MUST-READS

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff with Jennifer Hansler of CNN and Matthew Lee of the Associated Press

  But I think the most important part is the President has stated his desire, his determination, to end this war, to end the killing that is going on.  The death and destruction that is happening as this war goes on and on, month after month after month in the killing fields of eastern and southern Ukraine, is unacceptable.  It is not in the interest of either country.  It’s not in the interest of the world and certainly not in the interest of United States and Europe.

• GCC economies are broadening their tax bases

  GCC economies are expanding their tax bases to diversify non-oil revenue, enhance fiscal sustainability and respond to international tax developments such as the new global minimum tax for large multinational enterprises. In recent years, GCC countries have introduced a range of tax reforms, such as the introduction of value-added tax (VAT), excise duties, real estate transfer taxes and more recently broad-based corporate income taxes. Non-oil tax revenues in 2023 ranged from 1% of GDP in Kuwait¹⁶ to 9% in Saudi Arabia.¹⁷ Although Kuwait and Qatar have yet to introduce VAT and despite VAT rates in the other GCC countries being low by international standards, most of the non-oil tax revenue in the GCC comes from taxes on the import and consumption of goods and services. This is in part due to the absence of personal income taxes in the GCC and some of the GCC countries having limited corporate tax regimes that only apply to foreign-owned businesses and the hydrocarbon sector.

• Data centers are getting a lot of buzz from GCC investors – it makes sense

  In real estate investment, a new heavyweight has emerged: data centers. These have become essential infrastructure, driving investment returns and redefining real estate portfolios in the Gulf. But these aren’t your typical real estate plays. These facilities house the digital backbone of our online lives—servers, storage systems, and networking gear that keep businesses and consumers connected. They require precise environmental controls, ample power supplies, and top-tier security, making them complex yet lucrative investments. The GCC's cloud computing market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17% from 2022 to 2027, according to MarketsandMarkets. Data centers offer steady returns through long-term leases with tech giants and enterprises.

• Russia’s wealth fund chief will meet US delegation in Saudi Arabia: Source

  Russia’s sovereign wealth fund chief Kirill Dmitriev will meet a US delegation in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to focus on strengthening ties and increased economic cooperation, a source in Riyadh told Reuters. The meeting involving Dmitriev is the first confirmation that the US-educated former Goldman Sachs banker will be involved in talks with the United States. Dmitriev, 49, is an investment banker who studied at Harvard and Stanford in the 1990s. He worked at the US firms Goldman Sachs and McKinsey before returning to Moscow.

• Saudi Arabia’s anti-corruption efforts paying off

  Bribery and abuse of influence are the leading corruption offences in Saudi Arabia’s public sector, according to a new report. Saudi Arabia’s Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha), formed in 2011, arrested 1,708 people last year on corruption charges, according to legal, risk and regulatory advisory company Secretariat. Charges included embezzlement, money laundering, forgery and misuse of public funds, Secretariat said. Departments with the most cases were interior, health, education, and municipalities and housing,  “It is clear that you're being held to account if you abuse your position of power, if you abuse your position of influence and if you take money in return for giving out favours or contracts,” said Ralph Stobwasser, managing director at Secretariat.

• Opinion: Gulf-China relations are strictly business

  Hardly a day goes by without a story about China’s growing presence in the Gulf, which is a remarkable transition. When I started working on a PhD focusing on China-GCC relations in 2011, an economist at a regional sovereign wealth fund dismissed the project out of hand: “How are you going to write 100,000 words on selling cheap stuff and buying oil”? Nearly 15 years later the narrative has shifted hard in the other direction, with China generally considered a major external power in the region. That does not mean its role in the Gulf is any better understood.  First and foremost, the Gulf remains a place to get energy. For decades, China has had a voracious appetite for imported oil and gas and it will continue to be the world’s largest importer in the near term. Gulf countries typically provide it with between 40-50 percent of its crude oil imports and an increasingly large percentage of its LNG.

• Neom spends $37bn on infrastructure development

  Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion giga-project Neom has spent more than SAR140 billion ($37 billion) on infrastructure development so far, a senior company executive has said. Several real estate projects are still under development, with work on infrastructure and utilities continuously progressing, chief development officer Denis Hickey told PIF Private Sector Forum last week. The developer has two investment vehicles. Neom Investment Fund focuses on sector growth and partnerships, while the Neom Investment Office handles real estate development and launching new initiatives in other sectors.

• Saudi Arabia takes bold decision to unlock full economic potential, diversify away from oil: Alibrahim

  Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of the Crown Prince, made a bold decision to unlock the full potential of its economy by planning long-term and looking at the big picture to move away from oil dependence, Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim said. The country adopted a constructive approach based on innovative radical change, the minister said during a panel discussion at AlUla Emerging Markets Conference. This approach stimulated innovation from top to bottom in the public sector and opened markets to innovators from within the Kingdom and globally. There is progress and momentum and the Kingdom is on the right track, but the task is not yet complete, he noted.

• Rubio meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

  Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a meeting Monday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh. The State Department issued a statement on Rubio’s meeting with the Saudi crown prince, saying Rubio emphasized the necessity of a Gaza solution that strengthens regional security. However, the statement didn’t elaborate on how Rubio and Crown Prince Mohammed reconciled their differing opinions on Gaza’s future.

  • US Department of State - Secretary Rubio’s Meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
• Arab summit on Trump’s Gaza plan postponed and expanded

  A planned meeting in Saudi Arabia of Arab leaders in response to United States President Donald Trump's plan to take control of Gaza has been postponed by a day and expanded, Arab diplomats said on Monday, February 17. "The mini Arab summit in Riyadh has been postponed from Thursday to Friday, February 21," a Saudi source told French news agency AFP. An Arab diplomatic source confirmed the new date. Three Arab states had been expected to attend the summit, but the Saudi source said the expanded meeting will "include the leaders of the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, along with Egypt and Jordan, to discuss Arab alternatives to Trump's plans in the Gaza Strip". The Saudi source said that "an influential Gulf country expressed its dissatisfaction at being excluded from the Riyadh summit, which prompted the organizers to include all the Gulf countries" – without specifying which country.

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