The GCC is betting on deeper integration. Can it power the Gulf’s next industrial revolution?

“Gulf products should be the first choice for consumers and investors, both within member states and across global markets,” Albudaiwi said.

The case for greater integration is compelling. According to Albudaiwi,  the GCC already has more than 22,000 factories employing about 1.7 million workers, while manufacturing contributes about 13% of the bloc’s gross domestic product.

That industrial strength is also reflected in global rankings. When it comes to  GCC states occupy six of the top seven positions in manufacturing production and export capacity, Arab countries in the United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s 2025 Competitive Industrial Performance Index, with two member states ranking above the global average.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia ranked above the global average, placing 32nd and 34th, respectively. Qatar ranked 48th, followed by Kuwait at 53rd, Oman at 58th and Bahrain at 63rd.

“These figures inspire pride in what has been accomplished and motivate joint efforts toward even greater milestones,” Albudaiwi said.

For Albudaiwi, the opportunity now is to connect those individual industrial strengths more closely across the region.

“When our industrial capabilities are integrated and our policies are unified, we can achieve what no single country can achieve on its own,” he said.

The bloc has already taken steps in that direction through the GCC Industrial Strategy 2022–2030, including efforts to align industrial policies and standards, strengthen regional supply chains and improve the competitiveness of locally manufactured products.

The Made in the GCC forum is intended to build on those efforts, with discussions focused on access to global markets, industrial integration, supply-chain resilience, financing, smart factories, industrial innovation and developing Gulf talent. The aim is to explore new partnerships between manufacturers, investors, financing institutions and research organizations and strengthen the presence of Gulf-made products in regional and international markets.