Approval of U.S. leadership in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region was already slipping before the recent wave of anti-U.S. protests across the region.
Jadwa Investment recently released a report about GDP growth in Saudi Arabia, noting that the private sector was leading real GDP growth in the second quarter of 2012.
The agenda featured an interesting mix of academics, business people, seasoned diplomats, public-sector trade experts and others who addressed topics that spanned the MENA geographic spectrum.
Saudi Arabia, grappling with chronic youth unemployment, has created 380,000 new jobs in 10 months by requiring private firms to employ Saudis, Labor Minister Adel al-Fakeih said, the Saudi Gazette reported on Monday.
Total bi-lateral trade between Saudi Arabia and the United States reached $39 billion in the first six months of 2012, a record high for any half to date.
A recently released report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Saudi Arabia’s energy policy finds that the Kingdom is pursuing a “disciplined approach to forward-looking policymaking.”
This was the question asked all of this past week all over the world. Thousands of stories were filed on the topic, following speculation by a Citigroup analyst that Saudi Arabia may start importing oil by 2030.
Compared to its fellow Gulf Cooperation Council states (GCC), Saudi Arabia’s housing market is the least developed. Only about 3.5% of all home purchases are financed through a mortgage. This number is 17% in the UAE and, by example, 70% in the UK and USA.
Jadwa Investment’s recently released Saudi Charbook for the month of September 2012 found that the Saudi economic activity in July experienced a “modest slowdown of economic activity…with indicators of consumer spending and PMI slowing on the back of a seasonal trend.”
