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QUOTED
“We would love to have the next big thing made in Saudi Arabia. We’re taking it one step at a time. I’m not going to go and compete with Silicon Valley while I don’t have the right ecosystem. We’re building that.”
–Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) governor, in an interview with Wired about meeting Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman, his vision for PIF, and how they need to do a better job communicating PIF strategy. [wired.com]
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TOP STORY
Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) and Saudi Aramco expect to announce in the second quarter whether they’ll proceed with plans to build a facility to process crude oil directly into chemicals, Bloomberg reports. [more]
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TOP STORY
A recent report from Jadwa Investment looks at the economic impact of Saudi Arabia hosting the G20 Summit, noting that while the Riyadh has hosted major summits before, “the G20 summit differs due to the sheer number of different events related to it” with more than 120 workshops, ministerial meetings and specialized seminars scheduled throughout the year. [more]
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TOP STORY
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has realized a remarkable leap in the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law 2020 report, with a score of 70.6 out of 100 and achieving the honor of being the top improver over the last year, according to reports. [more]
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TOP STORY
Saudi Aramco sold millions of additional shares of its initial public offering using a so-called “greenshoe option” that has raised the size of its IPO by nearly $4 billion. [more]
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MORE TOP STORYLINES
Via Scott Hanson in ifac.org : This week, the Saudi Arabian Presidency of the 2020 B20 cycle kicked-off with the long-awaited Inception Event, hosted in Riyadh on 15-17 January 2020. To organize the B20’s activities, the Secretariat considered the topics covered under previous B20s along with emerging issues facing the local and global business communities. This resulted in the creation of six Taskforces, each dedicated to developing policy recommendations around a specific theme
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Via Mariam Nabbout in stepfeed.com : A team representing Saudi Arabias King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) achieved quite the feat at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Innovation Awards ceremony in Las Vegas last week.
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Via Barbara Starr in cnn.com : Consistent with the Presidents guidance to increase partner burden-sharing, the Department of Defense has engaged Saudi Arabia on sharing the cost of these deployments, which support regional security and dissuade hostility and aggression. The Saudi government has agreed to help underwrite the cost of these activities and has made the first contribution, said Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, Pentagon spokeswoman.
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MORE ON THE KINGDOM AND BEYOND
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More than 200,000 people converged at the conference, including Adam Selipsky, chief executive of Amazon’s cloud computing division, who ...[By Adam Satariano and Paul Mozur via nytimes.com]
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Diriyah Gate, one of the first Saudi giga-projects, said this week that it was on target for completion by late 2027.
The opening of the project’s...[By Andrew Hammond via agbi.com]
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His comment is significant because, like LIV Golf’s team competition and shotgun starts, the...[By Cindy Boren via washingtonpost.com]
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The recently released book “Battleground – 10 Conflicts that Explain the New Middle East” by historian Christopher Phillips provides a useful overview of ten ongoing conflicts...[By Christopher Phillips via thecipherbrief.com]
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A serious escalation of tensions in the Middle East would push the price of oil above $100 (£80) a barrel and reverse...[By Larry Elliott via theguardian.com]
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The regional upswing also defies oil production cutbacks which have all weighed on economic growth in the region as seen from International Monetary Fund’s latest...[By Issac John via khaleejtimes.com]
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Speaking at the event titled “Industrial policies to promote economic diversification,” the top official said there have been fundamental changes in the legislative and economic regulations to...[via arabnews.com]
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From April 22 to 25, 2024, the 26th World Energy Congress convened in the Netherlands, drawing participation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s energy industry....[By Pooja Chandak via solarquarter.com]
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Henning Larsen Architect has just revealed the designs for The Jeddah Opera House, a new local landmark in Saudi Arabia. Drawing inspiration from the historical...[By Nour Fakharany via archdaily.com]
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One of Saudi Arabia's top universities has announced a Red Sea project described as the world’s largest coral reef restoration.
...[By Daniel Bardsley via thenationalnews.com]
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U.S. oil and gas production growth is slowing, as lower prices force shale firms to reduce new well drilling and completion rates, and the slowdown...[By John Kemp via reuters.com]
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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s top political and religious authority, spoke at the Grand Mosalla mosque complex in central Tehran, where he led Friday prayers for...[By Erin Cunningham via washingtonpost.com]
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A US official said that Pompeo would call for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from the war-ravaged nation and a resumption of the UN-backed...[via france24.com]
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While after Soleimani’s death the supreme leader said the Quds Force’s mission “is the same as it was under” his commandership, three areas to watch...[By Jason Brodsky via thehill.com]
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Haitham bin Tariq, 65, was the minister of heritage and culture from 2002 until his ascension to the throne. Under Qaboos, he had also served...[By Yasmina Abouzzohour via brookings.edu]
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Lebanon has been without a government since Saad al-Hariri resigned as prime minister on Oct. 29 in the face of sweeping protests against the country’s...[By Laila Bassam and Tom Perry via reuters.com]
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The Taliban have given the U.S. envoy a document outlining their offer for a temporary cease-fire in Afghanistan that would last between seven and 10...[By Kathy Gannon via militarytimes.com via AP]
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The 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron’s jets arrived just hours after a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad killed a top Iranian general in early January, escalating...[By Chad Garland via stripes.com]
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