“We are likely to see very positive recovery in 2021, north of 3 percent…[the coronavirus pandemic] showed how important [economic reform] is for the Saudi economy…The reforms of the past three to four years have also made the government more informed and able to respond more quickly.”
-Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Saudi Arabian Finance Minister, in comments to Nikkei on the Saudi economy and the positive impact of adopting Vision 2030 in 2016 in adapting to the crises sparked by the global pandemic. [Nikkei]
“When my grandfathers spoke to me as a child about their experience of Hajj, they told me of the physical attraction they felt towards the Kaaba, that they felt drawn to it by an almost magnetic pull.”
-Ahmed Mater discussing his acclaimed work Magnetism which he has donated to be offered as part of The Future is Unwritten Healing Arts Auction unveiled by Christie’s, the WHO Foundation and UN75; a cause which acts as a cultural call-to-action to support a global COVID-19 response through the arts. [Christie’s]
“The kingdom stresses the dangers of Iran’s regional project, its interference in other countries, its fostering of terrorism, its fanning the flames of sectarianism and calls for a decisive stance from the international community against Iran that guarantees a drastic handling of its efforts to obtain weapons of mass destruction and develop its ballistic missiles program.”
-HRH King Salman, in a speech yesterday, which were the King’s first public remarks since he addressed the United Nations General Assembly in September via videolink. [Reuters]
“To me it’s huge improvement…To be part of something so huge, a moment in history, to me it’s a new Saudi when it comes to a lot of things and to be part of that is really big. For Saudi to put up such money two tournaments in a row is a huge statement to close that gap between men’s and women’s golf…It will motivate a lot of young girls to take up the game. I think in the coming years there will be a lot more Arab female professional golfers.”
-Maha Haddioui, Moroccan professional golfer, in comments welcoming Saudi Arabia’s progress in developing the sport of golf in the Kingdom. [BBC]
“The Saudi mining strategy and the Kingdom’s National Industrial Development and Logistics Program aim to transform the mining sector into the Kingdom’s third pillar of the industry, effectively creating an industry that could compete globally and stand on equal footing with the Kingdom’s already established dominance in petroleum and petrochemicals.”
-Khalid S. Al-Mudaifer, Vice Minister for Mining Affairs and President of the Saudi Geological Survey, speaking at a Mines and Money 5@5 webinar titled “The regional geological survey program — the foundation for a new Saudi mining sector.” He also said new mineral data will be publicly available in the coming months and that the Saudi mining sector has been earmarked for major investment — local and global — as part of the Saudi Vision 2030. [Arab News]
“In the past two years, Aramco has received 478 upstream-focused, US-granted patents – consistently higher than its closest oil major.”
–Ashraf Al Tahini, head of Saudi Aramco’s upstream research and development unit EXPEC ARC. [Oil&Gas]
“There’s a lot of criticism with this, but if we can showcase that we can do something on the continent level that is strong, that will give us a stronger case in the future to maybe bid for either the [football] World Cup or the Olympics. Everything is open, a lot of things are being discussed.”
-Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Sports Minister, discussing Saudi Arabia’s bids to host the Asian football championship in 2027 and the Asian Games athletics meeting in 2030. Prince Abdulaziz was speaking on the occasion of the establishment of the Saudi Sports Company to create “a platform” for content development and managing TV rights. [Financial Times]
“So far there have been no health complications or allergic reactions in those who have tried the vaccine, except for a fever or mild migraine, but that is normal when vaccination is administered with any virus.”
-Aref Al-Amri, Head of the Department of Biomolecules and Cytogenetics at the regional laboratory in Riyadh. China’s Sinovac Biotech is seeking approval by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority for its COVID-19 vaccine. Testing has passed the third stage clinical trials. [About Her]
“It looks quite busy over the upcoming period…We have seen eight new listings since the beginning of the year despite the pandemic. We also currently have over 15 applications we are currently reviewing for listing whether in the main market or the (parallel) Nomu market.”
-Mohammed bin Abdullah Elkuwaiz, Saudi Capital Markets Authority Chairman, on the high volume of IPOs in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi stock market (Tadawul) saw five IPOs in 2019, including oil giant Saudi Aramco, its biggest ever IPO and the largest in history. [Reuters]
