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  • Saudi Arabia’s Construction Boom: $71.5 Billion in Projects Awarded in 2024

    Saudi Arabia’s construction sector is experiencing a significant surge.  The Kingdom awarded a staggering 314 public projects in 2024. These projects total approximately 267.8 billion Saudi riyals ($71.5 billion USD). This marks the highest annual project value since the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic.  The Saudi Contractors Authority (SCA) released these impressive figures.  The SCA represents a majority of construction firms within the Gulf Kingdom. April witnessed the highest project value, reaching SAR57.4 billion ($15.3 billion). January followed with projects worth SAR36.8 billion ($9.8 billion). In December, the government awarded 11 projects totaling about SAR10.5 billion ($2.8 billion). One project from December will complete in 2025, two in 2026, six in 2027, and two in 2030.

  • Saudi Arabia launches water and sanitation projects worth USD 1.2 billion

    Among the key projects, the Saudi Water Authority (SWA) will implement SAR 1.3 billion (about USD 346 million) in infrastructure upgrades, including technology replacements at Shuqaiq 1 desalination plant, as well as new security systems and water transport systems. The National Water Company (NWC) is investing SAR 607 million (about USD 162 million) in 20 water and sanitation projects in the Jazan region, improving supply networks and implementing advanced wastewater treatment plants. Additionally, SAR 48 million (about USD 13 million) will be allocated to three projects by the National Center for Vegetation Development and Combating Desertification.

  • Opinion: How Donald Trump Should Deal With Saudi Arabia

    Trump and MBS are prepared to pick up where they left off. The two view each other as force multipliers for their respective agendas. Trump looks at the Saudi crown prince and sees a high net-worth individual who could throw a gargantuan amount of petrodollars into the American economy. In Trump, MBS spots a transactional businessman who couldn't care less about high-browed concepts like the rules-based international order. Both men are also nationalists to the core. MBS can relate to Trump's "Make America Great Again" mantra because he is following the same playbook in the kingdom. MBS wants to make his country stronger and wealthier than ever before, best exemplified by his Vision 2030 economic campaign to diversify Saudi Arabia from an oil-pumping machine into a center of banking, finance, and sports.

  • Saudi Arabia: Stricter Exit Visa Rules Implemented for Resident Permits

    Holders of a resident permit who are applying for an exit visa must now have at least 30 days of validity on their resident permit; whereas previously such foreign nationals could apply for an exit visa up until the last day of their resident permit. As a result of this change, resident permit holders whose resident permit has a remaining validity period of less than 30 days must first renew their resident permit before they can apply for an exit visa. This new rule only applies to standard resident permits, as premium resident permits are not subject to any exit visa requirement.

  • Saudi seeks foreign capital to build global, competitive industries

    Saudi Arabia’s main objective in attracting foreign investment is to unlock its labor force to develop goods and services that can compete globally, marking a shift for a kingdom known as a source of long-term capital for western companies.The kingdom has flipped the non-oil sector’s contribution to GDP to slightly over half the economy for the first time, up from 46% before the plan was announced in 2016. “The job is not done,” he said. “It’s on track. It’s gaining momentum.” Key to sustaining this progress is attracting foreign companies and capital. That track record so far has been mixed. Saudi Arabia aims to bring in $100 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) annually by 2030, or 5.7% of GDP. FDI inflows for the first nine months of 2024 totaled $14.5 billion, just over halfway to the government’s $29 billion target for the year, according to the General Authority for Statistics.

  • Neom provides major update on Saudi gigaproject including 100-year timeframe for the Line

    Neom deputy CEO Rayan Fayez and chief development officer Denis Hickey gave a presentation at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where they revealed detailed updates on the construction of the Saudi Arabian gigaproject and its regions. The regions of Neom, from north to south, are Trojena in the mountains, Magna on the coast, the Line, islands of Sindalah and the port of Oxagon. Oxagon and the Line are intended to be the economic centres, whereas the remaining four regions are hoped to become tourism and nature destinations. Hickey, an Australian former professional cricketer, now living in Manhattan in New York City while working for Neom, spoke at length about what’s happening across the gigaproject. “We’ve got to start everything from scratch,” he said. “Everybody wants to see things tomorrow, but we are building a whole new state, a whole new city, whole new infrastructure from scratch in a new part of the region, the kingdom. That’s our mission.”

  • Saudi Arabia’s king, crown prince express their condolences after Washington air crash

    Saudi Arabia’s king and crown prince sent cables of condolences on Thursday to US President Donald Trump after an American Airlines passenger jet collided with an army helicopter on Wednesday. At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the helicopter apparently flew into the path of the jet late Wednesday as it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, officials said. King Salman offered his condolences to Trump, the families of the victims, and the American people. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sent a similar cable separately.

  • Saudi Fencing Team Ranks First in Arab World with 60 Medals

    The Saudi fencing team concluded its participation in the Arab Fencing Championship, which ended yesterday in Bahrain, securing first place in the team rankings with a total of 60 medals (16 gold, 17 silver, and 27 bronze). The championship featured the participation of 12 countries: Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Tunisia, Yemen, and Libya. Oman came in second place with 21 medals (eight gold, eight silver, and five bronze), while the UAE ranked third with seven medals (three gold, one silver, and three bronze). The Saudi team participated with 127 athletes (42 women and 85 men) across all categories (senior, under 15, under 13, and under 11 years old) and in all three weapons of épée, foil, and sabre (individual and team events).

  • Franchise industry in Saudi Arabia hits $15B: Official

    Khaled Al-Ghamdi, Chairman of the National Franchise Committee at the Federation of Saudi Chambers, said that the value of the franchise industry in the Kingdom is estimated at about $15 billion (about SAR 53 billion). He added that the Kingdom is one of the largest franchise hubs in the Middle East. There are more than 1,200 registered trademarks in the Kingdom’s franchise sector, which is witnessing remarkable expansion, as brands grow at an annual rate of 27%, Al-Ghamdi told Argaam on the sidelines of the Saudi Franchise Expo in Riyadh. Furthermore, there is a move to empower Saudi franchises in Europe and the US, as Saudi products are globally admired for their quality and compliance with Halal standards, especially in the food industry, which will greatly enhance the opportunities for restaurants and cafes to spread, the official said.

  • Trump’s envoy meets Netanyahu, visits Gaza after Saudi trip

    U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff visited Gaza on Wednesday, then met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid the Gaza ceasefire and a regional diplomatic push. Witkoff, whose visit to Gaza was confirmed by a White House official, is in the region to oversee the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire. U.S. President Donald Trump hopes to leverage that deal into a broader regional accord that would include Saudi Arabia and Israel formalising diplomatic ties. Witkoff visited Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The U.S. envoy met with Netanyahu alone for more than two hours, an Israeli official said, before they were joined by other ministers.