News

Tesla Brings Cybertruck To Qatar In Latest Regional Push

The move comes after slowing demand in the U.S. and China, and the Gulf states continued push to roll out broader decarbonization plans.

Published

11 months ago

October 6, 2025

Joanna Melki

Tesla

Qatar joins Saudi Arabia and the UAE as the first markets outside North America to get the angular, futuristic pickup. Orders are open through Tesla’s website, with local Supercharger points, pop-up showrooms, and service centers set to support early buyers.

Deliveries are due in March 2026. Prices start at QAR 384,990 (about $105,750) for the All-Wheel Drive model and QAR 434,990 (about $119,000) for the higher-performance Cyberbeast.

The move comes as Tesla looks beyond slowing demand in the U.S. and China. Gulf states are building out charging networks and courting global EV brands as part of broader decarbonization plans. “The Middle East is becoming a critical test bed for premium electric mobility,” said one regional analyst.

Tesla’s regional buildup has been steady. The Cybertruck launch in Saudi Arabia earlier this year also marked a quiet reset with the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund after years of strained ties. The company has since expanded its Supercharger coverage across Riyadh, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, giving the region one of Tesla’s densest charging networks outside Europe.

Also Read: Abu Dhabi Sets 2027 Target For AI-Run Government

Globally, Tesla has built more than 46,000 Cybertruck vehicles since late 2023. The company posted record deliveries in Q3 2025, largely driven by U.S. buyers racing to secure vehicles before the federal EV tax credit expired in September. Analysts expect overseas demand to help offset a likely dip in U.S. sales as that incentive winds down and competition from BYD, Zeekr, and Lucid intensifies.

For the Gulf, Qatar’s addition strengthens Tesla’s hold in a region intent on electrifying transport under Vision 2030 and similar national drives. With governments investing in battery assembly and EV workforce training, the Cybertruck’s arrival signals a tougher, more competitive phase for the Middle East’s high-end EV market.

News

Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget

The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.