“It was a good performance from the Greens in the Olympics but not good in terms of results. Saad Al-Shehri selected talented players, none of them play in Europe, and some of them are reserves in the local league. If we want positive results for the national teams, we should think about transferring the Saudi players to a different stage.”
–Musalli Al-Muammar, Al-Nassr president. Saudi Arabia was the only team of the 16 in Japan with a squad completely made up of home-based players, igniting debate in the Kingdom about whether Saudi Arabia should send players abroad for future success. [Arab News]
“It might sound a little cheesy but those who broke new ground for Saudi really had an impact on me. They say if you can’t see it, you can’t be it, and that was true for me. So I owe a lot to those Saudi Olympians who competed in past games. [Runners] Sarah Attar and Cariman Abu Al Jadail, the equestrian [rider] Dilma Malhas, and the swimmer, Mariam Binladen. As they have done, my aim is also to encourage a new generation of runners and athletes to compete at the highest levels.”
–Yasmeen Al-Dabbagh, Saudi Arabian sprinter, discussing her Tokyo Olympics experience. [The National]
“Saudi Arabia enjoys a serious competitive advantage in the green hydrogen business thanks to its perpetual sunshine, wind, and vast tracts of unused land. Germany has said it needs “enormous” volumes of green hydrogen and hopes Saudi Arabia will become a key supplier.”
-Alex Kimani, writing for Oilprice.com, assesses renewable energy projects in the GCC. [Oilprice.com]
‘This is a very special, historic day for all of us. The largest and most modern cruise ship to operate in the Red Sea has set sail from Jeddah’s new terminal to mark a new beginning for cruising in Saudi Arabia and, more broadly, for its growing tourism industry.”
-Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman, MSC Cruises. Cruise Saudi CEO, Mark Robinson, added that the aim is to create 50,000 jobs by 2025, build five more ports (Jeddah as a homeport) and welcome 1.5m annual passenger visits by 2028. [Seatrade Cruise News]
“Remittances from expatriates in Saudi Arabia recorded an increase of 19.25 % during the year 2020. The average annual expatriate remittances in the Kingdom jumped to about $6,375 during the same year as compared to $5,099 a year before.”
–Saudi Central Bank and the General Authority for Statistics. [Zawya]
“Substantial numbers of the world’s high net worth individuals (HNWI) and ultrahigh-net-worth individuals (UHNWI) are located in the Middle East, and those numbers are growing. Management consultant Capgemini estimates that the region’s high-net-worth population increased by 6.8% in 2020 while their wealth increased 10.7% to reach $3.2 trillion. The Middle East ranks fourth globally for its HNWI population and fifth in HNWI wealth.”
–Mark Townsend, contributor to Global Finance, discussing how the ranks of the wealthy continue to grow in the region. [Global Finance]
“I think there’s a huge opportunity to add people from the region to the team. We’ve been doing that consistently in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt. I’m very excited about the opportunities that we are able to provide to young people, especially in this sector of content and tech.”
-Ronaldo Mouchawar, Vice President of Amazon MENA and co-founder of Souq.com discussing Amazon’s plans to hire 1,500 new employees in Saudi Arabia and add 11 buildings to its network. [Arab News]
“With the impasse resolved, and more crude returning to global supply, the question for the market is now simple, but difficult to answer. Will the increase in supply overwhelm the recovery in demand, leading to a lower crude price? The bullish narrative remains that the world economy is recovering from the coronavirus pandemic…The bearish narrative is that this process may be happening, but it isn’t happening fast enough and is unevenly spread. So far the evidence from crude oil demand appears to favor the bearish narrative, especially in the top oil-importing region of Asia.”
“We have been in the business of travel for more than a thousand years. This big beautiful country has so much to offer visitors and I love sharing the hidden secrets of it.”
-Samir Komosani, Jeddah-based tour guide. Sean Mathews explores Saudi Arabia’s plans to massively expand its tourism sector. [Aljazeera]
“Despite budget cuts imposed in 2020 and the possibility that further spending reductions may be forthcoming, companies working on the SAG’s giga-projects reported the ongoing availability of funding in 2020. Revenues generated by the tripling of Saudi Arabia’s value-added tax rate from 5 to 15 percent in July 2020 have helped ease fiscal stress.”
-The U.S. Department of State issued it’s 2021 Investment Climate for Saudi Arabia which provides a comprehensive assessment of the Kingdom’s economy, society and related reforms. [U.S. Department of State]
