MUST-READS

• The 2020 Olympic Games In Tokyo Will Be Delayed By One Year Due To The Coronavirus

  The 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, will be postponed by one year due to the global coronavirus outbreak, officials announced Tuesday, amid fears that the large gathering of athletes, coaches, and spectators from around the world could further spread the deadly virus. The Games had been scheduled to begin on July 24.

• Commentary: Add coronavirus to other crises, and the Middle East faces a catastrophe

  And it is not only oil exporters who are hit. Many of the poorer countries in the Middle East are labor exporters. In Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, the wages that citizens working overseas send back represents about 10 percent of those economies. With much lower oil prices, those remittances will crash and skilled workers will return, unemployed, to markets that can’t provide for them.

• Despite OPEC+ deal collapse, Saudi oil exports yet to rise-sources

  The kingdom plans to ship more than 10 million barrels per day (bpd) from May following the collapse of a supply-cut pact by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers led by Russia, known as OPEC+. So far, exports in March are running significantly below that rate, the sources said, showing little change from February. This could reflect lower demand from customers, such as China following the coronavirus outbreak.

• Saudi Arabia pre-qualifies 49 bidders in 1.2-GW solar tender

  Saudi Arabia has shortlisted 49 companies and consortia that will move ahead to bid in a tender targeting 1.2 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity. The competition is the third round of the country’s National Renewable Energy Programme (NREP) and will allow bidding in two categories. The first one will be open to smaller companies and covers the 80-MW Layla and the 120-MW Wadi Al Dawaser solar projects, while the 300-MW Saad and the 700-MW Ar Rass schemes will be offered in the other category.

• Saudi banks should embrace fintech strategies and collaborate

  One thing clearly emerging is that local Saudi banks are now open to the idea of evaluating how fintech solutions can help them rather than seeing them as a threat and investing in-house technologies as in the past. Banks are now rapidly looking at embedding the adoption of fintechs in their overall business and digital strategies.

  • KPMG - Saudi Arabia Banking Perspectives: 2020
• In coronavirus lockdown, Gulf residents urge end to voice-call bans

  “Please just listen to us. Unblock Skype, WhatsApp, FaceTime, even if it’s just temporary. 80% of the country is away from their homes,” urged Twitter user @danielmarcevans. “If not now during the spread of the virus to allow us to communicate with our families, then when?” user Basem Saif tweeted on Sunday.

• G20 leaders to speak on Thursday about coronavirus, sources say

  Leaders from the Group of 20 major economies will convene a video conference on Thursday to discuss the coronavirus epidemic, multiple sources told Reuters, amid criticism that the group has been slow to respond to the global crisis. G20 finance ministers and central bankers agreed during a separate video conference on Monday to develop an “action plan” to respond to the outbreak, which the International Monetary Fund expects will trigger a global recession. A subsequent statement from the Saudi G20 secretariat offered few details.

  • Reuters - G20 says developing action plan to deal with global pandemic
• Saudi Arabia’s consulting market climbs 12 percent to $1.6 billion

  Saudi Arabia’s consulting industry continues to shine as one of the world’s standout global performers, growing by 12 percent last year to a worth of $1.6 billion. The consulting industry of Saudi Arabia has pushed out to a worth of $1.6 billion on the back of bumper 12 percent growth in 2019 – with the Kingdom now accounting for almost half of the wider $3.6 billion market in the GCC. This is the conclusion of Source Global Research, a market research and consultant to the consulting industry itself, which measures the activity of advisory firms with a headcount of greater than 50 serving mid to large clients.

• Saudi Arabia asks hotels to exempt customers from cancellation fees due to coronavirus regulations

  Saudi Ministry of Tourism urged hotels to allow for free cancellations due to coronavirus regulations affecting travel, the ministry announced in a tweet.

• U.S. to send Victoria Coates as special energy envoy to Saudi Arabia, sources say

  The Trump administration will appoint Victoria Coates as a special energy representative to Saudi Arabia as Washington struggles to deal with a global oil price crash that drags on the economy and threatens U.S. energy producers, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

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