Saudi

Saudi woman to run for sports club presidency

JEDDAH, MAKKAH: From being a fan to co-chairing an all-male Saudi club, a love of football runs deep in Awatef Al-Sahoo, the first Saudi female to run for the presidency of a club.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, Germany’s Angela Merkel discuss G20,

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman made a phone call on Wednesday to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Saudi Press Agency said in a statement. During the call, they discussed unified efforts

Saudi project saves Yemenis from Houthi landmines

RIYADH: The Saudi Project for Landmine Clearance (Masam) in Yemen has cleared mines from across the country to allow displaced people to return home, according to the project director. Osama

Bahrain king tells Kushner Gulf stability relies on Saudi Arabia

DUBAI: The king of Bahrain told White House adviser Jared Kushner on Tuesday that stability in the Gulf region relies on Saudi Arabia “in all situations,” state news agency BNA said. Kushner is

Lulu joins with Saudi Royal Commission to develop 300 million riyal

RIYADH: The Royal Commission of Yanbu has signed an agreement with the UAE-based retailer Lulu Group to jointly develop a shopping mall in the port city of Yanbu. The project, worth SR300 million

Arab coalition shoots down drone fired from Yemen toward Saudi Arabia

RIYADH: The Arab coalition said on Thursday it intercepted and downed a drone fired from Yemen toward Saudi Arabia, according to Saudi Press Agency. More to follow…

AlUla photo contest aims to expose budding Saudi snappers

ALULA: A photography competition to capture the historic and natural wonders of AlUla has been launched exclusively for budding Saudi snappers residing in the area. The Royal Commission for AlUla

Misk Fellowship competition challenges Saudi youth

JEDDAH: The MiSK Foundation, in partnership with the Ministry of Economy and Planning, the UN Development Program (UNDP) and management consultancy Bain & Co. launched on Tuesday the second annual

Saudi traffic laws focus on correcting behavior

Traffic laws are made and enforced for people’s safety — that of drivers and pedestrians. A road traffic accident is deemed to be a liability if it is due to driver negligence. In today’s article, we

Museum to be set up in memory of late Saudi maestro

JEDDAH: A museum in Jeddah will be dedicated to the life and work of Tariq Abdul-Hakim, the maestro who composed the Saudi national anthem. Abdul-Hakim, who died in 2012 at the age of 92, was known

Saudi exchange derivatives trade launch on Aug 30

The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) announced that the launch of exchange-traded derivatives will be on 30 August 2020. The first exchange-traded derivatives product is an index futures contract, the Saudi Futures 30 (SF30). This contract is based on the MSCI Tadawul 30 Index (MT30). The launch of the Derivatives Market aims to further support the growth of the Saudi capital market by creating new opportunities for investors, […]

Advantage Russia in price war with Saudi Arabia

Arabian Post Staff In the event of another deadlock between Russia and Saudi Arabia, the desert kingdom is likely to suffer a bigger hit than Russia in an extended oil price war, according to Rystad Energy. Rystad feels Saudi Arabia will suffer a bigger hit in all five financial criteria: the impact on oil and gas revenues, fiscal breakeven price, fiscal deficit and foreign currency reserves, budget […]

Saudis can take pain with the help of reserves

Arabian Post Staff While the new low oil prices will test Saudi fiscal balances, they have the lowest cost barrels and with low debt can pull on sovereign reserves and take the pain, according to Chris Midgley, head of global analytics, S&P Global Platts. Crude fell sharply on Friday to test $45/bbl on the back of the failed talks and we now expect if to fall sharply as […]

Iran looms large despite sanctions and Saudi financial muscle

By James M. Dorsey A podcast version of this story is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spreaker, Pocket Casts, Tumblr, Podbean, Audecibel, Patreon and Castbox. Saudi Arabia may have been getting more than it bargained for when authorities in Khujand, Tajikistan’s second largest city, ordered that the city’s largest and most popular mosque be converted into a cinema. The order followed the closure of some 2,000 mosques in the country in the last three years and the arrest last month […]

The Saudi Aramco IPO idea that was a winner: But what next?

By Matein Khalid I had recommended buying the Tadawul ETF iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia (symbol KSA on NYSE) on November 30 to benefit from the post-IPO surge in the price of the Saudi Aramco IPO shares on the Tadawul. This tactical trade was a beauty even before Saudi Aramco shares soared 20% on its Thursday December 12 to peak at 38.7 Saudi riyals (SAR). As I expected, […]

Saudi 2020 budget deficit rises steeply

By Arabian Post Staff Saudi Arabia has unveiled a 2020 budget that projects a budget deficit of 6.4 percent of GDP.  This is much higher than the figure for 2019, which was estimated at 4.7 percent. The 20220 budget indicates total expenditures of SAR 1,020 billion, and SAR 833 billion of projected revenues. For FY 2019, it is expected that the actual expenditures will reach SAR 1,048 billion and total actual revenues are expected […]

GE upbeat on Saudi energy manufacturing sector

Saudi Arabia’s energy-sector manufacturing – industrial activities that are principally related to the energy value-chain – are set for robust growth in the coming decade, not only adding to the Kingdom’s exports but also promoting job creation among highly-skilled Saudis and strengthening the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector, reports the findings of the first-of-its-kind study on the Saudi industrial and energy manufacturing landscape by GE. Unveiled […]

Saudi central bank warns of slow down

Arabian Post Staff Saudi Arabia’s economy is expected to pick up in 2019 but a global economic slowdown and its potential impact on the global oil market could impact growth, the Kingdom’s central bank said. Saudi Arabia’s economy grew by 2.2 percent in 2018, driven by the oil sector, compared to a decline of 0.7 percent in 2017, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) said in a […]

Houthis a grave concern for Saudis

By Manish Rai  Recent attacks launched by Houthis rebels on critical installations of Saudi Arabia has demonstrated a significant leap in their capabilities. The story of how Ansar Allah (official name of Houthi movement) moved from small-arms ambushes to medium-range ballistic missile and sophisticated drone attacks deep inside enemy territory in just half a decade illustrates that how an ambitious militant group can capture and use a […]

US to export more oil than Saudis by year-end

|By Arabian Post Staff|In a pivotal geopolitical shift, the United States will soon export more oil and liquids than Saudi Arabia. This remarkable turnaround is made possible by the continued rise in oil production from US shale plays and the increased oil export capacity from the Gulf Coast. The US has for decades relied on large-scale imports to satisfy its thirst for oil, but this is about […]

Saudi gas export plan shines new light on bid to isolate Iran

|By James M. Dorsey| Saudi plans to become a major gas exporter within a decade raise questions about what the real goal of the kingdom’s policy, and by extension that of the United States, is towards Iran. Officially both Saudi Arabia and the US, which last year withdrew from the 2015 international accord that curbs the Islamic republic’s nuclear program and imposed harsh economic sanctions, are demanding […]

OYO signs deal with Saudi fund to expand in Middle East

|By Arabian Post Staff| OYO Hotels & Homes signed an MoU with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which reiterates OYO’s commitment to the Kingdom and the business potential it sees in the market. OYO Hotels & Homes also confirmed the launch of its operations in Saudi Arabia. It is also noteworthy that OYO is one of the first Public Investment Fund and SoftBank Vision Fund backed company […]

Khashoggi bullet: An insight into Saudi strategic thinking

|By James M. Dorsey| Continued, albeit slower-paced US and Turkish leaks potentially provide insight into far more than the circumstances of the October killing of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. They focus attention on crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s strategic thinking as well as his tightened control of the kingdom’s media. In the latest disclosure, The New York Times, quoting anonymous US intelligence sources, reported […]

Saudi Arabia and the West’s right wing: A dubious alliance

By James M. Dorsey Traditionally focussed on ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim Islam, Saudi funding in the era of crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has been streamlined and finetuned to ensure that it serves his geopolitical ambitions, primarily stymying the expansion of Iranian influence in the Middle East and North Africa and enhancing the kingdom’s global impact. The effort, however, has so far produced a mixed bag. Spending is […]

UAE, Saudi working on Blockchain-based payment settlement

|By Arabian Post Staff| The Central Bank of the UAE confirmed that its working with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) on a joint project which constitutes a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) for experimenting with Blockchain technology to facilitate cross-border payments between the two countries. The PoC is still at an early stage and will help CBUAE gain a deeper understanding of the feasibility of distributed ledger technology in this […]

Shifting Middle East sands spotlight diverging US-Saudi interests

|By James M. Dorsey| A series of Gulf and Middle East-related developments suggest that resolving some of the Middle East’s most debilitating and devastating crises while ensuring that efforts to pressure Iran do not perpetuate the mayhem may be easier said than done. They also suggest that the same is true for keeping US and Saudi interests aligned. Optimists garner hope from the fact that the US Senate may […]

RAK Ceramics acquires all Saudi joint ventures

RAK Ceramics announced that it has acquired the remaining minority shares of its joint ventures in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and therefore now fully owns its KSA operations. Over the last few years RAK Ceramics has been consolidating its global operations and this latest purchase follows acquisitions in Europe, India, and Australia. Europe and KSA are the company’s major export markets, followed by the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. In 2017 around 31.7% of its […]

Tesla stake holder Saudi fund invests in rival Lucid

|By Arabian Post Staff| In an unusual move, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund,which is a stake holder in Elon Musk’s Tesla, has invested $1 billion in rival Silicon Valley start-up Lucid Motors. This means the Saudis will benefit, irrespective of which new generation car company achieves leadership in this automobile sector. Lucid  is set to start making its first model, the Air sedan, in 2020. The comapny […]

Saudi Arabia scraps Aramco IPO

|By Arabian Post Staff| Saudi Arabia shocked global capital markets by announcing scrapping of its plan to float  state-owned energy giant Aramco through an IPO, which the world was keenly looking forward to, media reports said. The initial public offering was among the initiatives announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as part of his ambitious plan to overhaul the Saudi economy. The Saudis had hoped to […]

Saudi Arabia and Iran woo incoming Pakistani prime minister

By James M. Dorsey An offer by a Saudi-backed bank to lend financially strapped Pakistan US$4 billion is likely intended to bolster Saudi influence when former international cricket player Imran Khan is sworn in in the coming week as the South Asian country’s next prime minister. The offer was most immediately related to a statement by Asad Umar, Pakistan’s new finance minister-in-waiting, that Pakistan would decide on whether to seek […]