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QUOTED
“We want Saudi Arabia to emerge as one of the centers of great content production in the region besides Egypt and Lebanon. We see ourselves doing more and more there. There is significant investment under the Vision 2030 plan and it goes into the entertainment industry — everything from developing acting schools and sound stages to encouraging physical production in Saudi. It’s a big theme for the Saudi government and we are very supportive of that.”
-Johannes Larcher, MBC executive, after the company said earlier this month to become an anchor tenant in the new media zone in the Saudi capital. [arabnews.com]
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TOP STORY
Saudi Arabia’s Council of Ministers has approved regulations for the creation of a new Saudi Export and Import (Exim) Bank on Tuesday during a session presided over by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman at Al-Yamamah Palace. [more]
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TOP STORY
Princess Reema bint Bandar gave her first interview with an Arab newspaper since assuming her position in Washington, telling Asharq Alawsat that Saudi Arabia is Washington’s closest partner in the region and that the strategic Saudi-American partnership is not affected by which party the president of the White House belongs to. [more]
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TOP STORY
Saudi Arabia plans to start exporting gas and will soon make a major announcement on the topic, the country’s energy minister said. [more]
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MORE TOP STORYLINES
Via Alex Lawler in reuters.com: Forecasters including the International Energy Agency (IEA) have cut 2020 oil demand estimates because of the virus. Though new cases in mainland China have dipped, global experts say it is too early to judge if the outbreak is being contained.
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Via Saket Sundria and Dinesh Nair in bloomberg.com: Reliance in August valued its oil-to-chemicals division at $75 billion including debt, implying a $15 billion valuation for the 20% stake. If the deal closes at this value, it will be the largest transaction in India since Walmart Inc.’s $16 billion acquisition of a majority stake in Flipkart Online Services Pvt. For Aramco, the deal could be its biggest since agreeing to buy a majority stake in Saudi Basic Chemicals for $69 billion last year.
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Via Aseel Bashraheel in arabnews.com : The Red Sea Film Festival will run from March 12 to 21 and will screen 107 features and short films, including a lineup of 16 films in-competition, seven non-competition films, 11 Saudi features, and 13 short films for the shorts competition, 23 films for best of year category, and 17 experimental films for the Tajreeb category, which is based on local narratives of Saudis and non-Saudis living in the Kingdom.
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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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The National Debt Management Center announces the closure of April 2024 issuance under the Saudi Arabian Government SAR-denominated Sukuk Program. The total amount allocated was...[via mof.gov]
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The month-on-month decline in imports from Russia comes amid lower discounts offered by Russia. Russia has been the largest source of crude for...[By Rituraj Baruah via livemint.com]
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Two major U.S. law firms are opening offices in Saudi Arabia following a change last year in...[By David Thomas via reuters.com]
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Abdul Salam Hanafi, a senior Taliban leader and member of the political commission in Doha, Qatar, said in a video message shared with journalists that...[By Susannah George and Haq Nawaz Khan via washingtonpost.com]
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The European Union agreed on Monday to launch a new naval and air mission to stop more arms reaching the warring factions in Libya, overcoming...[By Steven Erlanger via nytimes.com]
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The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said Saturday that American civilian flights can resume operations over much of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman...[via navytimes.com]
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The Iranians “don’t want another al-Sistani ... They don’t want somebody who is strong, who overshadows their own supreme leader,” said Abbas Kadhim, director of...[By Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Mariam Fam via apnews.com]
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Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) says final official results from the country's September 28 presidential election show incumbent President Ashraf Ghani has been reelected to...[By RFE/RL via rferl.org]
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Countries like Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan already possess diversified export structures, with non-oil goods constituting the bulk of what they export. They have also...[By Amr Adly via yahoo.com]
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Currently Iran is the only submarine operator in the Arabian Gulf, also known as the Persian Gulf, save for the occasional U.S. Navy or European...[By H I Sutton via forbes.com]
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DP World, one of the world’s largest port operators, is delisting from the Nasdaq Dubai and returning to fully private ownership, the company announced Monday.
The...[By Natasha Turak via cnbc.com]
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One of Egypt’s richest men has long coveted a role in his nation’s gold-mining industry. Now, a shakeup in regulations and a potential auction of...[By Mirette Magdy and Salma El Wardany via yahoo.com via Bloomberg]
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