MUST-READS

• Frankly Speaking: How did Saudis become mediators for global conflicts?

  Appearing on the Arab News current affairs program “Frankly Speaking,” Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, founder and chairman of the Gulf Research Center, highlighted the significance of the US-Russia talks in Riyadh, noting that Saudi Arabia’s neutral stance had positioned it as an ideal convener. “Saudi Arabia has taken an important position that has led to this meeting, which means Saudi Arabia originally refused to take a side — neither with the Russians nor with the Ukrainians,” Sager said. Global media outlets have highlighted Saudi Arabia’s unique positioning, noting that it has maintained positive ties with both Russia and the West throughout the Ukraine conflict, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, when Russia launched what it called a “special military operation.”

• BP to ditch renewables goals and return focus to fossil fuels
  BP's chief executive will scrap a target to increase renewable generation 20-fold by 2030, returning the focus to fossil fuels, as part of a strategy shift announced on Wednesday to tackle investor concerns over earnings, two sources told Reuters. BP's shares have underperformed rivals in recent years and the oil major has already dropped its target to cut oil and gas output by 2030, Reuters reported in October. On Wednesday, when BP holds a capital markets day, CEO Murray Auchincloss will tell investors the company is abandoning its target to grow renewable generation capacity 20-fold between 2019 and 2030 to 50 gigawatts, opens new tab, two sources close to the matter said. The plan to drop the target has not been previously reported.

• Kingdom of Saudi Arabia confirms US$ 500 million commitment to global polio eradication effort

  The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia today reaffirmed its US$ 500 million pledge to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in a signing event during the fourth Riyadh International Humanitarian Forum. H.E. Dr. Abdullah al Rabeeah, Supervisor General of King Salman Relief and Humanitarian Centre, was joined by Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization; Catherine Russell, Executive Director of UNICEF; Dr. Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; Dr. Chris Elias, President of Global Development at the Gates Foundation and Chair of the Polio Oversight Board; and Aziz Memon, Pakistan Polio Plus Chair, Rotary International, to sign an agreement that will help the GPEI and its partners to reach 370 million children with polio vaccines each year and stop transmission of the virus for good. The funds were initially pledged in April 2024 at the first-ever World Economic Forum Special Meeting hosted in Riyadh.

• Olam to sell 44.6% stake in agribusiness to Saudi Arabia for $1.8bln, shares jump

  Singapore-based Olam Group on Monday said it will sell a 44.58% stake in its agricultural products business Olam Agri for $1.78 billion to state-owned Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC). Shares of the company jumped as much as 8.9% in early trading to S$1.230, their highest level since January 6. The transaction values Olam Agri at $4 billion, higher than the $3.5 billion valued at the transaction in December 2022 when it sold a 35% stake, and will give SALIC an 80% controlling stake in the business. It will result in a gain of $1.84 billion for Olam Group, the firm said in an exchange filing. Olam Group will divest its remaining 19.99% stake in the unit three years after the completion of the first phase, giving SALIC full control of Olam Agri, it said.

• Analysis: What’s Behind the Arab Alternative to Trump’s Gaza Proposal

  This would appear to be Israel’s strategic choice, and shifting that will take an enormous amount of pressure from Washington. By coming up with a more detailed postconflict stabilization and reconstruction agenda in response to Trump’s impracticable ethnic cleansing proposal, the Arab states may make it easier for the U.S. president to force the Israeli prime minister to back down and accept an alternative Palestinian civic administration. But that’s going to be a very heavy lift, even for the White House. The deep logic of Israel’s divide and rule strategy and the preeminence of preventing Palestinian independence in its strategic thinking and annexation intention make strengthening the hands of the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization anathema to the Israeli right, which has dominated governance in Israel for the past two decades. Even given what Hamas perpetrated October 7, the Israeli right appears more troubled by the possibility of strengthening the secular nationalists of Fatah than by dealing with, and reempowering, Hamas’ Gaza cadres.

• Saudi FM meets with counterparts on sidelines of G20 meeting in Johannesburg

  Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met with his counterparts from the UK, China, Australia, and France separately in Johannesburg on Thursday. On the sidelines of a meeting of G20 foreign ministers held for the first time in Africa, Prince Faisal discussed regional and international developments with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy. With Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Prince Faisal discussed intensifying coordination on issues of common interest.

• Would an end to the Ukraine war be bad news for Saudi Arabia and oil prices?

  The US’s whirlwind bid to resume relations with Russia and end the war has left Europe reeling. The Arab Gulf will be closely watching what that could mean for energy prices and the oil trade. Oil-rich Gulf states were directly impacted by the US’s and European Union’s decision to sanction Russia, which, along with Saudi Arabia, leads an alliance of oil producers dubbed Opec+. A rapid end to the war in Ukraine could mean cheaper commodities, from oil to metals and everything in between, like fertiliser, which requires natural gas for production. “Russian normalisation is a huge boost to get any commodity cheaper than it was before. Vast chunks of the commodity market will be made easily available again,” Viktor Katona, the head of oil analysis at the intelligence firm Kpler, told Middle East Eye.

• Top 30 FAQ about investing in Saudi Arabia

  The legal framework governing foreign investment in Saudi Arabia has traditionally been based on the Foreign Investment Law of 2000. However, on August 11, 2024, the Kingdom introduced a new Investment Law, which repealed the existing Foreign Investment Law. This New Investment Law has taken effect six months after its publication in the official gazette, in February 2025, marking a significant shift in the regulatory landscape. The new law streamlines the investment process by replacing complex licensing requirements with a simplified registration system, creating a more inclusive and transparent environment for domestic and international investors. Key features of the New Investment Law include guarantees of equal treatment for investors, protections against expropriation, and the free transfer of capital. Additionally, it addresses national security concerns through a transparent and internationally compliant framework.

• Saudi Arabia: Businesses put on notice over Saudisation
  The Saudi Ministry of Human Resources has asked establishments to comply with rules employing Saudis and ensure they make up no less than 75% of their overall workforce. The ministry said establishments must attract Saudis, employ them, and provide them with appropriate work opportunities. The ministry has already set up the “Nitaqat” (Ranges) programme to calculate the job localisation rates and automatically classify establishments. The programme comprises the “Platinum Range”, a category which includes businesses that excel in localisation; and the “High Green Range” which includes establishments that are average in terms of Saudization rates within the top third. There are, moreover, the “Yellow Range”, a category covering entities that have not achieved the required localisation rates, and the “Red Range” covering entities with the lowest percentage of localisation.

• Saudi Billionaire Olayan Bets on Female Founders in Deal Spree

  Dara Holdings, billionaire Lubna Olayan’s family office, has made a series of investments since mid-2024 in United Arab Emirates-based startups founded by women. Her firm participated in a $10 million seed funding round disclosed this month for qeen.ai, a Dubai-based artificial intelligence startup co-founded by former Google executive Dina Alsamhan. The family office plans to continue making investments that empower women in the Middle East and is supporting the establishment of a social-impact fund at Alfanar, a UK-registered charity Olayan, 69, helps to lead, according to Dara Chief Investment Officer Walid Haram. “If an investment ticks the boxes, and it supports women in the region, that for us is a big additional plus,” Haram, 44, said in a statement. “It’s a big focus.”  The former JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst is a principal of Olayan Group, a multibillion-dollar international conglomerate founded by her father in 1947 that she owns alongside members of her family. She served for decades as chief executive officer of its Middle East holding company, Olayan Financing Co., until stepping down in 2019. She now serves as chair of its executive committee and also leads the board of directors for Riyadh-based lender Saudi Awwal Bank.

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