Recent stories from sustg

MUST-READS

  • Lucid Advances Global Sustainability Vision, Announcing New Details for First Overseas Manufacturing Facility with Partners in Saudi Arabia

    Lucid reviewed multiple opportunities before selecting KAEC in Saudi Arabia, an area known for its livability and sustainability, as the optimal location for the second of its global network of electric vehicle manufacturing facilities. Lucid also officially designated the new Saudi Arabian plant “AMP-2” (Advanced Manufacturing Plant #2), indicating its position as the next cornerstone of Lucid’s vertically integrated global production network. The factory is situated in KAEC’s ‘Industrial Valley,’ close to King Abdullah Port along the main Red Sea trading corridor, an area which has handled more than a third of Saudi Arabia’s Western Region container volumes. Lucid’s Middle East regional headquarters in Riyadh has been operational since last year.

  • Heart And Soul – Vignettes from Ali Al-Baluchi’s Memoir: Part V – Community Services

    By the late 1970s, Ali Al-Baluchi had risen through Aramco’s Community Services to become Manager of the Food Distribution Department, where he was proud to employ one of the company’s first Saudi female employees. The following extract from Heart and Soul details how this opened a door to further training in the United States.

  • Why positive change in Middle East starts with bringing women into the work force

    “Many companies today are saying the right things, but there is no psychological safety, as such, for women to feel they can benefit from the flexible working hours or from the conditions that are being put in place that will allow them to find their balance as women,” she added.

  • Why positive change in Middle East starts with bringing women into the work force

    McKinsey emphasized four indicators that correlated with women’s participation in professional and technical jobs: Education, financial inclusion, digital inclusion, and legal protection.

  • 18 (very) fast-growing technology start-ups in the Middle East

    Similar to the global program, the regional edition of the Technology Fast 50 recognizes fastest-growing technology companies based on revenue growth over the last four years. The competition also places the spotlights on ‘companies to watch’ – young start-ups (<4 years in operation) that don’t qualify for the Technology Fast 50 list but have enjoyed an exceptional growth trajectory.

  • Senate confirms Barbara Leaf to lead State Department’s Middle East bureau

    Barbara Leaf, the Biden administration’s pick to head the State Department’s Middle East bureau, was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday after more than a year of being blocked by Republican lawmakers. US President Joe Biden nominated Leaf, currently the White House Senior Director for Middle East and North Africa Affairs, to be the Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs in April 2021.

  • Why smartphones are key to unlocking financial inclusion in Middle East and Africa

    The potential is massive, in a region with a population of over 2 billion and 1 billion smartphones, enabling people without a bank account or credit history access to financial services from digital payment cards, multi-currency wallets and remittance services, to insurance and micro-lending – all at the touch of a button.

  • Why smartphones are key to unlocking financial inclusion in Middle East and Africa

    The potential is massive, in a region with a population of over 2 billion and 1 billion smartphones, enabling people without a bank account or credit history access to financial services from digital payment cards, multi-currency wallets and remittance services, to insurance and micro-lending – all at the touch of a button.

  • KAUST Spins-in Five Cutting-Edge International Startups and Brings New Tech to Saudi Arabia

    King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has recently wrapped up 'Destination Deep Tech,' a Saudi-first program that spins in leading-edge global startups to the Kingdom to develop deep tech innovations. The international startups - CeEntek, Hopu, Insignes-Labs, Pasqal, and Proteinea - were chosen to experience the three-month program as a result of their highly advanced technology expansion into the MENA region.

  • Fish Farm Startup Hopes Deep-Ocean Technology Can Fuel Growth – Bloomberg

    Fish farming, which grew 527% from 1990 to 2018, according to the United Nations, is poised to become an even larger part of the supply chain. The UN said in a 2020 report that about 34% of fish stocks were overfished. According to the World Bank, the figure is much higher, at 90%.