better serve audiences across the region. He shared the latest details about Campaign Middle East's Agency of the Year Awards, which is scheduled to take place on 11 December in Dubai, as well as about Athar Festival 2025, which is set to be bigger and bolder this year with more than 3,000 attendees, more than 150 speakers, more than 80 activations, and several new zones such as content creation, AI, production, and luxury brand marketing, among others. Chair's opening remarks Campaign Middle East Editor Anup Oommen then took the stage to deliver the chair's opening remarks. He discussed how marketers need to add a 'protein shake' of marketing strategy to their diet — blending creativity, culture, credibility and storytelling. Oommen detailed how generative AI, agentic AI, shopping agents and other AI tools are revolutionising the full marketing funnel, before calling for marketers to embrace change, try-test-and-scale strategies, and choose to upskill quickly rather than relying on what worked in the past. 'If time, attention and engagement are the marketing battlegrounds of the present, then consumer-first approaches of trust and empathy will be the marketing battlegrounds of the near future. Transactional relationships in the market absolutely won't make the cut any more. The industry requires meaningful partnerships with stakeholders across the supply chain; and brands need to resonate more deeply and more personally with communities and individuals,' he said. Calling it a 'challenging path' but one that is brimming with opportunity for those willing to lead the charge, Oommen added, 'Although this may sound very uncomfortable – we must embrace change, choose to educate ourselves, harness technology and cultivate marketing strategies that are both meaningful and measurable.' Keynote: The outcomes graph: Why the future of marketing is not where you advertise, but what it delivers Getting the event started, Wade Eagar, Chief Marketing Officer, took the attendees on a journey into the Outcomes Graph, exploring the shift from media placement to business impact. Eager highlighted the importance of outcome driven marketing, calling for a return to keeping the end-goal-in-mind instead of being focused on a budget-first approach. He also stressed on the need for cross-functional collaboration and performance-driven strategies to to shift the focus from mere metrics to business business outcomes. 'Outcome is a fundamental shift going back to how we drive business value,' Eager said. 'Start with the outcome, not the brief. Measure what you own — and this is the piece I want to bring home — move away from focusing only on the external data that we spend so much time measuring and building a nice story around, and move towards the internal data that shows up on the P&L. However, it's not about throwing the baby out with the bathwater, it's about stitching these two together to align with business outcomes.' He also called for marketers to become a lot more 'commercial' in the sense of learning to work cross-functionally. As a result, there's a shift coming through where marketers are asking: What does the business need, rather than how can we deliver a brief based on the given budget? 'The new marketer is not asking is it brand versus performance — they're looking at both; they're not getting rid of the creative — they're asking for the creative to perform; they're not saying get rid of the data — they're asking for value within the data rather than volume. At the end of the day, we need to understand our customers, and help them to take an exit that drives business value,' Eager concluded. Panel 1: Next-gen marketing: Personalisation, AI and the blurring lines of B2B and B2C The first panel discussion of the day witnessed multiple client-side marketers leading the charge, including: Aimee Peters , Regional Head of Brand, Partnerships and Wholesale Marketing, MENAT, HSBC , Regional Head of Brand, Partnerships and Wholesale Marketing, MENAT, Loay Nour, Vice President – Brand and Marketing Communications, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Vice President – Brand and Marketing Communications, Sohail Nawaz, MBE, Head of Retail Media, Landmark Group, and Head of Retail Media, and Virginie Ludmer, Director of Marketing & PR, Volkswagen Middle East The panel, powered by Bloomberg Media and moderated by Emily Bentley, Head of Client Marketing, MEA at Bloomberg Media, discussed ways to navigate complex B2B sign-off chains to meeting B2C's demand for deeper, more meaningful connections, using strategies that engage with both humans and machines. The session also explored how to create campaigns that are not only intelligent and personalised, but also authentic, locally resonant and built for a landscape where trust, nuance and relevance matter more than ever. Aimee Peters emphasised the importance of brand fundamentals as channels fragment at speed, calling for marketers to hold on to old-school essentials, including curiosity, creativity, empathy and 'cold hard business outcomes'. Peters explained, 'The curiosity about why people do the things that they do is always going to underpin everything. The ability to challenge is always critical. But you can't constructively challenge if you're not curious and if you're not thinking about humans,' Peters said. 'We have to market to be human, first and foremost. But as we get deeper into sort of proposition-level marketing, we start to distinguish through much more personalised campaigns, which is where the distinction becomes much more apparent. However, the critical piece is that we need to think about being human-first.' The discussion also explored how personalisation has progressed from predictive AI — figuring out the best time to send that prospective and speculative marketing email moving into generative AI, where AI crafts bespoke content — to an era of Agentic AI, where shopping agents reach out to consumers on their birthdays, asking about their celebration plans and then taking care of their outfit shopping, from discovery to purchase and having it delivered all before they head out to celebrate. Speaking about the need for 'secret cyborgs' to be celebrated, Sohail Nawaz, MBE, explained, 'Secret cyborgs are those people who are using AI, but nobody knows they are using AI because they're not telling you what they're using. This is interesting at a time where business leadership is figuring out a clear policy on what they ought to do with AI and the governance around it. In such a context, there needs to be a lab set-up within the business environment that pulls these secret cyborgs to test AI tools.' He added, 'These stealth employees using AI are now becoming pioneers in new AI lab environments that companies are setting up, even as leadership teams set out their clear vision for AI's impact on the workplace and organisation. What does this teach us? Don't wait to be an AI expert — just be AI active.' Addressing the conversation around business-to-business (B2B) audiences and business-to-consumer (B2C) audiences, Loay Nour said, 'We make sure that whenever we create any campaign that we take into consideration the two audiences and the channels — especially as we go through the creation of the process. What's interesting is not only B2C and B2B audiences, which we always think about, but also how to create a funnel for B2B2C, because they become your advocates to promote your brand and your campaign.' Wrapping up the discussion well on the blurring lines between B2B and B2C, Virginie Ludmer said, 'At the end of the day, the brand promise is the same. At the end of the day, we're all looking to enhance the customer experience. Whether we're working alongside our dealerships, in terms of B2B, or our consumers, in terms of B2C, we need to really ensure that their success is also our success — together.' To view the panel discussion in its entirety, stay tuned for the full video of the Campaign Breakfast Briefing that will be added to this article shortly. Panel 2: Fragmented media landscape: A boon or a bane for marketing in the Middle East? The second panel, conducted in partnership with SRMG Media Solutions, and moderated by Nader Bitar, Director of Digital Solutions, SRMG, welcomed to the stage, Mitin Chakraborty , Head of Marketing , Babyshop, Nikola Djordjevic, Head of Marketing, ASICS Arabia, Andrew Ene , Head of Performance, Spark Foundry MENA, and , Head of Performance, and Anjana Murali, Associate Director – Growth & Best Practices, Keyade Middle East The panellists delved into an in-depth discussion on capturing attention and connecting with consumers in a fragmented media landscape; identifying core target audiences and the most relevant media channels to reach them; as well as developing a cohesive brand story that can be consistently communicated across chosen media touchpoints. Nikola Djordjevic said, 'We have all seen a major shift in the way customers consume media and entertainment, and we all need to be where these customers and consumers are. These people don't want to be passive consumers of media on traditional channels such as television anymore; they want to consume on the go and whenever and wherever they choose. So, I think, we as brands need to evolve, as well. It's not about going omnichannel every time. Instead, we need to pick our battles and choose the best medium contextually at a given moment of time depending on where — and when — the consumer wants it.' Mitin Chakraborty built on this discussion, calling for brands to pick and choose channels that are relevant to the brand, and based on what's relevant to the customer and to the category. 'I think that magical mix is what we need – a mix of logic and magic; a mix of the art and the science, which is super critical,' Chakraborty said. 'I think it goes back to always us as marketers, really identifying: What's the problem that we're trying to solve? Now, there are those who may call it grand idea to focus on purpose, but I think it's very important if you're trying to chase brand equity within this fragmented space, It's very important for us to know what is our biggest story, and how that is being translated across every touch point for our customers.' During the discussion, Andrew Ene also shared how the marketers' mindsets have now shifted to multi-channel more than omnichannel, especially since the latter is a term that has been overused through the years. Ene said, 'Omnichannel is more about what's the brand truth that you're trying to communicate to the consumer, and how do you make sure that you communicate that brand truth consistently across every touch point that the consumer engages with. However, when you're thinking of multi-channel strategies, you're thinking about making a choice about where you have the right to win based on where the consumers are at in a fragmented media landscape, and then crafting a story that touches all of those points.' Anjana Murali added, 'The way we fundamentally think about marketing is shifting. Quite often, we find ourselves as marketers sitting in a room to identify five personas that match our brand. However, if you're thinking of narrowing all of your target audiences into merely five personas, you're already missing out. This is where algorithms and AI come into the picture. They can predict and reach people far better than we used to do, and can do.' She continues, 'However, just because AI and algorithms seem to be doing the heavy lifting, it doesn't mean some of us marketers can take a nap. It's important to marry the two together — what AI can do and what we bring to the table in terms of our experience, the creative, understanding the feedback, leveraging what message resonates with the user, and more. That creative and strategic input still lies with us — and that's why at the core, we are still needed.' Before the panel concluded, Chakraborty also highlighted standardised measurement as a common pain point that needs to be addressed on priority — a problem that's becoming a road block for marketers trying to join the dots in terms of decision-making around platforms, providers and an ideal full-funnel approach. To view the panel discussion in its entirety, stay tuned for the full video of the Campaign Breakfast Briefing that will be added to this article shortly. Fireside chat: Balancing creative ambition, business objectives, and community-driven demand for relevance The final discussion of the event, a fireside chat with marketers, explored ways to measure the effectiveness of cultural relevance within campaigns, while simultaneously staying aligned with broader brand and business objectives. The fireside chat, moderated by Anup Oommen, Editor, Campaign Middle East, welcomed on stage two client-side marketers, including, Iva Kutle Škrlec , Director, Destination Marketing, Hilton MEA, and , Director, Destination Marketing, and Remya Menon, Associate Director of Marketing, Bayut Iva Kutle Škrlec said, 'I think the whole cultural relevance piece starts by defining what that means for your brand and what you're trying to achieve, because that then determines what you're measuring. Do you need a brand-lift study? Do you need to look at your engagement rates and so on? For example, when we launch channels and newsletters and content that resonates with a lot of people in the region and links into cultural concepts here, we definitely see increased engagement rate, engagement rates, and better response from our customers. But again, there needs to be a piece where you ultimately tie that back to the business and say, 'okay, this is having an impact' or is it just a nice to have, and are we getting it right?' Through the chat, marketers discussed the cultural nuances of the region — how there's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to 'Middle East culture' or the 'Arabic' language, given that the region is a confluence of so many different cultures, dialects, traditions, beliefs, histories, and nuanced forms of expressing each of these. Škrlec added, 'So I think getting that granularity right and to understand what it is exactly that resonates with people — in terms of messaging, offers, promotions and products is essential. The way we market one hotel in this market might be entirely different to another place. That's why it ultimately comes down to that granularity of what matters to each individual community and customer and what impact it has on the brand and the business outcomes.' Building on this conversation of measuring the impact and effectiveness of getting cultural relevance right, Remya Menon, said, 'I'll be honest, the measurement piece is a conversation that we have all the time, almost on a weekly basis with our CEO, and we've been doing this for about two years. And I think measurement and specifically in the context of cultural relevance is difficult, right? But am I saying that it's impossible? No. We have all of our usual levers such as brand lift studies, surveys, feedback loops and so on and so forth. But as a brand guardian, you also have to build your own hardware and use your internal data and what your audience is actually feeding back to you to build those measurement methods.' Through the discussion, the marketers delved into the need to truly listen to consumers in order to get the 'cultural relevance piece right'. Menon added, 'Yes, there are KPI-driven conversations and there are creativity-driven conversations, but the consumers now have made their opinions very clear — they want to co-create with brands. They want their feedback to be heard and to be more involved in the conversation.' The panellists also discussed the need to build the right team structures to ensure that creative outputs and brand is aligned with cultural relevance, and organizational culture: Nurturing a safe environment that embraces mistakes and learning is how you innovate and stay ahead of the curve. They concluded the discussion sharing their take on the course correction required within the industry. To view the panel discussion in its entirety, stay tuned for the full video of the Campaign Breakfast Briefing that will be added to this article shortly. All in all, some of the key takeaways that attendees shared from the event were: Curiosity remains key; those who take a hands-on approach to the latest tools are those who will win. However, the adage 'garbage-in-garbage-out' remains true, given that generative AI tools are only as smart as the information they learn from, and the prompts they respond to. Meanwhile, even as personalisation, shopping agents, precision targeting and tasteful messaging are shaping marketing strategies, the core objective of the 'game' still remains to serve people. The magic of marketing strategies is to take a human-first approach and be a brand that matters to people. After the keynotes and panels at the Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Marketing Strategies 2025 event, attendees stayed back for a time of networking. 1/4 Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Marketing Strategies 2025 Attendees networking at the Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Marketing Strategies 2025 event. For those of you who were unable to attend this stellar gathering of like-minded leaders shaping the top trends and addressing the top challenges in the industry, keep an eye out for the YouTube video of the entire event. Mark you calendars. Campaign Middle East's next event, Campaign Breakfast Briefing: The Future is Now, which will be held on 12 September 2025.
Zawya
a day ago
- Zawya
Dubai Municipality promotes PPP models for developing public parks
Dubai Municipality is exploring Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework to develop high-quality public parks across the emirate in line with the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan and the city's Greenery Strategy, according to a press statement issued by the entity. Officials showcased Operate and Maintain (OM) agreements, Design–Build–Operate–Transfer (DBOT) structures, and event-based activations during a recent workshop organised in collaboration with Dubai Land Department on Thursday. Park archetypes presented at the workshop included destination parks, beach parks, residential parks, nature parks, and linear parks. (Editing by Anoop Menon) ( Subscribe to our Projects' PULSE newsletter that brings you trustworthy news, updates and insights on project activities, developments, and partnerships across sectors in the Middle East and Africa.
TECHx
a day ago
- TECHx
AI Is Transforming Middle East Retail in Real Time
Home » Expert opinion » AI Is Transforming Middle East Retail in Real Time The retail sector in the Middle East, especially in the UAE, is undergoing a transformation. Competitive advantage now depends not only on pricing or location, but on how effectively businesses can harness artificial intelligence (AI) to drive smarter decisions. Across the Gulf, AI is moving from theoretical discussion to practical implementation, reshaping how retailers operate and engage with customers. According to IDC, AI spending across the Middle East, Türkiye, and Africa is forecast to grow from US$4.5 billion in 2024 to US$14.6bn by 2028, with retail among the top investment categories. In the UAE, where both digital transformation and consumer sophistication are advancing rapidly, retail businesses are already deploying AI to address persistent operational inefficiencies and unlock new revenue streams. Strategic Value Over Surface-Level Automation Retail AI isn't just about front-end novelty or automation, its real value lies in enabling strategic alignment across operations. By linking customer behaviour to inventory, logistics, marketing, and staffing in real time, AI is helping retailers in the UAE turn data into coordinated action. Leading businesses are now using AI to analyse high-volume inputs, from in-store traffic and online browsing to transaction histories, to build dynamic, integrated models that inform both daily decisions and long-term strategy. This shift to data-driven planning has transformed demand forecasting, one of retail's most cost-sensitive areas. In fast-moving sectors such as fashion and consumer electronics, where overstocking or markdowns can quickly erode margins, AI tools now allow forecasting by SKU, store, and even time of day, helping retailers adjust inventory and pricing with unprecedented precision. Local Intelligence at Scale The Middle East is not a one-size-fits-all retail market. Whether it is Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh or Doha, each city has distinct consumer dynamics. Success with AI in this region depends on models trained on local data that reflect linguistic diversity, cultural rhythms such as Ramadan and Eid, and fast-evolving consumer sentiment. Tailored language models for Arabic dialects are powering more intelligent customer interactions too, from smart service bots to real-time content personalisation. At the same time, machine learning is helping brands refine inventory strategies at a hyperlocal level, not just by city, but by district and demographic. The ability to scale AI while staying locally relevant is fast becoming a competitive differentiator for both regional players and global brands operating across the GCC. Supply Chain Efficiency and Cost Control Beyond customer experience, AI's most immediate value in the Middle East retail market lies in supply chain optimisation. With rising logistics costs and increasing competition, particularly from online-first players, bricks-and-mortar retailers are under pressure to streamline operations. AI enables predictive restocking, dynamic routing, warehouse automation, and even climate-based demand adjustments. For example, AI models trained on historic sales data and environmental inputs – such as weather or event calendars – can reduce waste in perishable goods or improve staff scheduling to match expected footfall. In the high-cost commercial environments of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, any reduction in operational friction has a direct impact on the bottom line. These gains also align with broader national strategies. The UAE's digital economy blueprint prioritises AI integration across key sectors, including retail. Smart logistics zones, free trade initiatives, and government-backed digital infrastructure create a supportive environment for AI-driven supply chain reform. Ethical Personalisation and Data Governance Personalisation is a well-established driver of customer satisfaction, but in the Middle East, where regulators are sharpening their focus on data security and digital ethics, how personalisation is delivered matters. AI systems must navigate both consumer expectations and compliance requirements, balancing relevance with transparency. Emerging retail AI models use anonymised behavioural data to drive recommendations, loyalty programmes, and engagement tactics without compromising individual privacy. More importantly, there is a growing recognition that personalisation must serve long-term customer relationships, not just short-term conversion goals. Regulatory frameworks such as the UAE's Federal Data Protection Law are setting the tone for responsible AI use in retail. Retailers that invest in compliance-aligned AI architectures will be better positioned to scale across the GCC, where trust and security are increasingly critical differentiators. Market Implications for Investors and Leadership For executive leadership and investors, the implications are clear: AI in retail is no longer experimental, it is infrastructure. Businesses that integrate AI at the core of their operations will gain measurable advantages, from increased revenue per customer to reduced operational overhead and faster time to market. In the UAE specifically, where consumer expectations are shaped by global benchmarks and supported by government-led innovation, AI capabilities will soon define the competitive landscape. This shift is already attracting capital into AI-aligned retail tech ventures and accelerating mergers between traditional retail groups and digital-native platforms. The transformation underway in Middle East retail is structural. Artificial intelligence is enabling better forecasting, leaner supply chains, and more intelligent customer engagement. Retailers that invest early in scalable, localised AI systems will both improve operational efficiency and secure a stronger strategic position as the region moves toward a data-driven economic model. In this environment, success will come to those who can move from insight to execution, one customer, one transaction, one decision at a time. By Daniel Wagner, CEO of Rezolve Ai
