“Art is a message…Everyone is free to express themselves through art and every generation has its own ideas to offer. But does this message reach the people within our community or does it stay within the artist’s own bounds?”
-Mohammed Al-Monif, Saudi artist and writer. Al-Monif has made a comeback after a four-decade hiatus with his latest exhibition “As I See” at L’Art Pur Foundation in Riyadh. [Arab News]
“Future green hydrogen projects would likely be developed by the same consortium behind the Neom Green Hydrogen Company, which also includes US-based Air Products & Chemicals Inc. and Neom. The new plants will likely be cheaper than the first one at Neom as developers get more experienced, technology improves and a local supply chain develops.”
Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power Eyes Three More Giant Hydrogen Plants [Bloomberg]
“The Renault and Geely venture — which doesn’t have an official name yet — will have 17 plants and 19,000 employees, with research centers in Europe, China and South America, and significant synergies in development spending and fixed assets, Renault told investors last year. The venture will also develop technologies for cleaner fuels, which is why Renault has been seeking an energy company as a partner.”
Saudi Aramco Near Deal to Join Renault-Geely Car Venture [Bloomberg]
“The Biden administration deserves credit for recognising not only the centrality of this region to the US global posture but also the centrality of local partners in realising such security and stability. The equation drawing the US close to its Gulf Arab and other Middle Eastern partners is no longer anything resembling “oil for security”. Instead, on both sides, it is increasingly viewed as a partnership necessary to achieve mutual goals even if they are being pursued for different reasons. That is a lot more like the US relationship with its Nato partners, Japan or South Korea.”
Hussein Ibish, Opinion: How ambitious is Biden’s Middle East policy? [The National]
“What’s in it for us? The greenback is freely convertible, the yuan isn’t; the dollar is liquid, the yuan isn’t. That’s the polite version; the more candid answers sounded even more emphatic about the absurdity of turning to a managed currency produced by an opaque and unpredictable financial machine.”
Javier Blas, The Myth of the Inevitable Rise of a Petroyuan [Bloomberg]
“According to a recent report by Knight Frank, the UHNW population in the Middle East is expected to soar by 24.6% in the next five years, with Saudi Arabia set to become home to 72 billionaires and the UAE 42, according to the WealthX Billionaire Census”
[Ocarian]
In Riyadh, “average occupancy rates for both Grades A and B stock saw improved slightly to 99.2 percent and 98.7 percent in 2022, marking annual increases of 0.8 and 1.9 percentage points respectively. In Jeddah, Grade A office rents increased by 7.4 percent in the 12 months to December 2022, whereas Grade B rents remained unchanged. Occupancy rates for both Grade A and Grade B office rose to reach 90.6 percent and 76.0 percent, up from 87.8 percent and 74.6 percent in 2021.”
Riyadh to get 63ha of new office space in 2023 amid Saudi commercial real estate growth [Construction Week]
“There’s a lot more competition than a year ago … a lot more EVs becoming available at lower price points than the Lucid Air vehicle….There’s probably a lot of frustration from customers having to wait for so long to get the vehicles they ordered.”
Garrett Nelson, an analyst at CFRA Research, discussing Lucid Motors’ disappointing production numbers forecasted for 2023 -well short of analysts’ expectations. [Reuters]
“Around 8.9 million Indians reside in the Gulf, with around 3.4 million in the United Arab Emirates and 2.5 million in Saudi Arabia. Fifty percent of India’s over $80 billion in remittances annually come from the Gulf countries.”
India Ups Its Game in the Middle East [The Diplomat]
“Fireworks and aircraft shows are our favourite. We plan to get ice cream and have a picnic by the corniche as all of us have a long weekend and it’ll be great fun outdoors.” Aya Hisham, a Saudi resident of Jeddah. Saudi Arabia prepares for second Founding Day celebrations [The National]
