Recent stories from sustg

  • Event Alert: King of Bahrain, Secretary Kissinger, Gen. David Petraeus Headline C3 Business Summit in New York
     

    Scheduled to take place on the heels of the 71st U.N. General Assembly in New York on September 26 and September 27, the 2016 C3 Business and Healthcare Summit has announced the confirmed participation of His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa and The Honorable Dr. Henry Kissinger. This edition of the well-established C3 Summit series will examine ISIS, Brexit, the growing concerns […]

     
  • Senate Votes Down Proposal to Block U.S. Arms Sale to Saudi Arabia
     

    The Senate on Wednesday rejected a bipartisan proposal to block a pending $1.15 billion United States arms sale to Saudi Arabia by a vote of 71-27. The Senate action comes as Congress is considering whether to override an expected presidential veto of the so-called JASTA bill, allowing 9/11 victims’ families to sue the Saudi government. The proposed […]

     
  • Washington Post Editorial: Obama Right to Veto JASTA
     

    An editorial in today’s edition of the Washington Post calls for President Obama to veto the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) which reduces foreign sovereign immunity by allowing U.S. courts to hear cases involving claims against a foreign state for injuries, death, or damages that occur inside the United States as a result of […]

     
  • Asian Banks Said to Have ‘Intense Interest’ in First Saudi Foreign Debt Issuance, Reports Say
     

    Saudi Arabia is seeing “intense interest” in its first international bond sale of $15 billion and is considering further issuances given the current appetite, according to a report today in the Financial Times.  The Kingdom’s first international debt sale has generated so much interest from particularly from Asian investors that “the kingdom is weighing a […]

     
  • Contemporary Saudi Art Exhibit Continues Tour of America
     

    Today’s SUSTG Review includes a review from the East Bay Express about GENERA#ION, a traveling show presenting contemporary art from Saudi Arabia that is now on view in a number of galleries in San Francisco.  The East Bay Express gives the show a strong recommendation and, in fact, the exhibition has been very well-received as […]

     
  • Saudi CMA Presses on Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards
     

    The Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) continues to press forward it’s efforts to make the Saudi stock market (Tadawul) more attractive to foreign investors.  Earlier this month the CMA approved amended rules for Qualified Foreign Investors by lowering the asset qualifications as well as adjusting upwards some key ownership limitations.  For more on those changes […]

     
  • Social Media Lights Up after First Saudi Woman Competes in 100m in Rio
     

    Saudi Sprinter Kariman Abuljadayel made history as the first woman ever to compete in the 100m dash in the Olympics at Rio, and she did it covered from head-to-toe. The sprinter did not qualify for the final event, but her participation in the 100m dash – like Sarah Attar’s participation in the 800m race in London in […]

     
  • Amended Rules Increasing Foreign Investor Access to Saudi Stock Market Approved
     

    Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) Board has approved changes to rules that regulate what type of foreign investor can enter into the Saudi stock market.  The changes include 24 Articles that address procedures, requirements, and conditions for the registration of qualified foreign investors (QFIs) with the CMA to invest in listed securities in the Saudi […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia Confirms Cooperation with Germany to Investigate, Prevent Terrorist Attacks
     

    Saudi Arabia’s has confirmed it was working with German investigators to track Islamist militants behind bomb and axe attacks in July. The news was originally reported by the German outlet Der Spiegel and confirmed in rare comments by a Saudi spokesman. A spokesman for the Saudi interior ministry, General Mansour al-Turki, said Saudi and German security experts […]

     
  • Jadwa Saudi Chartbook for August 2016: Signs of ‘Resilience’ in Saudi Economic Activity
     

    Jadwa Investment’s Saudi Chartbook for the month of August found points of “resilience” in economic activity, according to chief economist and head of research Fahad Al-Turki. “June data showed resilience in economic activity. Data on point-of-sale transactions and ATM withdrawals came out strong, while the non-oil PMI continued to reflect an expanding non-oil economy,” Jadwa said. Data on […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Iraq’s new family law amendment could potentially legalize child marriage—and fracture the country

    The impact of child marriage is catastrophic, and it has been a major concern in Iraq over the past twenty years, exacerbated by the shortcomings of existing laws, under which girls and boys can marry at as young as fifteen years old with parental consent. Alarmingly, the Iraqi parliament recently proposed an amendment to its Personal Status Law (PSL) that could potentially legalize child marriage for girls as young as nine, thereby further restricting women’s rights.

  • Will Jordan’s new electoral law bring real change?

    But this time around, to strengthen the country’s political parties and engage voters more effectively, the government has reserved forty-one out of the 138 seats for candidates running on party lists. Yet, the resulting changes are likely only cosmetic since Jordanian parties are not winning voters’ confidence for various reasons, including on the pivotal issue of unemployment.

  • GCC Ministers Meet in Saudi Arabia, Hold Talks With Russia, BRICS Nations

    Foreign ministers from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states met in Saudi Arabia on Monday for the council’s 161st ministerial summit and held separate talks with their counterparts from BRICS nations Russia, Brazil, and India. Based in Riyadh, the GCC is a regional political and economic union made up of Gulf monarchies, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attended the summit for the seventh GCC-Russia Joint Ministerial Meeting of Strategic Dialogue.

  • Lower Oil Prices Challenge Saudi Fiscal Policy

  • Saudi Arabia’s PIF to boost annual spending to $70 billion by 2025

    In its latest report on Saudi Arabia, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) highlighted that the PIF’s investments are set to reach $70 billion by 2025, according to Amin Mati, the IMF’s Mission Chief for Saudi Arabia.

  • Dozens killed, wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza tent camp

    Israeli strikes tore a huge crater, set tents ablaze and buried Palestinian families alive under sand in a supposedly safe zone of southern Gaza before dawn on Tuesday, killing or wounding scores of people, according to Palestinian officials.  Israel said it had struck a command centre for Hamas fighters whom it said had infiltrated the designated "humanitarian" area in al-Mawasi, a vast camp on sandy soil where the military has told hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to shelter since ordering them out of their homes.

  • Dubai singles splurge on premium dating apps but starve for real romance

    Dubai singles are more willing to pay premium prices for dating app subscriptions than ever before in the hopes of boosting their prospects of finding meaningful relationships, residents told Arabian Business. However, this financial investment comes with a paradox. Despite their willingness to pay for premium dating app subscriptions, these same singles have overwhelmingly expressed a preference for meeting potential partners organically in person to build more authentic connectio

  • Time to retire ‘Arab-Israeli conflict’?

    The experience of the past 11 months has led many experts on the region like myself to reassess that term. Is “Arab-Israeli conflict” an accurate reflection, given that the active participants are no longer just Arabs and Israelis? Should we retire that term for good now that the conflict has widened, drawing in the United States and Iran–and potentially Turkey and others in the coming years?

  • Russia invites Saudi Crown Prince to October BRICS summit

    Russia has invited Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, to attend a BRICS summit in the city of Kazan from 22-24, Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, said on Monday. The bloc of developing nations, last year, invited Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates to become members, in a move aimed at accelerating its push to reshuffle a world order it sees as outdated, Reuters reports.

  • Full steam ahead for Saudi Arabia’s aquaculture dream

    The Kingdom decided to introduce aquaculture more than 40 years ago, leading to the establishment of the National Fisheries Center. Since then, the sector has undergone significant development through international partnerships and collaborations, particularly with the Food and Agriculture Organization.