SUSTG.com / Research

Discover stories, topics, and more about Saudi Arebia faster.

Recent stories from sustg

MUST-READS

  • Oil prices: The US is in a ‘delicate dance’ with Saudi Arabia

    "Ultimately, we're going to see the seasonal dance: Gas prices are going to go up this spring regardless of tariffs or not, they're going to go back down in the fall," De Haan tells Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton. "And I think seasonally looking at where we are for the year, for gas prices, we anticipate a yearly national average of about $3.22 a gallon, which would be a modest or even slight improvement of about $0.11 compared to 2024."

  • Saudi crown prince receives Germany’s president in Riyadh

    Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Monday.  The two leaders held an official session of talks after the crown prince hosted a reception ceremony in honor of the president.  Prince Mohammed and Steinmeier discussed relations between their countries and ways to support and enhance them, Saudi Press Agency reported. Regional and international developments and efforts made with regard to them were also discussed.  Steinmeier arrived in the Kingdom on Sunday evening.

  • Saudi Arabia cracks down on employers over health insurance violations

    The Saudi Arabia Council of Health Insurance (CHI) has announced penalties against several employers for failing to meet mandatory health insurance obligations for their employees and their eligible family members. These actions follow previous warnings urging compliance with Saudi Arabia’s Health Insurance Law. Under Article 14 of the law, employers who fail to provide health coverage or neglect to pay insurance premiums must settle any outstanding amounts and may face additional fines. The penalties can reach up to the equivalent of an annual premium per insured individual. In certain cases, noncompliant employers may also be restricted from hiring new workers on a temporary or permanent basis.

  • Gulf sovereign wealth funds drive $36bn+ mega-deal boom as UAE, Saudi buck global M&A slowdown

    Strategic inbound and domestic M&A activity in the region surged 88 per cent year-on-year to reach $36 billion during the first 10 months of 2024, according to new research from Bain & Company, contrasting sharply with more modest global deal growth of 7 per cent. “The Middle East’s exceptional M&A growth underscores the region’s transformation into a global investment powerhouse,” Grégory Garnier, Middle East Head of Bain’s Private Equity and Sovereign Wealth Fund practices, told Arabian Business. The surge was particularly pronounced in key sectors throughout 2024, with energy and natural resources seeing a 140 per cent increase, technology investments rising 90 per cent, and advanced manufacturing services recording a remarkable 300 per cent growth compared to 2023.

  • Saudi Arabia conducts military exercises with 15 countries at Air Warfare Center

    Some of the Kingdom’s prominent military branches are participating in the drills, including forces from the Presidency of State Security and the Saudi Arabian National Guard. The drills started this week at the Air Warfare Center, a military air facility located at King Abdulaziz Air Base in Dhahran in eastern Saudi Arabia. Maj. Gen. Pilot Mohammed bin Ali Al-Omari, the exercise commander, said that the drills would consist of lectures and missions for air, technical, and support crews, to improve readiness and combat capability.

  • Saudi Arabia’s non-oil economy records best performance since 2014 in January, says PMI

    Saudi Arabia’s non-oil economy started 2025 on a high as business conditions improved substantially. This improvement was largely due to the fastest increase in total new orders since June 2011, which encouraged rapid expansions in activity and stocks. The headline seasonally adjusted Riyad Bank Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 60.5 in January, from 58.4 in December. Not only did the index signal a considerable expansion in operating conditions at the start of 2025, but it was also at its highest since September 2014. “This strong performance underscores the resilience of the non-oil private sector, fueled by surging new orders and a significant rise in business output,” stated Naif Al-Ghaith PhD, chief economist at Riyad Bank.

  • GAFT Leads Saudi Negotiating Team in GCC-Indonesia Free Trade Agreement Talks

    The delegation consists of nine technical teams covering various sectors, including goods, services, investment, general provisions, e-commerce, intellectual property, government procurement, rules of origin, and economic evaluation. These teams, comprising representatives from approximately 46 government agencies, are tasked with shaping Saudi Arabia's stance in international trade negotiations, formulating proposals, and submitting reports on trade agreements and World Trade Organization (WTO) initiatives.

  • Saudi state mining giant steps up search for copper

    Saudi Arabia’s state mining giant is ramping up its domestic search for copper — a key ingredient for the energy transition — soon after announcing plans to explore the country for lithium, the company’s chief executive told Semafor. Ma’aden, officially known as the Saudi Arabian Mining Co., plans to spend $2.5 billion a year for the next five to six years to expand its phosphate and gold mining operations and to develop new mines, but will pivot its metals exploration at home from gold to copper, spending 72% of its budget on copper, Bob Wilt said in an interview.

  • Syria leader says Saudis want to help rebuild war-torn country

    Accompanied by his foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani, Sharaa was greeted by Saudi officials on arrival in Riyadh, images from state television outlet Al-Ekhbariya showed. Sharaa was later received by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the official Saudi news agency reported. "We held a long meeting during which we felt and heard a genuine desire to support Syria in building its future," Sharaa was quoted as saying in a statement on Telegram. The official Saudi Press Agency, meanwhile, said that Prince Mohammed and Sharaa discussed "ways to support the security and stability of sisterly Syria", as well as "ways to strengthen bilateral relations". Sharaa, whose Islamist group led the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December, was named Syria's interim president on Wednesday.

  • Syrian leader visits Saudi Arabia, in a shift away from Iran

    Syria’s new president arrived in Saudi Arabia on Sunday for his first official foreign trip. Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the rebel coalition that toppled Bashar al-Assad, met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman: Both born in Riyadh, they are the Arab world’s two youngest leaders. Saudi Arabia is pushing world governments to lift international sanctions on Damascus as it looks to shape the future of a country once firmly under Tehran’s influence.