MUST-READS

• Saudi Arabia’s FM announces landmark visit to Lebanon

  Prince Faisal bin Farhan said he would visit Lebanon, the first such trip by a Saudi foreign minister in more than a decade. The one-day trip on Thursday will mark the first visit by a high-ranking Saudi official to Lebanon since 2015, after years of strained relations due to Lebanon’s perceived alignment with Iran, its role in drug smuggling to Gulf countries, and ongoing instability. Prince Faisal described the recent election of a president in Lebanon, following a prolonged political vacuum, as a highly positive development. He said the Kingdom welcomed the potential formation of a government but emphasized the need for real reforms and a forward-looking approach to ensure sustainable progress. He reiterated that the future of Lebanon rested in the hands of its people, urging them to make decisions that steer the country in a new direction.

• Saudi foreign minister expresses cautious optimism about Syria

  Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Tuesday that he has "cautious optimism" about Syria. “There is a great opportunity for Syria to move in a positive direction,” he said while addressing a session titled "Diplomacy in times of chaos", on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum 2025 in the Swiss city of Davos. Prince Faisal said that the new Syrian administration says the right things in secret and in public, and is open to working with the international community to move in the right direction. “Saudi Arabia has a great desire and a decisive intention to cooperate and deal with Syria in a responsive manner."

• Secretary Rubio’s Call with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud
  Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke today with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. The Secretary and Crown Prince discussed the strength of the U.S.-Saudi partnership in this time of momentous change. The Secretary conveyed that he looked forward to advancing shared interests in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and beyond. The Secretary also stressed the threats posed by Iran and its proxies. They also discussed the benefits of the U.S.-Saudi economic partnership and the opportunities to grow their economies in a variety of fields including AI. The Secretary expressed his appreciation for Saudi Arabia’s partnership and efforts to promote regional peace and stability.

• Saudi Crown Prince congratulates Trump, talks Middle East security and economic ties

  Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called US President Donald Trump on Wednesday to congratulate him on his inauguration and discuss key regional issues and investment opportunities, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. MBS conveyed warm regards on behalf of King Salman, expressing optimism about President Trump’s leadership and its potential to foster progress for the American people. According to SPA, the two leaders discussed Middle East security and ways to deepen cooperation on issues like combating terrorism and promoting regional stability. The Crown Prince also reiterated Saudi Arabia's commitment to expanding its economic relations with the US, specifically outlining plans for investments worth $600 billion over the next four years with potential for further growth, SPA added.

  • Reuters - Saudi Arabia plans $600 billion in new US investment, trade over four years
• Saudi Bond Spree Continues as Wealth Fund Taps Dollar Market

  Saudi Arabia’s bond spree continued Wednesday as its sovereign wealth fund sold $4 billion of dollar debt. The Public Investment Fund priced notes with maturities of five years and 9 1/2 years, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified sharing private information. The premiums above US Treasuries are respectively 95 and 110 basis points — both 30 basis points less than initial price talk. The tighter pricing occurred as orders topped $16 billion, excluding joint lead manager interest, the person said, with demand has been equally split across the two notes. The deal followed a $12 billion bond by the Saudi government earlier this month, while the PIF signed a $7 billion Islamic loan with 20 banks around the same time.

• Saudi Prince’s Firm Eyes TikTok Investment Amid Musk Speculation

  Kingdom Holding Company, led by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, is considering a potential investment in TikTok if co-founder and CEO of Tesla (TSLA, Financials) Elon Musk or other significant investors make a move to acquire the short-form video platform, according to statements made by CEO Talal al-Maiman to Al Arabiya Business, Saudi Arabia's state-owned news outlet. With an investment of over $1.89 billion, Kingdom Holding is a significant owner in Musk's social networking platform X. Contributing $400 million (SAR 1.5 billion) during its Series C financing, the business has also helped Musk's artificial intelligence effort, xAI.

• Syria’s new leaders turn to Islamic law in effort to rebuild Assad’s police
  Syria's new authorities are using Islamic teachings to train a fledgling police force, a move officers say aims to instil a sense of morality as they race to fill a security vacuum after dismantling ousted president Bashar al-Assad's notoriously corrupt and brutal security forces. Police they brought into Damascus from their former rebel enclave in the northwestern region of Idlib are asking applicants about their beliefs and focusing on Islamic sharia law in the brief training they offer recruits, according to five senior officers and application forms seen by Reuters. "There are many Syrians who will find this concerning," said Aron Lund, a fellow at Century International, a Middle East-focused think tank, when asked about Reuters' findings. "Not just minorities - Christians, Alawites, Druze - but also quite a lot of Sunni Muslims in places like Damascus and Aleppo, where you have a fairly large secular, cosmopolitan population that's not interested in religious law."

• Saudi crown prince says kingdom intends to invest $600 billion in US during call with Trump

  The comments from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reported early Thursday by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, came in a phone call with Trump. “The crown prince affirmed the kingdom’s intention to broaden its investments and trade with the United States over the next four years, in the amount of $600 billion, and potentially beyond that,” the report said. The readout did not elaborate on where those investments and trade could be placed. The U.S. in recent years has increasingly pulled away from relying on Saudi oil exports, which once was the bedrock of their relationship for decades. Saudi sovereign wealth funds have taken large stakes in American businesses while also looking at sports as well. “The first foreign trip typically has been with the U.K. but ... I did it with Saudi Arabia last time because they agreed to buy $450 billion worth of our products,” Trump told journalists in the Oval Office. “If Saudi Arabia wanted to buy another $450 billion or $500 — we’ll up it for all the inflation — I think I’d probably go.”

• James Turrell Is Bringing His Iconic Skyspaces to the Saudi Arabian Desert

  An exhibition on view as part of the AlUla Arts Festival showcases California Light and Space master James Turrell, and features some of his works that take up residence in art galleries as well as renderings for a giant new commission he is developing for the AlUla region of Saudi Arabia. For the upcoming Wadi AlFann commission, the artist will create a monumental succession of chambers joined by tunnels and stairs in the floor of a large canyon, in which visitors will experience “the thingness of light,” as the artist has described it. “I first visited the Wadi AlFann site in 2020,” said Turrell in a statement. “I was surprised that the sandstone formations looked very similar to those in Arizona. I was very familiar with that kind of landscape and strangely felt at home with doing work there.”

• GCC Banks’ US Dollar Debt Issuance to Exceed USD30 Billion in 2025

  Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) banks are likely to issue over USD30 billion of US dollar debt in 2025, following their strongest-ever year in 2024 (USD42 billion), Fitch Ratings says. The high 2025 issuance will be driven by nearly USD23 billion of maturities, lower US dollar interest rates and strong credit demand. Fitch expects the Fed to cut rates by 100bp in 2025, which should support favourable financing conditions, and GCC credit growth is likely to be strong, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Banks in Saudi Arabia (A+/Stable) and the UAE (AA-/Stable) drove the 2024 issuance, each accounting for about a third. Saudi banks have been increasingly active in international debt capital markets since 2020 to support their strong financing growth plans, diversify their funding bases, and, more recently, to meet increased demand for foreign currency to offset the higher cost of domestic liquidity.

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