“It’s a great feeling, thank God, we are happy, especially after the difficult period we and the entire world have suffered.”
–Bandar Al Nawash, a passenger waiting in the departure lounge of King Khalid International Airport . Effective on March 17, Saudi nationals who have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination shot a minimum two weeks prior to travel, those who have recovered from the coronavirus disease within the last six months, and those under 18 will be allowed to travel for the first time since March 2020. [Reuters]
“If you want to double foreign investments…and you tell investors to invest in your country that is running on an unknown system that their lawyers do not know how to navigate nor know how those regulations are applied and enforced, then those investors will just cut their losses and not invest altogether.”
–Mohammed Bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, during April 27, 2021 appearance on the Liwan Al Mudaifer Show on the Rotana network. [Arab News]
“Tuberculosis (TB) is among the world’s most lethal diseases, killing 1.4 million people each year, equivalent to more than 80% of the victims of COVID-19 in 2020. The majority (66%) of new cases come from 8 developing countries, but the threat of a global pandemic is real as cases of drug-resistant TB rise with a 10% increase between 2018 and 2019.”
-Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative Institute issued an executive briefing co-written with the International Vaccine Institute calling for “urgent action to fast-track the development of preventive measures against TB, while supporting relief efforts in the countries devastated the most by the disease.” [Future Investment Initiative Institute]
“Aramco is “trading in its own universe” at 21 times expected 2021 earnings of roughly $80 billion. That compares with a 13 p/e for the western majors like ExxonMobil and Chevron, 6 for the Chinese majors, and 6 for Russia’s Rosneft.”
–Oswald Clint, Bernstein Research, commenting on the continued appeal of Saudi Aramco for investors. [Forbes]
“Throughout the holy month of Ramadan, over 15.5 million people performed prayers, including 5.1 million Umrah pilgrims, at the Grand Mosque in Makkah. No coronavirus infection was reported among them.”
Dr. Abdulfattah Mashat, Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah. [Asharq Al-Awsat]
“The numbers suggest that the non-oil economy has already fully recovered from the adverse impact of the pandemic in Q2 2020, despite lingering Covid-related restrictions on internal mobility and international travel.”
–Farouk Soussa, Middle East and North Africa economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., commenting on recent data from Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics showing the non-oil sector grew by 3.3% in Q1 2021 while the broader economy shrank 3.3% due to reduced oil revenues. [Yahoo via Bloomberg]
“In a sense this is unprecedented…One sees that it’s not actually black, for example… As I understand it, it’s the first time there is a magnified digital photo of the stone and one can see the stone up close and personal.”
–Afifi al-Akiti, a fellow in Islamic studies at the University of Oxford, reacting to photos published by the Saudi government showing for the first time high-resolution images of the holy Kabaa stone, in Mecca. [Daily Mail]
“A typical electric car requires six times the mineral inputs of a conventional car and an onshore wind plant requires nine times more mineral resources than a gas-fired plant. Since 2010 the average amount of minerals needed for a new unit of power generation capacity has increased by 50% as the share of renewables in new investment has risen.”
–The International Energy Agency [IEA] produced a fascinating report on the relationship between clean energy and the minerals it depends on for production and development. [IEA]
“Receiving a coronavirus vaccine will be a mandatory condition for male and female workers to attend workplaces in all sectors (public, private, non-profit).”
–Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, in a post on Twitter announcing that in order for employees to return to the workplace, they must be vaccinated. [Twitter/Reuters]
“This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures. The Administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic, supports the waiver of those protections for COVID-19 vaccines.”
–Katherine Tai, U.S. trade representative, expressing United States’ support for a WTO proposal to waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines. [NPR]
