MUST-READS

• Saudi Arabia unveils plans for Global T20 League with $500M investment

  Saudi Arabia is set to launch a groundbreaking global Twenty20 league, backed by its $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund. Spearheaded by Australian cricket figure Neil Maxwell, the ambitious project aims to transform the sport by introducing a traveling eight-team league modeled after tennis’s Grand Slams. Financed by Saudi Arabia’s SRJ Sports Investments, the league is expected to host matches in four different locations throughout the year. Discussions with the International Cricket Council (ICC) are already underway, with sources indicating that Saudi Arabia is prepared to invest $500 million in the venture.

• Saudi Arabia records 23,865 violations in nationwide residency and labor law inspections

  The Ministry of Interior conducted inspection campaigns across Saudi Arabia between March 6 and March 12 to ensure compliance with residency, labor, and border security laws. A total of 23,865 violations were recorded, including 16,644 related to residency, 3,896 to border security, and 3,325 to labor laws. Authorities intercepted 1,432 individuals attempting to cross into the Kingdom illegally, of whom 29% were Yemenis, 67% Ethiopians, and 4% from other nationalities.  Additionally, 97 people were arrested for attempting to leave the Kingdom illegally. Thirteen individuals involved in transporting, sheltering, and employing violators were also arrested.

• Saudi Arabia, Indonesia to ink MoU to resume hiring domestic workers
  Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate the recruitment of domestic workers from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia, Bloomberg reported. “The MoU will be signed between the two countries later this month in Jeddah,” said Abdul Qadir Karding, Indonesia’s Minister for the Protection of Migrant Workers. Saudi Arabia is offering a total of 600,000 job opportunities, including 400,000 positions for domestic workers and 200,000 jobs in the formal sectors, added Karding.

• Saudi Arabia launches crackdown on ‘immoral acts’ amid social reforms

  Saudi Arabia has arrested more than 50 people, including 11 women on prostitution charges, in a new crackdown on “immoral acts” amid ongoing social and economic transformations under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. According to a report by the FT, the Ministry of Interior’s newly established unit, tasked with tackling “community security and human trafficking,” has also detained dozens of foreigners for alleged offences in massage parlours and for forcing women and children into begging. This marks the first time in over a decade that authorities have publicly acknowledged the existence of prostitution in the kingdom.

• Trump’s Middle East Policy and Its Impact on Saudi Arabia

  Trump’s renewal of the maximum pressure campaign could lead to rising tensions in the Gulf after a brief period of relative stability. The Saudis remember the fallout from Trump’s first campaign: On May 12, 2019, Iran attacked four ships off the Emirati Fujairah port; two of them were Saudi oil tankers. The escalating attacks culminated on Sept. 14, just nine days before Saudi National Day, when 18 drones and several cruise missiles were launched against the Abqaiq oil-processing facility – the largest in the world – and the Khurais oil field and processing plant. These attacks briefly disrupted more than half of Saudi oil production and 5% of global oil output.

• How Saudi Arabia is Diversifying Its Economy

  “When you look at economic diversification, historically the Saudi economy relied heavily on one source. Now we have put a lot of emphasis to diversify the economy towards non-oil activities,” Alkhareif said in a conversation with Bentley President E. LaBrent Chrite in the Executive Dining Room in LaCava. “But that doesn’t mean we are devaluing the importance of the oil sector. If anything, we are leveraging the capabilities in the oil sector to provide energy to the global economy — particularly that fossil fuel continues to play a significant role in the global mix of energy.”   A major effort that has helped diversify the country’s labor market is the Women Empowerment Budget Initiative. By creating workplaces that are more conducive to women, the country saw a boost in women’s workforce participation to around 36%, which exceeded the initial 30% target put forth under Vision 2030. Alkhareif underscored the major role of the kingdom’s fiscal policy in advancing social spending, including by improving access to healthcare and education, noting that social spending in the Saudi Arabia is at the top compared to other G20 countries.

• 60 mosques out of 130 most treasured mosques across Saudi Arabia restored

  As many as 60 mosques, among a total of 130 most treasured historical mosques across all 13 regions of Saudi Arabia have been preserved and restored during the first and second phases of the project's implementation. This was revealed in a review meeting of Prince Mohammed bin Salman Project for Development of Historical Mosques held in Riyadh on Tuesday. During the meeting, the project reviewed governance, work phases, implementation paths, and the latest developments with stakeholders and officials from several governmental, non-profit, and private entities. The project aims to develop 130 historical mosques across the Kingdom while ensuring the preservation of their unique architectural elements and restoring them to their original state in line with modern requirements. The project, which was launched by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman in 2018, is dedicated to preserving the Kingdom's mosques and sharing Saudi Arabia's rich culture, history, and heritage with the world.

• Saudi Arabia has highest penetration rate of women professional gamers globally: Saudi prince: Video
  HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar Al-Saud, chairman of the Saudi Esports Federation, said on Thursday at CONVERGE LIVE that the country has had the opportunity to show that professional gaming is a “real career path with no baggage for women”.

• Saudi Arabia still needs consultants despite PwC ban

  “They can’t do this without a lot of people and a lot of expertise,” said Dane Albertelli, a senior analyst at Source Global Research, which analyses global consultancies. “At the moment, they’re kind of maxed out.”  Neither PIF, the $925 billion sovereign wealth fund at the forefront of the kingdom’s investment drive, nor PwC have commented publicly but it seems that a fight over expertise was the most immediate cause of the spat. The UK’s Financial Times has reported that PIF was irked by an attempt by PwC to poach a top auditor from one of its subsidiaries, Neom. These giga projects and others need specialised skills that are in relative short supply in the kingdom of 19 million Saudi citizens, almost half of whom are under the age of 30. Mohammad Al Qahtani, a former senior official in the Saudi royal household, and now CEO of Riyadh-based investment management company Saudi Arabia Holding Co, told his 308,000 followers on LinkedIn last week: “The PIF-PwC decision isn’t just a headline – it’s a wake-up call.”

• Saudi Arabia opens applications for mining licences as it eyes $2.5tn minerals haul

  Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has opened pre-qualification applications for the ninth round of exploration licence competitions, covering three mineralised belts spanning 24,946sq km. The licensing round is part of a broader strategy to accelerate greenfield exploration and development in the Kingdom’s mining and mineral sector, maximise its mineral resources valued at $2.5tn and enhance value-added mineral supply chains. The ministry specified that the targeted belts include the Al Naqrah Belt and the Al Sukhaybirah “Al Safraa” Belt in the Madinah region, as well as the Al Duwaihi “Nabaitah” Belt in the Riyadh region.

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