Recent stories from sustg

  • Modernity and tradition: Khalid Habash’s stunning photos of Saudi
     

    It is no secret that Saudi Arabia’s economy and society are modernizing at a remarkable pace. Already the Arab world’s largest economy, the Kingdom also has one of the world’s highest GDP growth rates.  Government spending is expansive and investment in infrastructure, education and numerous other sectors are at all time highs.  Soon to be […]

     
  • Confronting Tremendous Challenges: Prince Turki al-Faisal
     

    I think Saudi Arabia over the past 80 years has been going through an Arab Spring. When you look at the Kingdom when I was born in it for example, 1945, there were no schools in Saudi Arabia. There were no roads. Disease and poverty were the rule rather than the exception. Since then, the […]

     
  • US Eximbank OKs record-breaking $5 bln loan for Saudi petchem complex
     

    In its largest job-supporting authorization to date, the board of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has approved a $4.975 billion direct loan to Sadara Chemical Company for the export of American goods and services required in the construction of a petrochemical complex in Jubail Industrial City II in the Kingdom of […]

     
  • Saudi restoration commemorates pact of princes, clerics
     

    Climb the rickety ladder through the Emir Omar bin Saud Palace courtyard in crumbling Diriyah and the image of old Saudi Arabia suddenly appears in an adobe roofscape set against dark green palms. The caramel tones of the mud walls, the smell of dust mingling with water and the muffled clanging of hammer on stone […]

     
  • Abdullah Alireza speaks at C3 Summit
     

    SUSTG attended the C3 Summit in New York City September 13-14, 2012. This was the inaugural event in what the organizers anticipate will be an annual gathering to ‘build new relationships, foster existing partnerships and exchange best practices’ between the U.S. and the Arab world. C3 (Community, Collaboration and Commerce) is looking to host the […]

     
  • ‘A Disciplined Approach To Forward-Looking Policymaking’
     

    A recently released report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Saudi Arabia’s energy policy finds that the Kingdom is pursuing a “disciplined approach to forward-looking policymaking.” The report was published by Hisham Akhonbay, who is a visiting fellow with the Energy and National Security Program at CSIS from the King Abdullah Petroleum […]

     
  • Saudi Mortgage Law: Key Details Still to be Determined
     

    Saudi Arabia faces housing challenges caused by rapid population growth and an inflow of expatriate workers to the kingdom.

     
  • Jadwa September 2012 Saudi Chartbook – Inflation
     

    Jadwa Investment’s recently released Saudi Charbook for the month of September 2012 found that the Saudi economic activity in July experienced a “modest slowdown of economic activity…with indicators of consumer spending and PMI slowing on the back of a seasonal trend.” However, Jadwa notes that the “healthy underlying economic momentum remains in place.” Below is a snapshot of […]

     
  • President Obama’s Envoy to Mecca Islamic Summit Shares Views
     

    A little known detail about last month’s Extraordinary Islamic Solidarity Summit in Mecca was the presence of an American diplomat representing President Barack Obama to the 56-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The special summit, which met on August 14-15, 2012, was called by King Abdullah to take up crises, conflicts and serious issues affecting […]

     
  • Jadwa September 2012 Chartbook – Construction Indicators
     

    Jadwa Investment’s recently released Saudi Charbook for the month of September 2012 found that the Saudi economic activity in July experienced a “modest slowdown of economic activity…with indicators of consumer spending and PMI slowing on the back of a seasonal trend.” However, Jadwa notes that the “healthy underlying economic momentum remains in place.” Below is a snapshot of […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Yemen
    Saudi king receives Yemen’s President Hadi in Jeddah

    Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz on Monday received Yemeni President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi in Jeddah where they discussed the latest developments in the conflict-hit country.

  • King Salman
    Perspective: King Salman’s year of trouble

    THE 79-year-old king of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, has kept a brave face since succeeding his half-brother in January. Yet while any newly crowned king may suffer ill fortune, many of Salman’s woes are either chronic or, as whispers in the kingdom increasingly suggest, products of a failing system, compounded by a lack of transparency and shortcomings in leadership.

  • Saudi Stock Market
    Acwa Power targets 2016 IPO on Kingdom’s bourse

    Saudi Arabia-based power and water project developer, Acwa Power, is aiming for a stock market floatation on the Saudi bourse sometime next year, its chief executive said.

  • Iraq
    The man who would be king of Kurdistan

    The man who would be king of Kurdistan lived the rest of his years in relative obscurity, in a village near the city of Sulaimania, and died in 1956. Despite the errors committed by the valiant warrior - by most accounts, he was not a shrewd politician - Sheikh Mahmud remains an idolised figure and a source of inspiration for Kurdish leaders. An enormous mural-portrait of him lies at the entrance of the Sulaimania bazaar.

  • Cybersecurity
    Saudi Arabia Wanted to Own Hacking Team

    Leaked emails available at WikiLeaks have revealed a scheme thought up by Saudi Arabia to simply buy Hacking Team outright, rather than continue to pay the outlandish costs for their services. Between 2013 and early 2014, several e-mails were exchanged with the Italian security professionals, who now have a proven history of aiding governments guilty of human rights violations, something they'd previously denied.

  • Jordan: ISIS
    The king demanded vengeance and ‘Zarqawi’s woman’ was sent to the gallows

    Outside Jordan, the demand made little sense. Rishawi had no value as a fighter or a leader, or even as a symbol. She was known to have participated in exactly one terrorist attack, and she had botched it.

  • US-Saudi
    Obama, Saudi king discuss Jerusalem violence, Yemen: White House

    U.S. President Barack Obama spoke to Saudi King Salman bin Abd al Aziz al Saud by phone on Thursday about regional issues including the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and the recent violence at religious sites in Jerusalem, the White House said.

  • Saudi Leadership
    Powerful Saudi royal heirs will define kingdom’s future

    "I think it's a good working relationship. Necessity demands it, and Mohammed bin Nayef is a highly respected person and in this society there is a lot of deference to age," said Khaled al-Maeena, editor at large of the English-language daily Saudi Gazette.

  • Saudi - Bahrain
    Bahraini king in Jeddah for talks with Saudi king

    The rulers will hold talks on the latest regional and international developments as well as bilateral ties between the two countries.

  • Saudi-Palestine
    Saudi king seeks ‘urgent’ UN action on Al-Aqsa

    Saudi King Salman has appealed to UN chief Ban Ki-moon and members of the Security Council for "urgent measures" after clashes at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, state media reported.