UAE Digital Compliance: Advintek says it has won UAE Federal Tax Authority Accredited Service Provider approval for e-invoicing compliance, positioning it to help firms prepare for the January 2027 mandate. MENA Banking & AI: Qatar’s Commercial Bank received a “Best Use of AI in Financial Services” award from MEED, highlighting practical AI use in retail, digital, and SME banking. SME Finance (GCC): Beehive Group completed a majority-stake acquisition of Saudi debt crowdfunding platform Themar, aiming to scale regulated SME financing across the UAE, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. Pakistan Tax Overhaul: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb urged businesses to back a fully digitalised tax system to cut leakages and corruption, while discussing lower interest rates and tariff changes. Remittances Cost Shift: Pakistan Banks Association warned that moving remittance transaction costs onto banks from July 1 will dent profitability. Business Disruption Risk: Alarum Technologies said it will temporarily pause traffic on certain network services while investigating a recent incident, reducing service availability. Tourism Boost (Oman): Al Hamra’s Eastern Mountain in Oman is seeing rising summer visitors, with events and SME/entrepreneur exhibits aimed at local spending. Local Economy Pressure (Turkey): Ankara’s NATO-summit “facelift” and security road closures are drawing criticism from residents and shop owners over disruption.