Dubai, UAE – 28th October 2025: In a strategic partnership aimed at reshaping how businesses view the value of DE&I in the region, Fast Company Middle East and Middle East Communications Network (MCN) have released a new white paper highlighting how Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) is not just a social imperative, but a powerful driver of creativity, business performance, and sustainable economic growth across the Middle East.
Launched during Athar Festival 2025 in Riyadh alongside the panel discussion Beyond Representation: How Social Sustainability Drives Economic Growth, the white paper draws on proprietary survey data, regional case studies, and official statistics to explore how DE&I is reshaping high-impact sectors including finance, oil and gas, hospitality, healthcare, and retail.
The white paper titled – The Middle East’s Inclusive Economy – is based on a regionwide executive survey conducted between Q1 and Q2 of 2025 with senior leaders across industries. It highlights a clear link between well-executed DE&I strategies and measurable economic and organisational outcomes.
Key Findings Include:
“At MCN, we’ve always known that DE&I is not a trend – it’s essential for successful business,” said Ghassan Harfouche, Group CEO of MCN MENAT & President of McCann Worldgroup – APAC. “With 66 nationalities across our network and 47% of our agency leadership roles held by women, we see every day how inclusion fuels creativity, possibilities, and results.”
Harfouche added that the paper was designed to help organisations across the region rethink inclusion as a business imperative.
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“We identified a regional gap: DE+I is still regularly treated as a reputational add-on rather than a driver of business value. This white paper is our response, a data-driven tool designed to help organisations reframe DE+I as infrastructure for growth. With 85% of companies in our study reporting clear economic impact from DE+I, the timing couldn’t be more urgent.”
The research paper also introduces the concept of “Inclusion as Infrastructure” – positioning equity and belonging as foundational systems rather than short-term initiatives. It argues that when inclusion is embedded into hiring, leadership, and workplace culture, organisations outperform peers in engagement, creativity, and retention.
Across the region, DE&I is increasingly being institutionalised into policy, regulation, and national development frameworks. Saudi Arabia, through Vision 2030, has nearly doubled female labor force participation from 22.5% in 2006 to 43.2% in 2024, supporting its economic diversification goals.
According to the 2025 Global Gender Gap Index, the UAE leads MENA in gender equality. It mandates 30% female representation in private sector leadership and has more than 23,000 Emirati businesswomen leading ventures valued over $13.6 billion. Programmes including Mowaamah in Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s National Policy for People of Determination integrate individuals with disabilities into mainstream economic activity through certified inclusive workplaces, adaptive technologies, and skills development programmes.
“We’ve invested in systems, from recruitment and leadership development to continuous feedback loops, that make inclusion sustainable,” said Harfouche. “It’s a model we believe can be scaled to drive meaningful progress across our industry and region.”
Beyond internal initiatives, MCN’s purpose-driven approach extends to the work it creates for clients. Harfouche noted that campaigns including Recipe for Change (Arla Foods), Don’t Look Down (Fixby), The Art of Stains (OMO–Unilever), Not for First Dates (McDonald’s), and Read Better (Waterstones UK) are examples of how DE&I values translate into creative excellence that drives measurable impact.
Harfouche added: “We know the one simple truth: people do their best work when they feel seen, respected, and supported. That’s how we aim to create impact, not only in the work we deliver, but in the cultures we build and industries we help move forward.”
Developed in partnership with Fast Company Middle East, the white paper offers a fresh perspective on how DE&I can strengthen economic resilience and fuel creative excellence across the MENAT region. It calls on organisations to move beyond symbolic representation and embed inclusion as a fundamental business strategy.
To read and download the full white paper, click here: https://lnkd.in/g2n2fSAi
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