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Recent stories from sustg

  • Saudi Arabia remains largest takaful market
     

    The global takaful industry has witnessed tremendous growth in the last decade, rapidly becoming an integral part of the mainstream financial system, with Saudi Arabia at the forefront, Ernst & Young executive said Wednesday at the opening of “The World takaful Conference: Asia Leaders Summit (WTC: ALS 2012)” at Hotel Istana, Kuala Lumpur. South East […]

     
  • Jadwa Chartbook June 2012: Sectoral Performance
     

    Riyadh-based Jadwa Investments recently released its June, 2012 Saudi ‘Chartbook’ which includes updates on the Saudi economy, trade, oil metrics as well as assessments of various sectors including banking, trade, and sectoral performance. Below is a snapshot of Jadwa’s analysis of the performance of Saudi Arabia’s main economic sectors. For the full Jadwa report, click […]

     
  • In Major Shift, Saudi Aramco Dabbles in Oil Trading
     

    Saudi Arabia has long been a dominant force in global oil markets, “but has never been an oil trader.” That changed on January 1st, 2012, when Saudi Aramco began operations at Aramco Trading, a wholly owned company subsidiary. The new Aramco Trading marks an expansion in Aramco’s downstream investment portfolio in the Kingdom and overseas, […]

     
  • Riyadh among lowest risk cities in Mideast
     

    Riyadh is among the lowest risk cities in the region, with a rating that puts it ahead of international business hubs such as Milan, Lisbon, Istanbul and Moscow, according to the findings from the 2012 People Risk Index, created by Aon Hewitt, the global human resources business of Aon plc. The Aon Hewitt 2012 People […]

     
  • Jadwa Chartbook June 2012: Trade
     

    Riyadh-based Jadwa Investments recently released its June, 2012 Saudi ‘Chartbook’ which includes updates on the Saudi economy, trade, oil metrics as well as assessments of various sectors including banking. Below is a snapshot of Jadwa’s analysis of Saudi imports and exports and letters of credit. 

     
  • The Middle East fights the Flame, but virus spreads anyway
     

    Two years ago there was Stuxnet, a virus that targeted Iranian uranium-enrichment infrastructure. Now Flame, a mutating piece of malware, is continuing to spread, infecting more than 1,000 Windows-powered computers across the Middle East. It’s centered on Iran, but has also spread to Israel and Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and even Sudan. Flame is a huge virus — 20 megabytes […]

     
  • Wider world opened to Saudis studying abroad
     

    Wearing the black face-covering veil favoured by Saudi women, Maha Mazyad looked through leaflets for prospective jobs with some of the Islamic kingdom’s largest companies at a recent career fair in Riyadh. A few years ago she would have worried about the disapproving reaction of friends and parents to the notion of a young woman […]

     
  • Saudi Construction Sector: A Sleeping Giant Awakes
     

    Deloitte’s recently released report, “GCC powers of construction 2012: Five lessons to learn” assesses the current prospects of Saudi Arabia’s construction sector.  Deloitte paints a very optimistic picture noting Saudi Arabia’s leading position in the GCC with regard to population and GDP.  It also highlights the ambitious spending plans established in the latest 5-year development plan announced in […]

     
  • Saudi, Kuwait, UAE lead Q1 GCC corporate earnings growth
     

    Earnings of Saudi Arabian companies totalled $6.7 billion, an increase of 15 per cent YoY and 28 per cent QoQ. SABIC, which reported $1.9 billion in Q1 profits, saw its bottom-line decline by five per cent YoY due to softening of global petrochemical prices when compared to Q1 2011. Saudi Banks continued its stable growth […]

     
  • Key to the kingdom
     

    2012 is likely to be the tipping point for the Gulf’s most ambitious real estate project. If the good results continue, and companies carry on signing up to take advantage of the transport infrastructure coming online in 2013, then KAEC looks set to snowball. But when will the city be fully completed? “Our target is […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Saudi Arabia expects larger budget deficits on Vision 2030 spending boost

    Saudi Arabia expects its budget deficit to widen this year and next as the Arab world's largest economy boosts spending to finance its economic diversification agenda under the Vision 2030 plan.   The kingdom's deficit will reach 118 billion Saudi riyals ($31.46 billion) or 2.9 per cent of its gross domestic product this year, with revenue at about 1.24 trillion riyals and expenditure of about 1.36 trillion riyals, the finance ministry said on Monday.  Riyadh has revised its 2024 budget deficit projection higher from the earlier projection of 1.9 per cent as it continues to pursue its expansionary economic policy.

  • Saudi Asset Management Industry Poised for Growth; Islamic Funds Dominating

    The Saudi Arabian asset management industry (AMI) is poised for growth in 2H24–2025, following regulatory reforms, expanding equity and debt capital markets, and increasing numbers of high-net-worth individuals seeking asset-management services, Fitch Ratings says. Assets under management (AUM) rose 13.5% yoy, exceeding USD250 billion at end-1H24. Saudi Arabia has the largest AMI in the GCC, the fifth-largest in the OIC, and the second-largest public Islamic funds market globally. As the AMI matures, it could attract funds that were placed with offshore asset managers.

  • Saudi Arabian FDI stalls at $5.2 bln in second quarter despite reform drive

    Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Saudi Arabia stalled in the second quarter at around the same level as a year ago, government data showed on Monday, highlighting the kingdom's need for further reforms to meet its ambitious targets. Saudi Arabia drew 19.44 billion riyals ($5.18 billion) in FDI, which was little changed from 19.43 billion riyals in Q2 last year, the General Authority of Statistics data showed. Overall, Saudi Arabia recorded net FDI inflows of 11.7 billion riyals in the second quarter, down 7.5% from a year earlier.

  • Dim Outlook for Peace in the Middle East

    Nearly a year after Hamas attacked Israel, setting off the Israel-Hamas war, hopes for peace remain scarce. In Gallup surveys conducted in July and August of this year, few people in Israel or the West Bank and East Jerusalem think peace will ever be reached in the long-running conflict between Israel and Palestine. Two-thirds of people living in Israel (66%), and in the West Bank and East Jerusalem (68%), think a permanent peace will never be achieved.

  • US struggles to avoid wider war after Iran missile attack on Israel

    After days of escalating Israeli attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and a day after Israel announced limited ground incursions into southern Lebanon, Iran today launched 180 ballistic missiles at Israel. The Biden administration said initial assessments indicated there had been very few, possibly no fatalities from the massive attack, which it nevertheless called a significant escalation.

  • Wrapping up mission, US troops will leave some longstanding bases in Iraq under new deal

    he U.S. announced an agreement with the Iraqi government Friday to wrap up the military mission in Iraq of an American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group by next year, with U.S. troops departing some bases that they have long occupied during a two-decade-long military presence in the country.

  • Falconers Flock to the Northern Borders Deserts for the Hunting Season

    Al-Hammad area, located east of Arar, in the Northern Borders region, is a renowned stopover for migratory birds during the hunting season. This annual event, which begins in October, attracts falconers from all over Saudi Arabia and GCC countries. Known for its abundance of prized falcons, Al-Hammad desert draws enthusiasts from near and far. The area often sees high sales at falcon auctions, making it a popular destination for collectors.

  • Hezbollah Got Caught in Its Own Trap

    Hezbollah is entirely a creature of Tehran, unlike Hamas and the Houthis, which, though backed by Iran, were not founded under the Islamic Republic’s tutelage and have religious and political differences with it. Established in the immediate aftermath of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and developed during the 18-year occupation that ended in May 2000, Hezbollah was the first Iranian-controlled militia in the Arab world, providing a model that Tehran has successfully replicated in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere.

  • Saudi oil may keep a lid on Middle East fallout

    Israel’s war in Gaza has certainly had savage economic consequences – year-on-year GDP in the Palestinian enclave fell 86%, opens new tab in January 2024, the World Bank says. But oil prices – the obvious way for the conflict to hit the global economy – have mostly hovered in the $70s and $80s a barrel region. Major hostilities on Israel’s northern border with Hezbollah were assumed to be the key reason to make them spike higher. The doomsday scenario would be for Iran to shut the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the global oil supply passes daily.

  • Saudi unemployment drops again in second quarter

    The unemployment rate for Saudi nationals fell to 7.1 percent in the second quarter of 2024, government data shows, down from 7.6 percent in the first quarter and 8.5 percent in the same period a year ago. The overall unemployment rate, which includes expatriate workers, dropped to 3.3 percent in Q2, down from 4.1 percent in 2023, according to the General Authority for Statistics’ latest labour force survey.