Prince Waleed bin Nasser Al-Saud from Saudi-based Consultancy Mukatafa, more on the U.S.-Saudi relationship, Saudi’s mining sector, and more

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1:28 – Richard’s One Big Thing is why U.S.-Saudi relations are in need of a healthy reset and how some recent commentary on U.S.-Saudi relations seems to recognize the need for the U.S. perspective to be updated on Saudi Arabia

13:14 – Lucien’s one big thing is all of the recent developments in Saudi Arabia’s mining and minerals sector, overseen by Minister Bandar bin Ibrahim AlKhorayef, Deputy Minister for Mining Affairs Khalid Al-Mudaifer, and Deputy Minster Osama Zamil. The team is full steam ahead with developing the mining and minerals sector and working to make Saudi Arabia more attractive for industry in general.
AlKhroyef said recently that Saudi Arabia plans to award over a dozen mining exploration licenses to international investors.
Five new exploration sites are up for licensing and the kingdom will release details of an additional 10 opportunities next year, the minister said in a speech at IMARC. More than 145 licenses have been issued so far and the country has seen a 27% year-on-year growth in its mining revenue. The Minster also referenced the recently announced ambitious strategy to attract investments worth $32 billion to the sector.

[Note: here is the interview referenced by Lucien: https://im-mining.com/2022/11/02/91213/]

22:37 – Prince Waleed Bin Nasser Al Saud joins The 966 — Prince Waleed is CEO of Mukatafa, a consultancy based in Riyadh that brings together the public and private sectors in Saudi Arabia, forming an ecosystem that enables the private, public, and third-party sectors to collaborate, integrate, and grow together as the Kingdom drives forward with Vision 2030. Mukatafa means standing shoulder to shoulder in Arabic, and the growing organization founded by Prince Waleed has worked specifically within the Manufacturing, Education, Food and Beverage, Grocery, Luxury Fashion, Jewelry, Beauty, Electronics, and Furniture industries.

1:10:14 – Yallah! 6 top storylines to get you up to date heading into the weekend…

COP 27 in Egypt Underway

The conference officially runs from Nov. 6 through Nov. 18. The meetings are being held at the Sharm el Sheikh. There are two main sites for the event: the Blue Zone and the Green Zone. The Blue Zone, based at the Sharm el Sheikh International Convention Center just south of the town center, is where the official negotiations will be held. That space will be managed by the United Nations and is subject to international law. More than 35,000 delegates are expected to attend the event, including President Biden and more than 100 heads of state, according to the U.N. climate body. That is smaller than last year’s summit in Glasgow, which brought together 120 world leaders and over 40,000 registered participants. But for a year in which no major decisions are officially expected, it is still a substantial gathering.

For the first time ever, Saudi Tourism Authority announces the extension of the Saudi multi-entry visa, the new announcement states that the multi-entry visa allows Hayya Card holders to stay in Saudi for up to 60 days, with pre-entry to the FIFA World Cup not required. Further extensions will allow for ‘Hayya with Me (1+3)’, allowing Hayya Card holders and three additional friends and family members to enter the kingdom.

The kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund announced last week it is launching an electric vehicle brand together with Taiwan’s Foxconn, called Ceer. It will become the first Saudi automotive brand to produce electric vehicles in Saudi Arabia, and will design, manufacture, and sell a range of vehicles for consumers in the country and the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, including sedans and sports utility vehicles.

Running from 9th-12th November 2022, 30 other countries will be participating in the event – including 12 that are non-Arab countries. Over 1000 media experts and professionals from around 200 radio and television networks and production and distribution companies will be attending. 2022’s edition of the Arab Radio and Television Festival is being held in Saudi Arabia for the first time, as opposed to its usual location in Tunisia, where its headquarters are based and will coincide with the establishment of the Future of Media Exhibition.

Saudi Arabia will contribute $2.5 billion to a green initiative in the Middle East over the next ten years, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced during the Cop27 UN climate summit. Prince Mohammed was speaking at the second edition of the Middle East Green Initiative conference being held in Cairo alongside the Cop27 climate change summit in Egypt. He told attendees that the kingdom aims to provide more sustainable energy systems and that Saudi Arabia would build a prominent headquarters for the initiative. “With concerted regional efforts, the initiative seeks to support efforts and co-operation in the region to reduce and eliminate emissions by more than 670 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent,” he said.

The headline seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) of Saudi Arabia rose to 57.2 in October 2022 from 56.6 last September, marking the strongest business outlook since January 2021. The PMI highlighted solid business conditions in the non-oil private sector economy during October 2022, according to Riyad Bank’s data. Firms witnessed enhanced domestic economic conditions and smooth inflationary pressures, which resulted in the most promising outlook for future output since the beginning of 2021.