While shortlisting candidates for interview or written test or in final selection process, do the companies working in Middle East consider “Gender balance”?

Yes. Gender balance is consider in most of the companies in Middle East.

No not really, i don't think that idea even exist, most of selecting criteria relay only on competencies, in addition to the labor law in most of ME countries give a lot of advantages to females like paid pregnancy and maternity leaves, for example in Egypt the woman has the right (by law) to take a paid leave for 6 months after delivering her baby for two times.