🇮🇩 Is Lombok the next hotspot for Muslim expats?

Ethical eats: Halal food grows its non-Muslim market

Flyin’ high: New automated payment system for UAE aviation

Diggin’ deep: China and Malaysia discuss rare earths

Funding: $3m fund for MENA startups

Looking to Lombok: Muslim expats consider Indonesian island

🍛 Halal food to hit $6.5tr by 2035: Yes, that’s trillion. The global halal food market is moving mainstream-wards (yes, it’s a word), with projections for the sector to surpass $6.5tr by 2035. Much of this is because halal products are gaining traction beyond Muslim consumers, driven by demand for ethical sourcing and high-quality standards. Around 50% of the market is Asia-Pacific, thanks to Indonesian and Malaysian exports. MENA, meanwhile, leads the premium segment, supported by major government investments like KSA’s Vision 2030.

🇦🇪 UAE bank launches payment system for aviation sector: Emirates NBD has set doors to manual, cross-checked and is cleared for take-off. The UAE bank has partnered with the country’s General Civil Aviation Authority to launch a secure system-to-system integration between the two organizations. The new host-to-host (H2H) payment solution will automate transactions across the GCAA’s network of clients, suppliers, and partners within a secure digital framework. That means fewer manual processes and less bureaucratic difficulties.

🕌 Muslim expats look to Lombok, Indonesia: Why are you going to Bali when Lombok is waiting? An almost entirely Muslim ‘island of 1,000 mosques’, Lombok is emerging as a strong destination choice for Muslims seeking a quieter alternative to Bali. The island offers a strong Muslim community situated in (of course) the world’s largest Muslim-majority country. Affordable living, peaceful lifestyle, great food, and opportunities for long-term settlement. It’s quite the package. Oh, and it’s really beautiful. 

🇨🇳 🇲🇾 China and Malaysia discuss rare earths project: The new venture would see Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund partner with a Chinese state-owned firm to build a refinery in Malaysia. (Rare earths are 17 metallic elements that are vital for modern technology. They’re probably in your iPhone.) Anyway, China wants access to Malaysia’s; meanwhile, Malaysia doesn’t have the infrastructure to mine and process them at scale. If this goes ahead, it would be a big change for China, which usually keeps its rare earths processing technology under wraps.

🏢 UAE venture studio to back early-stage MENA startups: FAST Ventures has launched a new investment arm backed by a $3m fund to support early-stage startups across the MENA region. The fund aims to develop homegrown technology and help founders scale tools and platforms for global markets. Areas of interest include adtech, retail, AI, and marketing products. Companies selected for the program will receive funding as well as workspace in either Dubai or Riyadh and access to FAST Ventures’ specialist teams and ecosystem.

🏝️ Your next vacation: Taiwan? Really? Well, the country is leveraging halal certification as a key tool to target the Muslim tourism market. While you’re there, check out the Taipei Grand Mosque, then get something to eat. Our favorite is the Taiwanese fried chicken from Fried Chicken Master.

📊 This week in stats: Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port set a breakbulk (non-containerized cargo) record with 630,000 tons handled in October 2025. It was powered by a lot of materials for a lot of big buildings.

📰 Good news corner: Returning from a trip to Türkiye and Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV was all about Muslim-Christian dialogue. He also criticized anti-Muslim ‘fears’ in Europe and the US.

🚨 ICMYI: Kuwait raises residency and visa fees under new foreigners’ residency law. Expats can now sponsor their spouses and children if they earn a minimum monthly salary of KWD 800.

🎧 Listen: Zohran Mamdani’s campaign manager and comms director crafted a story for NYC. It was as much about knocking on doors as it was mastering TikTok.

📚 Read: Egyptian-Canadian writer Omar El Akkad wins the U.S. National Book Award with ‘One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This’. The judges selected from 1,835 submissions across five categories.

👀 Watch: British historian says ‘Everything about you is Indian.’ And he tells Ash Sarkar why Genghis Khan was scared of India.

🛴 Visit: Dave Chappelle is on tour in the US and Canada throughout December. Prepare to be entertained/outraged.

🛍️ Shop: Palestinian-American artist Sabri Sundos has partnered with Skatepal to support young people in Palestine through skateboarding. Get the gear!