Vela International Marine Limited, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabian Oil Company, signed a landmark merger agreement with the National Shipping Company of Saudi (Bahri), resulting in the creation of one of the world’s largest shipping companies.
The Saudis hope that a London-based arbitration centre would help counter investor concerns about the Saudi Arabian legal system and thus boost foreign investment into the kingdom.
Despite the US tilt to Asia, how Barack Obama or Mitt Romney deals with these issues will be a central part of the foreign policy agenda in the coming four years, as it has been for previous presidents.
Steel producers in Saudi Arabia are set for a busy few years, with growth in the industry driven by rising demand due to state-backed investments and increasing activity in the private sector.
In archaeology, Saudi Arabia has been something of a slow starter, but a Washington exhibition of more than 200 statues, funerary objects and other relics shows that the study of the region’s past has come of age.
The Saudis are already ranked 5th in the world for their reserves of natural gas, but they are only ranked 9th in terms of production of the commodity.
Hours before sunrise Thursday, thousands of Muslims from around the world stood in the dark on a rocky desert hill, preparing for prayers on the first day of the annual hajj pilgrimage, a central pillar of their faith.
