By 2030, the metaverse is expected to provide $15 billion to GCC economies.

According to the latest analysis by Strategy& Middle East, part of the PwC network, the potential contribution of the metaverse to GCC economies could be over US$15 billion per year by 2030, with Saudi Arabia contributing $7.6 billion and the UAE contributing $3.3 billion.

Although the metaverse is still in its early stages, change is occurring at a rapid pace. GCC organizations should act quickly to seize this opportunity.

"Overall, we anticipate the metaverse will pump $15 billion annually into GCC economies by 2030," said Tony G. Karam, Partner, Strategy& Middle East. The forecasts took into account growth in component technologies, platforms, hardware, and software, as well as the economic significance of emerging metaverse applications like content production and retail."

The metaverse is unique in that it is neither a place nor a technology. It is, rather, the most recent stage in the evolving human/computer interface, one that is intended to generate a seamless, pervasive, immersive, touchable, simulated experience that is so realistic as to mimic reality. You can, for example, visit a virtual construction site and see how structures will look before a shovel is ever placed in the ground.

Dubai formally launched its metaverse plan in July 2022, with the goal of becoming a dominant metaverse economy. Over the next five years, the initiative is expected to add $4 billion to the economy and create 40,000 new employment. The UAE has built the Middle East's first metaverse incubator 8 to foster the development of early-stage metaverse and Web3 applications.

NEOM, Saudi Arabia's $500 billion Red Sea city, leverages the metaverse to inform building and provide architects, engineers, designers, and others with a collaborative and customizable experience. The digital division of NEOM has invented a metaverse that allows people to be in both the physical and virtual worlds at the same time, in the form of an avatar or a hologram.

"The metaverse provides a world of possibilities that stretches beyond next-generation gaming and internet-based home buying or shopping," said Dany Karam, Partner, Strategy& Middle East. It will alter the way we work, conduct business, plan, design, construct, shop, recreate, travel, and live. The metaverse has immense potential to stimulate and revolutionize important sectors in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries."

According to the analysis, travel and tourism (US$3.2 billion) has the biggest potential economic gain from the metaverse: an estimated US$3.2 billion.

"There may be metaverse tours of AIUla, Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, or of fashion festivals, spas, wellness retreats, and entertainment and sports events," stated Jad N. Baroudi, Principal, Strategy& Middle East. In-person travel would be inspired by metaverse visits. Travelers could later return to the metaverse to relive their experiences."

Saudi Arabia (US$7.6 billion) will benefit the most from the metaverse, followed by the UAE (US$3.3 billion), Qatar (US$1.6 billion), Kuwait (US$1 billion), Oman (US$0.8 billion), and Bahrain (US$0.4 billion).

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