What are your go-to research resources for companies in the Middle East?

Online research with the help of google, fb, linkedIn, newspaper. 

If you have access to imporant databases like EBSCO, Euromonitor etc. 

Blogs, company websites etc also provide a good place to start your research

The first step is to identify the industy type of the underlying company. Then, refer to the governmental institution specialized in the same industry. Most ministries in the developed and developing countries preserve a database related to its sector to identify the market demand and supply. These database include, but not limited to, companies names, production size, establishment year, products/services, number of employees.., etc. government ministries is a good reliable source for authentic data. However, its hard to find an up to date data.

Traditional and social media can be very helpful in tracking the future plans for companies. Private investment banks publish financial data reports which includes financial analysis of the historical financial performance of all listed companies.