REGIONAL- Small businesses in the UAE are likely to be most impacted by the 5% value-added tax (VAT) that will be imposed as of January next year, Muzaffar Rizvi writes in Khaleej Times. Larger enterprises have been preparing themselves for the impending tax, which represents “a significant shift in the UAE’s fiscal policy and wider GCC region.” Although it will be the lowest rate in the region — compared to Egypt’s 14% and Turkey’s 18% — the UAE has “a broader base than you see in most jurisdictions” by virtue of it being the region’s “most diversified economy.”

Other regional stories worth a glance this morning:

• The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange could IPO itself on the TASE in 2019 after it finishes its transformation into a for-profit company, the bourse’s CEO told Bloomberg yesterday.
• Saudi’s potentially USD 1 tn SWF has reportedly hired Rashed Sharif from Riyad Bank to manage the Public Investment Fund’s Saudi-based assets worth some USD 111 bn.
• Bahrain intends on filing a complaint against Qatar at the UN Security Council and International Criminal Court, reports The National. Bahrain argues that Qatar has attacked Bahrain using “fourth-generation warfare” techniques — shorthand for terrorism, psyops, and media warfare.

A diplomatic victory for Egypt? Chad has become the latest government to poke a stick into Qatar’s spokes, shuttering its embassy in the statelet, according to Reuters. The move comes less than a week after President Abdel Fattah El Sisi visited Chad as part of his Africa tour, which also included Rwanda, Tanzania, and Gabon. Chad shares Egypt’s concerns about the conflict in Libya, sharing as it does a border with that country, and Qatar has supported Islamist-leaning factions there.

Russia’s ambassador to Sudan was found dead yesterday in his swimming pool, Reuters reports, becoming the fourth Russian envoy to die abroad since December. Mirgayas Shirinskiy, 62, appears to have had a heart attack, RT suggests. Shirinskiy, a fluent Arabic speaker, was previously posted to Egypt and Saudi Arabia.