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  • Middle East tech start-ups pitch at SPARK Ignite in Amsterdam

    With support from Google the incubation program started in April with 130 start-ups. The program is the first of its kind in the region, devoted to refugee and local entrepreneurs who are building ventures against the odds with resilience and grit.  These start-ups are innovating across industries as diverse as CleanTech, EdTech, VR, and AgriTech.

  • The European Union’s “Strategic Partnership With the Gulf”: Half-Speed Ahead

    The EU’s Gulf strategic partnership strategy can best be read as a statement of intent and independence, establishing a new baseline for cooperation in the face of a series of major systemic and state challenges.

  • New Salwa port connecting Qatar and Saudi Arabia starts trial operations 

    The new port will facilitate transit to and from Saudi Arabia for the football fans who are attending the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. People on social media shared pictures of the newly opened port that started trail operations for passengers today with six times greater capacity than the old port which used to accommodate only 3,000 vehicles.

  • Saudi Arabia closes 49 deals worth $925m in second quarter of 2022

    Saudi Arabia has signed 49 deals worth $925 million in the second quarter of 2022, as the Arab world’s largest economy continues to attract new investment into the country to diversify away from oil. The deals were signed across sectors including advanced manufacturing, construction and real estate, information and communications technology, tourism, entertainment and sports.

  • Saudi Arabia closes 49 deals worth $925m in second quarter of 2022

    Saudi Arabia has signed 49 deals worth $925 million in the second quarter of 2022, as the Arab world’s largest economy continues to attract new investment into the country to diversify away from oil. The deals were signed across sectors including advanced manufacturing, construction and real estate, information and communications technology, tourism, entertainment and sports.

  • Saudi Arabia posts almost $21 billion second-quarter surplus

    Saudi Arabia has registered a budget surplus of nearly 78 billion riyals ($21 billion) in the second quarter of 2022, the finance ministry said on Thursday, an almost 50% rise from a year earlier, bolstered by high oil prices. Revenue in the second quarter reached 370.37 billion riyals and expenditure was 292.46 billion, the ministry said.

  • Lucid Sinks After EV Startup Halves 2022 Production Target

    It’s the second time the Newark, California-based startup has reduced its output goal this year, from an original target of 20,000 cars. Saudi-backed Lucid said it produced 1,405 vehicles in the first half of 2022 and attributed the lower full-year target to “extraordinary supply chain and logistics challenges.” The company delivered just 1,039 cars.

  • State Department clears weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, UAE

    The U.S. State Department on Tuesday cleared possible foreign military sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to a statement from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. Under the first deal, Saudi Arabia would buy 300 Raytheon Technologies-made MIM-104E Patriot missiles for more than $3 billion. Control stations, fire control and other equipment would be included.

  • US to extend visa validity for Saudis to 10 years starting Aug. 1

    The US will extend visa validity for Saudi citizens from five to 10 years starting Monday, Aug. 1. “The people of the US and Saudi Arabia have a long and proud history of communication and exchange, both socially and commercially. Extending the term of the US visa for Saudi nationals is one of the most tangible ways to deepen people-to-people ties and increase mutual understanding between our two countries,” the US Embassy tweeted.

  • EV Charts: US Primary Energy Consumption

    US primary energy consumption has been rangebound since 2004, even as population and economy have grown. Fossil fuel primary energy peaked in 2004; coal and oil both peaked in 2005 while gas use expanded markedly. That means all growth has been non-fossil, and most of that growth from wind and solar power.