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  • Oil Revenues Above Saudi Budget Breakeven Price Will Go to PIF Coffers, Al Tuwaijri Says
     

    Steadily climbing oil prices over the past year may help increase cash in Saudi Arabia’s massive Public Investment Fund (PIF), according to comments by Mohammed Al Tuwaijri, the kingdom’s minister of economy and planning. “Whenever oil is above our break-even point, this will all go to the PIF,” he said, as reported in the Financial Times, without […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom Pledge Billions in Bilateral Trade and Investments
     

    Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom re-affirmed bi-lateral trade and investment ties on the second day of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit in London with billions in deals eyed in the coming years. Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and the U.K.’s prime minister launched an economic and investment partnership called the U.K.-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership […]

     
  • Saudi Officials, Current and Former, Downplay Oil Demand Concerns
     

    Saudi officials downplayed the risk of waning demand for oil as electric vehicles become more mainstream, according to comments made by Saudi Aramco’s CEO Amin Nasser and by former Minister of Petroleum Ali Al Naimi. According to comments at the CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference on Tuesday reported by Bloomberg, Nasser said he is “not […]

     
  • Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Visits UK on Wednesday with Billions in Deals Eyed
     

    Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will arrive to the United Kingdom on Wednesday, his second stop in a multi-national tour with a broad economic and diplomatic agenda. The Crown Prince is due to meet Prime Minister Theresa May and other senior ministers, members of the royal family, as well as security officials and […]

     
  • Flurry of Deals as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Visits Egypt
     

    After a unique military escort given by Egyptian fighter jets and a warm welcome from Egypt’s top leaders upon arrival, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wasted little time in dealmaking with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. The two countries moved forward on several major agreements. Saudi Arabia and Egypt agreed to set up a $10 […]

     
  • Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Adds Egypt Leg to International Trip
     

    Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will begin a weeks long international tour with a three day visit to Egypt, according to a Reuters report citing confirmation from the office of Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. Egypt and Saudi Arabia have enjoyed strong ties since Al-Sisi took power and ousted the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013. […]

     
  • VAT, Fuel Price Reforms Cause Bump in Saudi Inflation
     

    Inflation rose in Saudi Arabia in January 2018 by 3 percent year-on-year, and 3.9 percent month-on-month “largely as a result of the implementation of VAT and utility and fuel price reform during the month,” Riyadh-based Jadwa Investment confirmed in a research note. The data is based on official Saudi figures released by the government. The figures suggested […]

     
  • Reports Confirm Mohammed bin Salman to Visit U.S. in March; Schedule Remains Unclear
     

    Conflicting reports have emerged in the U.S. media in the past 24 hours surrounding an expected visit by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the United States this month. Last night, an exclusive report by Joyce Karam for The National said the Crown Prince would visit the United States for a longer visit, starting March […]

     
  • King Salman Replaces Top Military Commanders in Cabinet Shuffle
     

    Saudi Arabia has replaced some of its top military officers by royal decree, elevating a younger generation as the war in Yemen approaches its fourth year without a victory. No reason was given for the changes, according to Bloomberg and the Financial Times. King Salman appointed First Lieutenant General Fayyad bin Hamed al-Ruwayli as chief […]

     
  • Soft Opening for New $7.2 Billion Jeddah Airport Set for May
     

    Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport is set to unveil its long-awaited new look at a soft opening in May, the Jeddah-based Saudi Gazette reports, citing confirmation by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) and the emir of Mecca. Once recognized by travelers as one of the worst airports in the world, Saudi Arabia’s second largest city is […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Herd immunity expected in October as quarter of Saudi population receives two doses of COVID-19 vaccine

    As of Tuesday, more than 28 million doses of coronavirus vaccine have been administered through 587 vaccine centers located in all cities and governorates across the Kingdom, according to the latest figures. More than 19 million people, equivalent to 56 percent of the total Saudi population, have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. The number of those who received two doses of the vaccine reached about eight million, representing 25 percent of the population.

  • Funding to Saudi Arabia’s start-ups rises 65% in first half of 2021

    Start-ups in Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s biggest economy, attracted a record $168 million worth of venture capital funding through 54 transactions in the first half of 2021, according to data platform Magnitt. This is about 94 per cent of the money extended to the kingdom’s start-ups in 2020.

  • Saudi Arabia seeks European partners to expand space programme

    Saudi officials in charge of developing the country’s space programme are travelling around Europe seeking partnerships with leading companies in a sign that the Kingdom is putting the programme up on its agenda.

  • Saudi AI startup Intelmatix secures investment from STV and Sultan Holdings

    Founded in 2021 by a group of MIT graduates led by Anas Alfaris and Ahmad Alabdulkareem, Intelmatix provides both public and private sectors with accessible AI and advanced analytics that delivers technologies to improve operations, productivity, growth, and sustainability. Intelmatix’s technology currently focuses on “location intelligence” which maps the relationships between spatial, social, economic, and demographic data and makes predictions using AI and advanced analysis to solve problems of “where, what, when?”. It gives previously unavailable insight for high-stakes business decisions, such as choosing the most profitable location for a new branch, the best land to invest in, or where to optimally place storage and operations centres for logistics companies.

  • Egypt transport start up Swvl to list on Nasdaq after Queen’s Gambit merger

    Egyptian transport start-up Swvl said on Wednesday it was combining with U.S. special purpose acquisition company Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital in a merger that would allow the company to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange. The company, which moved headquarters to Dubai in late 2019, describes itself as the first $1.5 billion unicorn from the Middle East to list on the exchange, where it will have the ticker symbol SWVL.

  • How the gig economy is disrupting the region’s startup ecosystem

    With 70 million platform workers registered globally, economists predict that by 2025, talent platforms will mediate one third of all labour transactions. Today, these platforms are estimated to make up 1 to 3 per cent of total US employment, or 35 per cent of US workforce, contributing up to $1 trillion to its total economy according to recent statistics. The wave is slowly making its way into the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region to provide short-term and on-demand labour opportunities for historically disadvantaged populations like women, unemployed educated youth, and underprivileged unbanked communities - including 69 per cent of the 1.3 million Syrian refugees in Jordan. In Egypt alone, there are 14 million gig workers, and the number is pushing the government to provide these workers with health insurance and emergency aid, at least temporarily.

  • From Olympic-themed party to real thing, Saudi’s Yasmeen Al Dabbagh ready to fulfill dream

    Saudi Arabia's 100m sprinter, who is coached by former Olympic champion Linford Christie, is keen to change perceptions and inspire the next generation - but first she wants to soak up her Tokyo experience

  • The history of Saudi Arabia is written in its rock art

    Dr. Salma Housawi, professor of ancient history at King Saud University, said that the rock art shows that the inhabitants of the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula began to hunt and domesticate animals in around 6,000 B.C. “The dog was one of the first animals to be domesticated and used for hunting. Donkeys and bulls depicted in the drawings are also domesticated then,” she added.

  • Saudi-American Partnership to Operate Petrochemical Complex by End of 2021

    SABIC, the global petrochemical industry giant, signed with ExxonMobil in May 2018, an agreement to establish a joint venture for petrochemical industries in the American Gulf Coast, based on a feasibility study that estimated the total cost of the complex at approximately USD 7.3 billion (27.4 billion riyals).

  • How climate change is making parts of the world too hot and humid for humans

    In regions like the Persian Gulf, extreme heat is the new normal: Qatar has adapted so extensively to the blistering climate that it air-conditions the outdoors. But not everyone has access to outdoor air conditioning, including those building the facilities that have them.