King Abdullah has approved a five-year plan worth more than 80 billion riyals ($21.33 billion) to develop Saudi Arabia’s education sector, state news agency SPA reported on Monday. The plan includes building 1,500 nurseries, providing training for about 25,000 teachers and establishing educational centers and other related projects, Education Minister Prince Khaled al-Faisal was cited by SPA as saying. The 80 billion riyals are in addition to […]
Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Saudi Arabia is considering trade measures against the Netherlands because of stickers resembling the kingdom’s flag and carrying anti-Islam slogans printed by far-right politician Geert Wilders. Local business daily Al Eqtisadiah reported on Friday that the chambers of commerce have received an order to ban Dutch companies from bidding for future projects in the country, halt visits of business […]
Saudi Arabian Mining Co will seek shareholder approval for a 5.6 billion riyal ($1.49 billion) rights issue to help to fund its expansion plans, the company said on Thursday. The company, better known as Ma’aden, intends to use the money to expand its phosphate and gold operations, as well as increase funding for its aluminium business, it said in a bourse filing, adding that a date for […]
Saudi Arabia reported five more deaths on Wednesday from a mysterious respiratory virus that first appeared there two years ago and has since spread to at least 16 other countries, including the United States. The Saudi Health Ministry said the latest fatalities from infections caused by the virus, known as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, brought the total in that country to 157. Saudi Arabia accounts […]
King Abdullah appointed a son, Prince Turki bin Abdullah, as governor of Riyadh Province on Wednesday, strengthening his branch of the ruling dynasty as it approaches a difficult decision on how to transfer power to the next generation. Another son, Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah, was made governor of Mecca Province months ago. The line of succession does not pass directly from father to son but has moved […]
Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange plans to sell shares in an initial public offering as the Arab world’s largest bourse seeks to gradually open up to foreigners and boost institutional investment. Tadawul, as the gauge is known, will hire advisers soon for the share sale, Chief Executive Officer Adel Al Ghamdi said at a conference in Riyadh today. That would make it the second market in the Gulf […]
Emaar Economic City plans to raise 1 billion riyals ($267 million) to help finance construction of the King Abdullah Economic City and will spend 13 billion riyals developing the Saudi Arabian project over the next four years. The company, a unit of Dubai-based Emaar Properties, expects to arrange the loans from two or three banks before the end of 2016, Fahd Al Rasheed, chief executive officer of […]
All markets in the Gulf edged up on Thursday, led by Saudi Arabia which rose to a six-year high on the back of petrochemicals and cement makers. The kingdom’s main index gained 0.8 percent to 9,660 points, its highest close since June 2008. Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), up 2.6 percent, was the main support, also topping daily turnover. Overall, Saudi petrochemicals gained 1.5 percent while cement […]
Oman’s plan to build a $1 billion natural-gas pipeline from Iran is the latest sign that Saudi Arabia is failing to bind its smaller Gulf neighbors into a tighter bloc united in hostility to the Islamic Republic. The accord was signed during Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to Oman last month, and marks the first such deal between Iran and a Gulf Cooperation Council state in more […]
Bahrain’s Gulf International Bank plans to issue a 2 billion-riyal ($545 million) floating rate notes with a lifespan of five years through a private placement in Saudi Arabia, a prospectus showed on Sunday. The bank mandated its own investment banking arm, GIB Capital, as well as those of National Commercial Bank, Samba Financial Group and Banque Saudi Fransi to act as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners. […]
Saudi Arabia’s main share index rose the most in a month to reach a fresh six-year high on Sunday as investors shook off a slight dip in quarterly profit from the bourse’s biggest stock. Speculation in mid-cap stocks helped Dubai gain. The Saudi measure advanced 1.1 percent to its highest close since June 2008, up 12.9 percent so far in 2014. This came despite Saudi Basic Industries […]
Dubai — long champion of all things biggest, longest and most expensive — will soon have some competition from neighboring Saudi Arabia. Dubai’s iconic Burj Khalifa — the world’s tallest building — could be stripped of its Guinness title if Saudi Arabia succeeds in its plans to construct the even larger Kingdom Tower in Jeddah — a prospect looking more likely as work begins next week, according […]
Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Co. invited creditors including BNP Paribas SA (BNP) and Standard Chartered Plc to discuss claims on $5.9 billion of debt as it seeks to recover from the Middle East’s biggest default. The Saudi Arabian company, with interests ranging from construction to finance, will “outline proposals aimed at achieving a comprehensive settlement” with more than 70 creditors at a May 7 meeting in […]
Saudi Arabia’s leaders hope U.S. President Barack Obama and their King Abdullah understand each other better after talks and can stabilise a close regional security alliance after months of rockiness over Middle East policy, diplomats said. Friday’s two-hour exchange at Abdullah’s desert camp did not yield a shared statement or any evidence of policy changes, leading some Saudis to question whether differences over Syria’s war or Iran’s […]
Hanco, a Saudi Arabian auto rental company, said it acquired U.A.E.-based Byrne Investments from a private-equity group previously owned by HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) for 600 million dirhams ($163 million). Hanco, majority-owned by closely-held Bin Sulaiman Holdings, is buying Byrne’s equipment rental operations and modular building services business from Dubai-based Havenvest Private Equity Middle East Partnership, it said today in a statement. Persian Gulf companies are stepping […]
JPMorgan Chase & Co. and HSBC Holdings are among banks planning to compete for a role in the largest Saudi Arabian share sale in at least 12 years, according to five people with knowledge of the matter. The banks will vie with local lenders including Banque Saudi Fransi (BSFR) and Gulf International Bank to be appointed as financial adviser on the sale of a 15 percent stake […]
Saudi Arabia’s drive to make Qatar abandon its embrace of the Muslim Brotherhood may founder because of the limited leverage the Saudis and their allies can exercise over the world’s richest country. Qatar traded more with Singapore in 2012 than it did with the three Gulf neighbors — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — that withdrew their ambassadors from Doha last week to protest […]
Saudi tourists played a vital role in boosting the Dubai tourism sector last year. The Kingdom, which has consistently been Dubai’s primary source market, experienced a big boost with guest numbers up by 19.9 percent to 1.35 million. In 2012, Dubai received 1.13 million visitors from Saudi Arabia. In total, Dubai’s hotels welcomed more than 11 million guests in 2013, an increase of just over one million […]
Middle East fund managers remain bullish on most of the region’s major equity markets, but some are shifting money from the United Arab Emirates to less richly valued markets, a Reuters survey shows. The survey of 15 leading investment managers, conducted over the past 10 days, found 53 percent – a four-month high – expected to raise their equity allocations to the Middle East over the next […]
Saudi Arabia and India have formed a new joint venture to build a rice distribution hub in Dubai to link Indian production to consumers in Middle East, Arab News reported. Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah bin Turki and global private investor V Raman Kumar have formed the joint venture with India’s rice producer, LEAF India (Lakshmi Energy and Foods), to create West Asia and North Africa region’s largest […]
A Saudi English-language daily has become the country’s first newspaper with a female editor-in-chief after the Saudi Gazette this week appointed Somayya Jabarti to succeed veteran journalist Khaled Almaeena for the top post. “I was pleasantly surprised,” she told the Wall Street Journal over the phone, “because I did not think we as a country were ready for a female editor. But I believe this is a […]
Disparity in customs duties on imported gold works has diverted gold trade from Saudi Arabia to Dubai despite the existence of a unified GCC customs duties system, a key jewel expert in Jeddah told local media. In Saudi Arabia, gold traders have to pay 5 percent of the value of gold works imported into the Kingdom whereas traders in Dubai are paying 0.5 percent of that value […]
The impact of Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on illegal foreign workers is spreading through its economy, moving beyond the labour-intensive construction industry to sectors as far afield as banking and telecommunications. Nearly 1 million foreign workers, out of a total of roughly 9 million, are estimated to have left Saudi Arabia between last March and November, as authorities enforce work permit rules and corporate quotas for employment of […]
Saudi Arabia helped lift the market to a new five-year high on Wednesday, while other regional shares also gained. Saudi Arabia’s Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) rose 2.9 percent to 88.5 riyals and trading volumes jumped to their highest in three years after the firm beat analysts’ forecasts with an 8.6 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit. The stock jumped to a seven-year intraday high of 90 riyals but […]
Alkhabeer Capital, a Saudi Arabia-based investment advisory firm, has bought a majority stake in Dubai-based packaging products company Express Group, Alkhabeer said on Monday. Alkhabeer, in which conglomerate Saudi Binladin Group is a top shareholder, did not disclose financial details of the deal but said it was the firm’s second private equity transaction in the industrial sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Express Group, founded in […]
Saudi Arabia seems to have few viable options for pursuing a more independent and forthright foreign policy, despite its deep unease about the West’s tentative rapprochement with Iran. Upset with the United States, senior Saudis have hinted at a range of possibilities, from building strategic relations with other world powers to pushing a tougher line against Iranian allies in the Arab world and, if world powers fail […]
Saudi authorities rounded up thousands of illegal foreign workers at the start of a nationwide crackdown ultimately aimed at creating more jobs for locals, media reported. Hundreds of thousands of workers have already left the kingdom following a grace period of seven months during which authorities told expatriates that if they did not fix their legal status they had to leave the country or face jail. The […]
Saudi water and power project developer ACWA Power plans to sell an $800 million debut Islamic bond this year and list on the Saudi stock exchange around the end of 2014 as it ramps up production capacity, its chief executive said on Thursday. ACWA, which aims to have a gross production capacity of 38,000 megawatts (MW) of power by 2017 from its current 15,850 MWs, has said […]
Saudi Arabian retailer Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair plans to open nearly 250 stores at home and abroad this financial year, a top executive said, as the kingdom’s booming retail sector provides a platform to expand into new markets. Alhokair has benefited in recent years from a buoyant consumer goods sector, boosted by rising incomes on the back of government efforts to improve the plight of Saudi nationals after […]
Saudi Arabia’s No.3 telecom operator Zain Saudi has appointed industry veteran Hassan Kabbani as chief executive with immediate effect, the firm said in a statement on Sunday. A native Arabic speaker from Lebanon, Kabbani replaces Fraser Curley, who became CEO of the loss-making company in March 2012. Kabbani has been recruited to help Zain fight back against better-resourced rivals Saudi Telecom Co (STC) and Etihad Etisalat (Mobily). […]
