A Strategic Imperative for Our Region

As Chairperson of both the Family Business Community (FBC) and Hind Bahwan Group , I have witnessed the immense potential that emerges when public policy and private sector capability align around a common objective.

This is why the latest white paper we have launched with the Family Business Community, Agility and DSV - Global Transport and Logistics represents a strategic imperative for our region.

This white paper is not just a study, it is an invitation to deepen our partnership with government authorities to secure long-term prosperity.

The paper proposes a collaborative framework that integrates our infrastructure, harmonizes our governance, and fortifies our supply chains against the uncertainties of the future. By working together, we can ensure that the Gulf remains a resilient and thriving economic hub for generations to come.

I am proud of the collective effort behind this vision and look forward to turning these recommendations into reality.

Why This Paper, and Why Now

Securing the future of GCC trade requires supply chains built for resilience. Our new strategic white paper presents an actionable roadmap to strengthen regional infrastructure, protect critical flows of goods and energy, and safeguard more than USD 1.5 trillion in GCC trade that moves through the three critical chokepoints of Strait of Hormuz, Suez Canal, and Bab Al-Mandeb.

Developed by the Family Business Community, Agility, DSV - Global Transport and Logistics and leading Gulf private-sector contributors, the paper examines how regional cooperation, strategic infrastructure development and public-private investment can strengthen the security of power, water, energy, food, medicine and other critical supply chains.

Three Gateways, One Exposure

The case begins with geography. Three maritime gateways carry the region's trade, and all three have faced disruption. The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly 20 percent of global petroleum liquids. The Suez Canal carries around 30 percent of global container traffic. Bab al-Mandab saw LNG flows fall to near zero between 2024 and the first half of 2025.

The paper's strategic thesis follows from this. The purpose of supply chain resilience is not merely to survive an embargo once imposed, but to deter the threat of one by making it commercially, diplomatically and operationally ineffective before it is attempted. A region that can receive cargo outside a threatened chokepoint, clear it digitally, insure its carriers, move it overland through pre-authorised corridors and draw on distributed strategic stocks cannot be isolated by a single pressure point.

Five Strategic Priorities

The paper organises its recommendations around five priorities: strengthening critical infrastructure resilience, diversifying regional supply routes, enabling seamless regional trade, ensuring commercial continuity and coordinated governance.

Power and water security

Regional electricity integration is the highest-return opportunity, requiring US $25 to $40 billion, delivering 15 to 20 percent operational savings and avoiding US $80 to $120 billion in generation investment by 2040. With desalination supplying 95 percent of GCC potable water, the paper calls for decentralised capacity and 90-day strategic reserves, alongside stronger regional cybersecurity, close to the work of our technology and digital companies .

Energy and pipeline resilience

Some 6.8 million barrels per day of crude export capacity already bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, with up to 3.8 million more planned. LNG cannot be physically bypassed, so the answer is commercial: destination-flexible contracts, floating storage and cargo swaps. Both connect to our energy and infrastructure portfolio and sustainability agenda.

Rail, ports and overland corridors

Completing the 2,177km GCC Railway would form the backbone of regional freight, linking Gulf, Red Sea and Arabian Sea ports to the Iraq Development Road and wider Eurasian corridors. Ports follow a four-tier architecture, with Duqm, Salalah and Sohar as primary Hormuz bypass, supported by pre-authorised overland freight corridors.

Continuity of critical goods, and of contracts

Resilience should move beyond inventory management to regional continuity planning, with 90 days of strategic food reserves and 180 days of highest-priority medicines. Commercial continuity carries equal weight: a GCC-backed sovereign war-risk insurance facility, pre-contracted shipping and air cargo capacity, and electronic trade documents.

Harmonisation and resilience by design

The target is to cut trusted-freight border clearance from around 48 hours to under four, through harmonised customs, interoperable digital documentation and mutual recognition of AEO programmes. Resilience by design runs throughout: N-2 redundancy, distributed infrastructure, cyber resilience and continuous public-private coordination.

Governance, Investment and Delivery

The paper proposes a governance architecture running from a GCC Supply Chain Resilience Council at supreme level, through an integrated programme office and modality technical committees, to a private sector and family business advisory board. Financing draws on sovereign investment, multilateral development finance, family business holding companies and family offices, regional Islamic finance institutions, private infrastructure finance and Belt and Road co-investment.

Total investment is put at US$250 to 350 billion over a 15-year implementation horizon, delivered in three phases: critical vulnerability reduction from 2026 to 2029, network completion from 2029 to 2034 and full continental integration from 2034 to 2040. Set against this is the cost of inaction, measured against the US$1.5 trillion in annual GCC trade flows exposed to disruption.

The inclusion of family business holding companies and family offices in the financing framework, and of a family business advisory board in the governance architecture, is not incidental. It reflects what family enterprises bring to questions of this scale: patient capital and a horizon measured in generations rather than quarters.

From Recommendations to Reality

The paper's conclusions set out what success looks like: an integrated GCC resilience architecture, national initiatives accelerated with coordinated governance, stronger resilience to geopolitical and supply chain disruption, greater value drawn from current and future infrastructure investment, enhanced competitiveness and economic security, and the GCC positioned as a global leader in secure and connected supply chains. Acting collectively creates scale, interoperability, stronger bargaining power and regional resilience.

Hind Bahwan Group is proud to be among the contributors to this work, alongside Albawardi Group, Alfardan Corporation, Al Ghurair, Al Muhaidib Group, Alrajhi Holding, Al Yousuf, Alzayani Investments, Avilog, Landmark Group and Moshin Haider Darwish. You can read more about our portfolio of companies and Sheikha Hind's work , or explore our press and media resources .