// TECH TRENDS //

platforms, cloud-based ERPs and virtual B2B showrooms are being deployed across regional markets. Businesses that once relied on physical trade shows in New York are now closing deals via LinkedIn, Zoom and Blockchain-enabled smart contracts.

Finally, we’ re seeing an early-stage renaissance in local sourcing and intra-MENA trade. From Morocco’ s autoparts suppliers to Egypt’ s food processors, SMEs are now recalibrating supply chains to prioritise regional partners, shortening lead times and sidestepping global tariff risks. enablers. Otherwise, the region risks losing an entire generation of entrepreneurs.

Is this the breaking point or the breakthrough?

This moment in global trade is more than a policy debate – it’ s a defining test of resilience, relevance and reform. For too long, MENA’ s SMEs have been caught between the promise of globalisation and the politics of power. The new US tariffs have exposed just how fragile that balance really was.

Rana Abu Nemeh, Economist and Global Strategist

Government in the hot seat

Policy response so far has been sluggish, but pressure is mounting. Business associations across Jordan, Egypt and the UAE are demanding action – from subsidy packages and emergency credit to trade insurance and fast-track customs for intra-regional goods.

The Arab Monetary Fund is currently reviewing proposals for an SME-focused stabilisation fund, while the Gulf Cooperation Council is said to be exploring a regional tariff-offset mechanism to support export-heavy industries.

What’ s clear is that the old model, built on Western market access and delayed policy intervention, is no longer viable. MENA’ s governments must evolve from reactive regulators to proactive

But crises have a way of creating clarity. The SMEs that survive this moment will do so not because of tariffs avoided, but because of bold strategies deployed. They’ ll be more digital, more diversified and more regionally rooted than ever before.

And maybe, just maybe, that’ s what it will take for MENA to stop playing catch-up – and start setting the terms of global trade engagement on its own.

Globalisation is not dead, but it is being rewritten. And in that rewriting, MENA’ s SMEs have a chance to move from the footnotes of trade agreements to the frontlines of economic transformation. �

THE SMES THAT SURVIVE THIS MOMENT WILL DO SO NOT BECAUSE OF TARIFFS AVOIDED, BUT BECAUSE OF BOLD STRATEGIES DEPLOYED.

Intelligent SME. tech

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