The Family Business Council Gulf (FBCG) convened its members through a series of Chairman-led virtual gatherings titled Standing Together and What’s Next, bringing together family business leaders from across the six GCC countries.
The sessions gathered large-scale family enterprises operating across sectors including retail, hospitality, mobility, banking, and healthcare, as a platform for real-time exchange on business continuity, supply chain disruption, and the evolving regional outlook.
Hind Bahwan, Chairman of FBCG and Founder and Chairperson of Hind Bahwan Group, said: “In moments like these, what matters most is not certainty, but clarity of thinking and strength of community. Our families have built through disruption before, and what we are seeing now is not a pause, but a shift. We must adapt together, share openly, and build resilience not just within our businesses, but across the region.”
Across both gatherings, participants expressed a shared sentiment of pragmatic optimism, grounded in resilience, while recognising the need to adapt to a more complex and uncertain operating environment.
Hassan Jameel, Vice Chairman of FBCG and Vice Chairman of Abdul Latif Jameel Saudi Arabia, added: “What stood out across these conversations is the depth of commitment and experience within this community. There is no single answer, but there is collective intelligence. By bringing this together, we move faster, make better decisions, and strengthen the foundations for what comes next.”
Discussions highlighted a clear shift that raises a critical question for the region’s family businesses: how can multi-generation enterprises build resilience to geopolitical disruptions, while supporting the development of more integrated, frictionless supply chains and transport systems across the GCC. As an immediate outcome, FBCG has established a dedicated Supply Chain Working Group, led by Tarek Sultan, Board Member of FBCG, and Chairman of Agility Global. The group will focus on facilitating real-time intelligence sharing, strengthening regional coordination, and contributing to the development of a more integrated GCC supply chain ecosystem.
Tarek Sultan, Board Member of FBCG and Chairman of Agility, said: “Today’s disruptions are reinforcing the Gulf’s long-term priorities, from energy transition and economic diversification to strategic trade infrastructure and new corridors, human capital development, and global and regional AI investments. Supply chain resilience will remain essential across the board.
The new Supply Chain Working Group will help businesses anticipate, respond to, support, and shape shifts we are seeing in the region. Its focus will be on strengthening resilience through deeper public-private collaboration, the integration of technology with infrastructure, and identifying opportunities to support continued growth.”