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  • Living and working in a Saudi Arabian compound
     

    Fiona attended an interview in Dublin which included a short exam paper. “Four months later, my friend and I were saying goodbye to Ireland,” she states. Fiona is based in the Eastern Province of Saudi, in one of Saudi Aramco’s five health care facilities, the Dhahran Health Centre. The oil company’s health care facilities care for […]

     
  • Interview with Thuraya Al-Arrayed, Women Join Shura Council
     

    This month King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia kept his promise and appointed women to the Shura Council for the first time. The council is a non-voting, advisory body. But the inclusion of women is significant. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Thuraya al-Arrayed, one of the Shura’s new female members.

     
  • Oil Exports, Politics and Propaganda
     

    Last month, the US mainstream media barraged us with simplistic reports about how the US will soon be producing more oil than Saudi Arabia—making America the world’s top producer. Left out of this story was the fact that the math was a bit skewed: the US may end up producing more total hydrocarbons than Saudi […]

     
  • Al-Assaf, Al-Rabiah Headline Important Private Sector Initiative in Riyadh
     

    The high-level meeting, an ambitious private sector initiative, addressed joint Arab action agendas, with 21 proposals of developmental projects discussed. Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf and Commerce Minister Tawfig Al Rabiah headlined this important event in Riyadh, which was widely discussed on Social Media sites and in the general media.

     
  • Breakthrough in Saudi Arabia: 30 women named to parliament
     

    King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia issued Friday a historic decree allowing women to be members of the kingdom’s previously all-male Shura Council for the first time. The decree amended two article in the council’s statute introducing a 20 percent quota for women in the country’s 150-member Shura Council, and the king appointed […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia’s ‘golden age of learning’ under King Abdullah
     

    The major barrier in the progress of science in Muslim countries is the absence of a culture based on scientific research. There are no established research strategies, poor institutional support and insufficient integration among science-rich communities. Appointments and promotions in faculties must be based on merit. Muslim countries must create a merit-based structure that fosters […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia’s $220bn spending spree
     

    Even at growth of 3.4 percent, Saudi Arabia’s economy will be the envy of most other large countries. That figure is above the average expected GDP (3 percent) of the G20 nations – of which the kingdom is one – according to Moody’s. And, waiting in the wings, is Saudi Arabia’s vast foreign reserves, which […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia’s 2013 Budget – Jadwa
     

    Budgeted spending is at another all-time high in 2013, as the government continues with its program to upgrade the human and physical infrastructure and spurring economic growth. One highlight of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) budget announcement is the 18 percent jump in revenues. With no new initiatives announced, we think this is a sign […]

     
  • ‘Expansionary’ Saudi 2013 Budget Provides for Record Spending on the Back of 2012 Surplus
     

    A recently released report by Jadwa Investment on Saudi Arabia’s 2013 budget highlights the Saudi government’s plans for record spending to sustain the Kingdom’s economic expansion next year.

     
  • Nitaqat: Towards a Saudi “New Deal?”
     

    Editor’s Note: ‘Saudization’ is a topic that has garnered a great deal of front-page ink in Saudi Arabia of late.  The Nitaqat (“Ranges”) Program introduced in 2011 has staunch advocates and detractors and the ongoing argument between members of the private sector and the Ministry of Labor over recent fee hikes for foreign employees has been […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Saudi Arabia’s Abutaleb’s KO dashes Israel’s Olympic taekwondo hope

    Taekwondo Olympic medalist Abishag Semberg was left in tears after her defeat to Saudi Arabia’s Dunya Abutaleb in the women’s flyweight round of 16 in Paris on Wednesday. Abutaleb, the first Saudi woman to secure direct Olympic qualification, triumphed with scores of 2-6, 5-4 and 10-0. She sealed her victory with two head kicks and two body kicks in the decisive third round.

  • Investor bids invited for six Saudi football teams

    Saudi Arabia this week opened bids for six football teams as part of its new drive to monetise the kingdom’s sport sector and raise its foreign direct investment numbers. Local and international investors are invited to bid for Al-Okhdood, Al-Orouba and Al-Kholoud – all in Saudi Arabia’s top Pro League – as well as Al-Zulfi, Al-Nahda and Al-Ansar. Applications are open until a deadline of September 19.  A negotiation process will then start with the best offers, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, citing the ministry of sport. A further eight teams will be put up for sale at a later stage.

  • Adidas launches its partnership with Al-Nasr Saudi Club with an advertisement inspired by the game (Roblox)

    Adidas launched today the new kits of the Saudi Al-Nasr Club, according to the partnership signed between the two parties last February, which will last for three years, to become the global company’s sportswear brand, the official partner of the club starting from the 2024/2025 season, as “Adidas” will provide all teams and employees under the umbrella of Al-Nasr with the official uniform.

  • Saudi Arabia says Hamas leader’s killing was ‘blatant violation’ of Iran’s sovereignty

    Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was a "blatant violation" of Iran's sovereignty. The comment by the Saudi deputy foreign minister during an extraordinary meeting of members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was the first by the kingdom, the region's major power alongside Iran, since the killing of the Palestinian Islamist leader in the Iranian capital on July 31.

  • Saudi court overturns death sentence against retired teacher over posts on X

    A Saudi court has overturned the death sentence of a former teacher over social media posts made from anonymous accounts with 10 followers, a UK-based human rights group has reported. Last July, the kingdom's Specialised Criminal Court gave Mohammed al-Ghamdi the death sentence over tweets, including some which focused on unemployment and calling for the release of political prisoners. On Wednesday, Sanad, a UK-based group advocating for Ghamdi, said it had learned from sources inside the kingdom that the Court of Appeal had cancelled the sentence.

  • Saudi Takes 2 Million Photos of Neom in ‘Ground X’ Project to Build Investor Trust

    Saudi Arabia wants investors to know its ambitious Neom development is on track. Its effort is called “Ground X” and is meant to show live feeds of construction sites, project deadlines, and a “progress library” for each zone of Neom, including Sindalah, The Line and Trojena. The Ground X website is not open to the public and Skift was not able to review it.  But a public version of the website does give some details: It says it has installed 452 time-lapse cameras, 63 live cameras and more than 300 drone locations across Neom, capturing two million photos and 70,000 videos.

  • Saudi Arabia to host Halo space balloon test flight

    Halo Space, a Spanish company developing a stratospheric balloon for tourists is to conduct its next test flight in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia this September. This test flight will be Halo Space’s sixth and use the company’s real-size prototype capsule, Aurora, which will ascend 30km above the Earth’s surface. The primary objective of the flight is to validate the integrated operation of all critical systems developed over the past three years.

  • Lucid Receives $1.5 Billion Lifeline from Saudi Investment Fund

    An affiliate of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has thrown struggling electric car maker Lucid Group a $1.5 billion lifeline (second one of the year). This comes as Lucid prepares to launch its first sport utility vehicle amid a downturn in the EV automotive space. Lucid revealed it entered into agreements with its majority stockholder, Ayar Third Investment Company, an affiliate of the Saudi PIF, to purchase $750 million of convertible preferred stock through a private placement and provide a $750 million unsecured loan.

  • Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia reject US request to send peacekeepers to Gaza

    Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have rebuffed US requests to contribute troops to a post-war peacekeeping force in Gaza, an Arab official and a second source familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel, the newspaper reports. According to the report, the dispatched troops would be seen to be “protecting Israel from the Palestinians”, the Arab official says, explaining the opposition of Amman, Doha and Riyadh to the effort being advanced by the US to secure Gaza after the war.

  • Saudi Arabia’s retail real estate sector to grow to $183.2 billion by 2027

    As modernization and urban development transform Saudi Arabia’s retail real estate sector, sales are expected to increase from 2.4% in 2024 to 2.7% by 2027, reaching $183.2 billion. In its 10th annual “Saudi Arabia Real Estate Predictions” report, global consultancy firm Deloitte, referencing the Economist Intelligence Unit, revealed that retail sales in Saudi Arabia amounted to $142.7 billion in 2022.