MUST-READS

• Saudi Arabia Chairs 69th Session of UN Commission on the Status of Women

  The 69th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) began yesterday, chaired by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by its Permanent Representative to the United Nations Abdulaziz Alwasil. The session will continue through March 21, featuring a high-level delegation led by Family Affairs Council Secretary-General Maimoonah Al Khalil. As chair, the Kingdom emphasizes enhancing international cooperation to support women's empowerment and address their challenges. It will also share its experiences and initiatives that have strengthened Saudi women's role as a key driver of national development. Al Khalil emphasized that Saudi Arabia's selection to chair CSW69 demonstrates the significant strides made in empowering Saudi women. She attributed this success to the unwavering support of the Kingdom's leadership, which has facilitated women's continuous achievements across all fields.

• Egypt approves investment promotion agreement with Saudi Arabia

  The Egyptian parliament yesterday approved an agreement on the promotion and protection of mutual investments signed between Egypt and Saudi Arabia last October, Gulf Online reported. According to a statement published by the Federation of Saudi Chambers on its official account on X, the approval by the Egyptian parliament will help create optimal conditions for investment exchange between the two countries. The federation noted that the agreement “will lead to an increase in capital flows and investments between the two countries, provide more job opportunities, and strengthen economic relations.”

• Doing business in Saudi Arabia: new opportunities surge under Saudi Vision 2030

  For reference to KSA laws and regulations, the National Center for Archives and Records (NCAR) regularly publishes these in both Arabic and English. NCAR is tasked with the management, preservation, and organisation of KSA’s historic documents and records. The business environment in KSA is rapidly evolving, becoming more dynamic and inclusive, particularly with efforts to promote gender equality. Businesses aiming to operate in the Kingdom must adhere to and respect its Islamic culture and customs.

• How Mahmoud Khalil became the face of Trump’s crackdown on campus protests

  When protests over the Israel-Hamas war took root on Columbia University’s campus last spring, Mahmoud Khalil became a familiar, outspoken figure in a student movement that soon spread to other U.S. colleges. The international-affairs graduate student was a fixture in and around the protest encampment on Columbia’s Manhattan campus, serving as a spokesperson and negotiator for demonstrators who deplored Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and pressed the Ivy League school to cut financial ties with Israel and companies that supported the war. Now that visibility has helped make him the face of President Donald Trump’s drive to punish what he calls antisemitic and “anti-American” campus protests. In the first publicly known arrest of the crackdown, federal immigration agents took Khalil, a legal U.S. resident married to an American citizen, from his apartment Saturday and held him for potential deportation.

• SIG and Yellow Door Energy partner on 2 MW Saudi Arabian project

  SIG, a European provider of sustainable building products, and UAE-based solar company Yellow Door Energy have launched a 2 MW solar project in Riyadh. Once complete, the installation will become one of Saudi Arabia’s first on-grid industrial solar projects connected directly to a manufacturing plant. The project is under the stewardship of the Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (MODON), ensuring that it is in-line with the country’s MODON Green Initiative to encourage renewable energy rollout in cities. Overall, the solar project is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 1,300 metric tons per annum.

• PwC’s Consulting Ban From Saudi Fund Has Rivals Hunting for Work

  Managers at Deloitte and Ernst & Young have instructed staffers to prepare for more work in the kingdom, according to people familiar with their thinking. Some firms have already been invited to bid for contracts tied to some of the kingdom’s most prestigious and lucrative projects, including Neom and AlUla, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is confidential. The Middle East region generated £1.97 billion ($2.5 billion) in revenue for PwC UK, the corporate entity that includes the region, in the 12 months to June 30. Saudi Arabia is the biggest and fastest-growing market for consulting within the Gulf, making up more than half of the $6 billion in regional revenue, according to the research firm Insights.

• Incredible ambition, but at what cost? Saudi gigaproject budget spirals

  Indeed, it's easy get lost in the deluge of information and rumors, but even the scaled-back version of Neom is insanely ambitious: the first phase of the Line is currently under construction and it will have a length of 2.4 km (1.5 miles), as well as a height of 500 m (1,640 ft). It will feature a mirrored exterior and will serve as home to 200,000 residents. It will also be topped by a rooftop stadium and is slated to be ready by 2030, in time for the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament being held there four years later.

• Saudi Investment Fund pays $3.5bn to capture Pokémon Go

  Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) will pay $3.5bn (£2.7bn) to buy the gaming division of developer Niantic, whose titles include the hit mobile game Pokémon Go. The game involves players walking around in the real world to hunt the collectable creatures, which appear on their phone screens using augmented reality. Despite launching almost a decade ago, Pokémon Go is still amongst the highest-grossing mobile games in the world, with 30 million monthly players. The deal marks the latest step by Saudi Arabia to develop its gaming industry, which it has spent billions of pounds on in recent years. Niantic's other games, such as Monster Hunter Now and Pikmin Bloom, are also included in the acquisition, along with the people employed to make them. They will become part of Scopely Inc - which itself was bought by PIF subsidiary Savvy Games Group for $4.9bn in 2023. Scopely is one of the biggest names in mobile gaming, with its most successful title, Monopoly Go, being downloaded more than 50 million times and generating more than $3bn in revenue.

• Zelenskyy Summarizes Talks With U.S. in Saudi Arabia: Ceasefire, Elections, and Territorial Integrity

  On March 12, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a press conference summarizing recent discussions between Ukrainian and U.S. delegations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The meeting focused on de-escalation efforts, Ukraine’s security, and the broader framework for a potential resolution to the ongoing war. Zelenskyy described the talks as a significant step toward strengthening Ukraine-U.S. relations despite Russian attempts to sow discord. He emphasized that the meeting reaffirmed the partnership between the two countries and countered narratives suggesting diplomatic isolation for Ukraine.

• Unpacking the Drivers of Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Policy

  At its core, Saudi Arabia's foreign policy orientation is grounded in the Kingdom’s economic program Vision 2030. For Vision 2030 to succeed, there is a clear awareness by the Saudi government that international partnerships and a stable geopolitical environment are essential. As the country works to reduce its dependence on oil and diversify its economy, foreign relations are not merely supplementary but a prerequisite for securing the investments, trade agreements, and stability needed for sustained economic growth. As Saudi Arabia seeks to establish itself as an attractive investment destination, diplomatic efforts help maintain an investment-friendly environment, assuring foreign investors of the country's security and stability.

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