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  • Saudi Car Market: Tops GCC, women purchase 30% of cars sold in 2023
     

    In 2023, Saudi Arabia sold 729,466 cars, a 17% increase from the previous year. The Toyota Yaris was the best-selling car, accounting for 37% of the sales. Car sales are expected to surge to 870,000 this year.

     
  • Nusuk pilgrim card launched
     

    With the 2024 Hajj expected to begin June 14, Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah released the Nusuk card by presenting its copy to Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas in Jakarta on Tuesday, April 30, during his official visit to Indonesia.

     
  • 10th Saudi Film Festival Underway
     

    The 10th Saudi Film Festival runs May 2-9 at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) in Dhahran.  Debuting in 2008 this year’s edition has two main themes: Indian cinema and sci-fi films.

     
  • PIF and BlackRock Launch $5bn Investment Fund
     

    BlackRock and Public Investment Fund signed a non-binding MOU that calls for the sovereign fund to invest up to $5bn in stages as the new firm hits agreed milestones. Investments will provide capital for a variety of funds invested in public equities and bonds as well as alternative assets.

     
  • Saudi Space Agency and WEF Establish Space C4IR Center
     

    The World Economic Forum has signed an agreement with the Saudi Space Agency to establish a Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR)  focused on space. The Centre for Space Futures, set to open in autumn 2024, will be hosted by the Saudi Space Agency.

     
  • Special World Economic Forum Convenes in Riyadh
     

    The World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development in Riyadh convenes 1,000 global leaders from 92 countries on 28-29 April, to support global dialogue and find actionable, collaborative and sustainable solutions to shared global challenges.

     
  • Vision 2030 Marks 8th Year Since Launch
     

    Launched on April 25, 2016, Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia’s blueprint for economic and social transformation marks it 8th year and the halfway point between 2016 and 2030.

     
  • IMF Launches New Regional Office in Saudi Arabia
     

    The goal of the new office is to strengthen the IMF’s collaboration with governments and institutions in the Middle East including promoting economic stability, growth, and regional integration.  It also underscores the growing economic importance of the region.

     
  • Saudi’s Regional Headquarters Program Moves Forward
     

    In February the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority published guidelines specifying RHQ tax rules. Under the new rules, specific activities qualify for tax incentives. The new RHQ tax rules aim to clarify the scope and conditions of tax relief for RHQ entities, as announced by MISA in December 2023. 

     
  • EU announces five-year Schengen visas for Saudi, Omani and Bahraini citizens
     

    The EU will now allow citizens from Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Bahrain to apply for five-year Schengen visas. This marks a significant step forward in strengthening people-to-people relations between the EU and the GCC.

     

MUST-READS

  • Crystal Lagoons Expands Middle East Success with Saudi Arabia Master Agreement Partnership with A’amal Group

    Crystal Lagoons enters the largest country in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, with a new mega deal to develop real estate, hospitality, and Public Access Lagoons™, also called PAL™, projects. The development plan consists of several luxury complexes, which will be located in coastal and inland cities such as Riyadh, as well as Jeddah, Dammam, Medina, and Khobar.

  • Chart: Deadliest Q1 Since 2017 for Mediterranean Migrant Crossing

    As more migrants are once again crossing the Mediterranean, more deaths are occurring on this migration route that has been deemed the most dangerous in the world. Over the weekend, around 3,000 migrants reached Italy, with the Italian coastguard evacuating many from crowded boats close to the country's shores, including 400 on a vessel that was adrift in inclement weather. The UN has criticized delays caused by state-led rescue operations as well as the blocking of civilian rescue ships that has become commonplace - both exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the region.

  • Chart: Wind & Solar Meet Majority of Electricity Demand Growth

    Data shows that there’s been significant progress in the production of solar and wind power over the past two decades. In 2022, solar added a record of 245 TWh of generation in 2022, while wind added a record 312 TWh - together accounting for 80 percent of the world's increased need for electricity that year. While this is a move in the right direction, coal and other fossil fuels were still needed to meet the world’s overall growing need for electricity.

  • Chart: Wind & Solar Meet Majority of Electricity Demand Growth

    Data shows that there’s been significant progress in the production of solar and wind power over the past two decades. In 2022, solar added a record of 245 TWh of generation in 2022, while wind added a record 312 TWh - together accounting for 80 percent of the world's increased need for electricity that year. While this is a move in the right direction, coal and other fossil fuels were still needed to meet the world’s overall growing need for electricity.

  • Saudi Arabia approves amendments to the Transfer Pricing Bylaws to include zakat payers as part of covered entities

    On 7 April 2023, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) announced the issuance of Decision of the Board of Directors of the Zakat, Tax and Customs No (8-2-23) dated 28/08/1444AH (Decision), approving changes that will include zakat payers within the scope of the Saudi Arabian TP Bylaws.

  • Chart: Finland Becomes 31st Member of NATO

    Finland formally joined NATO on Tuesday, as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization celebrated its 74th anniversary in Brussels. Having formally applied for membership following Russia's invasion of Ukraine alongside Sweden, Finland became the 31st member of the military alliance comprised of 29 European nations, Canada and the United States. Finland's accession roughly doubles NATO's boarder with Russia, which has threatened to take "counter-measures" and described the accession as an "encroachment on Russia's security and national interests."

  • Turkey Earthquake: Erdogan pledges to build 300,000 homes within a year in Elazig

    Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has pledged to rebuild the country’s southern region that was struck by powerful earthquakes on 6 February 2023, claiming the lives of more than 50,000 people. “Our aim is to restore our cities in the earthquake zone by handing over 319,000 residences and village houses to owners within a year,” Erdogan said at a ground-breaking ceremony in quake-hit Elazig province.

  • Commentary: As longterm partnership with US fades, Saudi Arabia seeks to diversify its diplomacy

    The Saudi deal with Iran and choice of China as an intermediary is consistent with a deeper shift in Saudi foreign policy, which has been evident for some time. By adapting to changing circumstances, Mohammed bin Salman is looking to Saudi Arabia’s future and trying to strike a wider balance of power in what he sees as an eventual “post-American” Gulf.

  • 22 Local Startups Nominated for Saudi Entertainment Industry

    The General Entertainment Authority has nominated 22 startups for the first Entertainment Business Accelerator, which aims to provide support for entrepreneurs interested in the sector. The authority launched the business accelerator on Feb. 26, in a step that seeks to empower local competencies and emerging projects, given the unprecedented leap in recreational activities, in line with the Kingdom’s trends to diversify sources of income and increase non-oil revenues.

  • The IMF is disbursing its first-ever wartime loan to Ukraine

    The Ukrainian authorities and the IMF yesterday (Mar. 21) reached a staff-level agreement for a new 48-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement for 11.6 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDR), the monetary reserve currencies created by the IMF, which translates to around $15.6 billion.