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  • Saudi Arabia tourism growth sees 27% surge in international arrivals

    The travel and tourism sector in Saudi Arabia has reported a 27% increase in incoming tourist numbers during the first nine months of 2024, compared to the previous year's 14% rise. This information was released by the Saudi Press Agency, citing the kingdom's tourism minister, Ahmed Al-Khateeb, at the 2025 Budget Forum in Riyadh.

  • COP16 to Begin in Saudi Arabia as World Seeks Urgent Solutions to Land Degradation, Desertification and Drought

    The largest-ever meeting of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is set to kick-off in Riyadh, with an action-packed agenda to drive multilateral action on land degradation, drought and desertification. Dignitaries, policymakers, global institutions, businesses, NGOs and key stakeholders are arriving in Saudi Arabia's capital ahead of a critical conference to accelerate global land restoration and drought resilience initiatives.

  • Saudi Arabia targets 127M tourists in 2025

    Saudi Arabia's 2025 budget targets receiving 127 million tourists, with SAR 346.6 billion in tourism spending. The Saudi Cabinet approved on Nov. 26 the state’s general budget for 2025, which includes SAR 1.285 trillion expenditures and SAR 1.184 trillion revenues, with an expected deficit of SAR 101 billion. According to data available with Argaam, Saudi Arabia received 60 million tourists in H1 2024, who spent about SAR 150 billion, a 10% annual growth. Tourism income reached 5% of the Kingdom's economy in H1 2024.

  • Saudi Arabia ready to turn every challenge into an opportunity

    The expected 2024 budget figures revealed a historic spending of SAR 1,345 billion ($358.67 billion), as a result of the government adopting expansionary spending policies that support the continuity of the path of sustainable development and economic diversification. Despite global crises, the Kingdom was able to strengthen its position through non-oil income that focused on quality and competitiveness, which supported the balance of payments.  From the beginning of 2024 until the end of the third quarter, real GDP witnessed a growth of 0.2 percent, driven by a 4.2 percent increase in non-oil activities. This positive performance, albeit slight, reflects the success of the stability of economic diversification policies that have made the Saudi economy less dependent on the oil sector, which is a strategic economic goal.

  • Al Rajhi: Saudi Arabia sets revised unemployment target of 5% by 2030

    Al Rajhi said that the implementation rate of the labor market strategy reached 84 percent over the last four years. "Today we were asked to update this strategy, and we have raised a new, very ambitious strategy that will move the Saudi labor market to the ranks of the best global labor markets," he said. Al Rajhi pointed out that the rate of women's economic participation reached 35 percent while the target was 30 percent in 2030. "So today we have a new target in terms of the partners in the private sector as they are the ones who made this achievement. The number of Saudis in the private sector reached 2.4 million, while in 2018 it was about 1.7 million, thanks to God and then to our partners in the private sector," he said.

  • Saudi Arabia unveils world’s largest food park in Jeddah, eyes $5.3bn in investments

    Saudi Arabia has officially launched the Jeddah Food Cluster, a major project aimed at transforming the city into a global business hub with an investment target of SR20 billion ($5.3 billion). Spanning 11 million sq. meters, the cluster is now recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest food park in the world by area. The development is expected to create over 43,000 jobs, driving both local and national economic growth. Located in Jeddah’s Second and Third Industrial Cities, the Jeddah Food Cluster is part of a larger industrial network in the Makkah region, which also includes industrial cities in Makkah and Taif. This region, which spans more than 50 million sq. meters, hosts over 2,000 industrial facilities specializing in sectors such as food production, pharmaceuticals, metals, and chemicals. The new food cluster is designed to enhance industrial productivity through cutting-edge infrastructure and strategic investments in key enablers.

  • Joy Awards: MENA’s biggest awards show set to return to Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh

    Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA) announced on Tuesday the return of Joy Awards for its highly anticipated fifth edition with nominations for all categories now open. The region’s largest celebrity awards show – part of Riyadh Season and co-organized by MBC Group – will take place on January 18, 2025. The award show recognizes and honors the GCC and wider Arab world’s best artists and their achievements. Spanning cinema, television, music, sports, and digital influence, the ceremony serves as a premier platform for entertainment excellence, honoring the exceptional talent that drives cultural vibrancy and standout creativity throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

  • Saudi Arabia’s NEOM gigaproject a ‘generational investment,’ minister says

    "NEOM was not meant to be a two-year investable opportunity. If anybody expected NEOM to be foreign investment in two, three or five years, then they have gotten (it) wrong - it's a generational investment," Minister Khalid al-Falih said on the sidelines of the World Investment Conference in Riyadh. "The flywheel is starting and it will gain speed as we go forward, as some of the foundational assets come to the market," he said.
    The world's top oil exporter has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into development projects through the kingdom's $925 billion sovereign fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), as it undergoes an economic agenda dubbed Vision 2030 to cut dependence on fossil fuels.

  • Saudi Arabia’s non-oil exports surge 16.8% in Q3: GASTAT

    Saudi Arabia’s non-oil exports reached SR79.48 billion ($21.17 billion) in the third quarter of 2024, a rise of 16.76 percent compared to the same period in 2023, according to official data. As reported by the General Authority for Statistics, the Kingdom exported non-oil goods worth SR19.58 billion to the UAE, followed by India and China at SR6.78 billion and SR6.48 billion. Chemical products led Saudi Arabia’s non-energy exports in the third quarter, accounting for 25.5 percent of total shipments, marking a 5.3 percent annual rise. Plastic and rubber products followed, comprising 24.9 percent of the total, with an 8.9 percent increase compared to the third quarter of 2023.

  • Citi gets license for regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia, memo shows

    U.S. bank Citigroup (C.N), opens new tab has received approval to establish its regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters on Friday. Riyadh has been looking to attract more companies to set up their regional headquarters in the kingdom by offering tax breaks as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman looks to wean the economy off oil by attracting foreign investment. Saudi Arabia's new rules also mandate foreign firms to have regional headquarters in the kingdom or risk losing hundreds of billions of dollars in lucrative government contracts.