In episode 49, The 966 welcomes Dhay Aldhawyan, a leading architect and urban planner based in Riyadh who is Head of the Center for Development of Urban Design and Planning of Saudi cities, to discuss her journey and some of the big projects and developments happening now across Saudi Arabia. The 966 hosts also discuss official comings and goings in the Kingdom of late, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visits abroad, .ahead of President Biden’s visit. The hosts conclude as always with six top storylines in Saudi Arabia this week…
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3:17 – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman landed in Turkey for the first time in several years on Wednesday for talks with President Erdogan, after visiting neighboring Egypt and Jordan as part of a regional tour. The visit to Turkey, a member of NATO, is aimed at fully normalizing ties that were ruptured after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Richard’s one big thing this week is the significant changes in Saudi foreign policy in the previous 18 months, including how Crown Prince MBS has come in from the cold over this period.
12:30 – The 966 has talked about the US-Saudi relationship a decent amount in recent weeks with President Biden’s planned visit to Saudi Arabia July 15-16. Lucien’s one big thing this week is charting much of the recent diplomatic and commercial activity that has come to life since the planned visit was confirmed, including an excellent business event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last week which saw comments from HRH Ambassador Princess Reema bint Bandar and Dr. Majid Al-Qassabi, Saudi Arabia’s minister of commerce and acting minister of media.
19:00 – Dhay Aldhawyan, Head of the Center for Development of Urban Design and Planning of Saudi Cities; Principal at DHAY DHAWYAN Architects and consultant to McKinsey & Co., joins The 966 to discuss her journey and some of the big projects and developments happening now across Saudi Arabia. Dhay joins us from her offices in Riyadh.
1:12 – Yallah 🐪 6 top storylines in Saudi Arabia this week…
•The Saudi initial public offering of the Middle East Domino’s Pizza franchise has received orders for all shares on offer within hours of opening its books, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Alamar Foods’ order book is fully covered, the undentified people said.
•Russia-Saudi relations are “as warm as the weather in Riyadh”, the Kingdom’s energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told media on Thursday after attending a meeting in Russia with the country’s deputy prime minister. This according to a report in Arab News. The prince made a surprise appearance at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum while not being listed on an official schedule.
•Egypt and Saudi Arabia will sign 14 agreements valued at $7.7 billion during a visit to Cairo by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, announced Saudi Minister of Commerce Majid al-Qasabi said on Tuesday, Asharq Alawsat reports. The agreements cover the fields of renewable energy, oil, infrastructure and cyber security.
•Saudi Arabia’s education topped the list of Arab countries, and ranked 30th internationally in the British “Nature” index for evaluating countries, universities, and public and private institutions for the year 2022 in the quality of scientific research, reported SPA.
•Brooks Koepka keeps the drip of golf defectors from the PGA to Saudi Arabia’s PIF-backed LIV Golf tour, joining reportedly Abraham Ancer this week. Brooks Koepka, one of the first players to denounce a rival league for only 48 players, is the latest PGA Tour player to sign on with Saudi-funded LIV Golf series, The Associated Press has learned.
•On 7th June 2022, almost twenty-five days before Hajj, the Saudi Arabian Government has announced new Hajj rules and regulations that oblige the citizens of the UK, US, Europe, and Australia to register for the annual pilgrimage via a government website, Motawif. This online portal has been designed to give western Muslims visas based on the results of an automated lottery system.
