Saudi Arabia has ambitious plans to further expand its lucrative automobile industry. In 2011 alone, the Kingdom announced the sale of approximately 800,000 cars potentially increasing to 1 million vehicles per year by the end of the current decade.
Every year, identifying the start of Ramadan is like a waiting game; Islamic scholars must see the new crescent moon in the night skies before the holy month officially begins.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has identified mining as a key investment area after oil and petrochemicals, and is spending an estimated $38 billion to develop two cities centered around mining.
“Nitaqat represents an effort to introduce more incentives for companies to employ Saudis and in that sense it is an improvement on what went before,” says James Reeve, an economist at the local Samba Financial Group.
The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have a low population compared with other regions, totaling 45 million people in 2011, less than 1 percent of the global population, a recently published report read.
Bank lending in Saudi Arabia is continuing at a generally brisk pace, the National Commercial Bank said in its “GCC Financial Market Quarterly” released Monday.
Jadwa Investment’s recently released June inflation report found year-on-year inflation for Saudi Arabia eased again in June, slipping to 4.9 percent from 5.1 percent in May, the first time it has been below 5 percent since August 2011.
Saudi Arabia is venturing into a territory normally reserved for automakers. The kingdom is developing the Ghazal, a sport-utility vehicle for the hazards of the desert, to diversify its economy beyond oil.
In their pursuit to be where the young consumers are, brands have long identified social media as a crucial place to establish a presence. Where else will you find huge numbers of youngsters highly active and engaged?
