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  • Google on a Camel
     

    Google’s Street View has provided 360-degree views of locations around the globe since 2007.   Street View cameras have been deployed on boats, underwater and now, Raffia, a 10-year old camel. Writing for The National, Lindsay Carroll reports on Raffia’s walk in the desert around the Liwa Oasis carrying a specialized camera. The Liwa Desert […]

     
  • Saudi Aramco: Not Your Ordinary NOC
     

    Last month Saudi Aramco opened a 50,000 square foot, state-of-the-art research center in Houston that Saudi Aramco President and CEO, Khalid Al-Falih called, “an upstream research center like no other.”  It will be an extension of Saudi Aramco’s Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Center’s Advanced Research Center (EXPEC ARC) and it’s Research and Development Center both […]

     
  • Central bank’s record reserves ‘show strength of Saudi economy’
     

    The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA)’s reserve assets soared to another historic level in August, official data show, to over $757.3 billion. The jump in August, an increase of $10.4 billion, shows the strength of the Saudi economy, Asharq Alawsat reports, citing economist Abdulaziz Al-Fahad. Asharq Alawsat: “SAMA itself attributed the rise in reserves to […]

     
  • Lockheed, Raytheon Sell ‘Worlds Most Advanced’ Patriot Missile System to Saudi Arabia for $1.7b
     

    U.S. defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon are the lead contractors in the proposed $1.7b sale of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile system to Saudi Arabia, following a request for approval by the Pentagon.  The development is the latest in recent weeks indicating a strengthening of U.S.-Saudi ties as the two countries coordinate security efforts to counter […]

     
  • Why MNCs Must Localize their Saudi Business
     

    Saudi Arabia is one of Europe, Middle East and Africa’s (EMEA) top emerging markets, but it is on an unsustainable growth path that threatens long-term prosperity. In addressing this problem through economic diversification, the government will increasingly push multi-national corporations (MNC) to localize their presence or risk being shut out of the market. Success for […]

     
  • In First Weekly for Ashmore, Sfakianakis Highlights ‘Wall Street’s Retreat from EM Market-Making’
     

    In his first weekly for the London-based Ashmore Investments, John Sfakianakis and co-author Jan Dehn write that emerging markets are playing a larger role in international finance, and recent political and economic developments around the globe “illustrate Wall Street’s decline as market-maker for Emerging Markets (EM) assets.”   The full analysis, available here and used by […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia’s Energy Pivot to Asia ‘May Result in Lower Crude Prices’, Analyst Predicts
     

    Saudi Arabia is starting to focus more on Asian destinations for its crude, which may result in lower costs to the region, writes Clyde Russell in a Reuters analysis. “The Saudis aren’t exactly retreating from the North American and European markets, but they seem to have read in the tea leaves the trend that physical […]

     
  • John Sfakianakis Hired by London-Based Ashmore Group PLC to Lead Middle East Expansion – Report
     

    Bloomberg’s Matthew Martin reports that veteran banker John Sfakianakis has been hired by UK-based Ashmore Group PLC to head expansion into the Kingdom ahead of Saudi Arabia’s market opening. According to the report, citing unnamed sources, Sfakianakis will be director for the GCC for Ashmore. Sfakianakis is a frequent contributor to SUSTG.com. 

     
  • US Training Teams Arrive in Saudi Arabia As Brass Praise Arab ‘Professionalism’ in Coordinated Strikes
     

    US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey announced at a joint press conference that U.S. trainers have arrived in Saudi Arabia to assist in the development of moderate Syrian rebels, the Voice of America reports.  “Opposition fighters are being vetted by U.S. military, […]

     
  • Saudi Arabia’s Latest Record: The World’s Tallest Flagpole
     

    Move over, Tajikistan: Saudi Arabia now has the world’s tallest flagpole. In Jeddah this week, Makkah Governor Prince Mishaal bin Majed presided over the unfurling of Saudi Arabia’s national flag on the world’s tallest flagpole – a new Guinness World Record for the Kingdom.  Soaring over nearby high rises, the flagpole can be seen for miles […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Saudi ports report 15.72% growth in container handling for July

    According to Arab News, the latest statistics from the Saudi Ports Authority, known as Mawani, revealed that the Kingdom’s terminals received 271,465 standard containers in July, up from 234,592 in July 2023. The volume of handled tonnage also increased by 9.11 percent year on year, reaching 27.38 million tonnes.

  • Driving Reductions in Emissions: Unlocking the Potential of Fuel Economy Targets in Saudi Arabia

    The adoption of more stringent fuel economy standards represents a pivotal pathway toward achieving net zero emissions in the transportation sector. By steadily increasing the fuel efficiency of vehicles, this approach drives a gradual but consistent decline in emissions. When coupled with the simultaneous integration of electric and alternative fuel vehicles into the market, the goal of net zero emissions becomes increasingly feasible.

  • Impacts of Ride-Hailing on Energy and the Environment: A Systematic Review

    Ride-hailing has expanded substantially around the globe over the last decade and is likely to be an integral part of future transportation systems. Through a systematic review of the literature concerning the energy and environmental impacts of ride-hailing, we have identified a dichotomy between empirical findings and theoretical projections.

  • Air Force-facilitated arms export sales reach all-time high

    Foreign countries are buying more weapons through the U.S. Air Force than ever before, due in large part to global instability, officials say.  “Business has been booming, I understand, for this team, as events happen around the world and our partner nations recognize that it's a dangerous world once again, things like Russia invading Ukraine,” said Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Geraghty, the director of the Air Force’s Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate.

  • Taekwondo-Abutaleb falls short of medal but breaks new ground for Saudi women

    Saudi Arabia's taekwondo athlete Dunya Abutaleb failed to win a medal at the Paris Games on Wednesday but broke new ground for women in her country as she just missed out on bronze. The 27-year-old, who came third at the 2022 World Championships in the flyweight (-49 kg) category, is the first Saudi woman to earn direct qualification to the Olympics.

  • Saudi Arabia to host donor conference for Sahel region in Jeddah in October

    Saudi Arabia will host a donor conference to support internally displaced persons and refugees in the Sahel and Lake Chad region in Jeddah on October 26 this year.

  • Stunning Blue Waters Is Not What You’d Expect From This Up-and-Coming Destination

    Within the grass-dappled desert around Six Senses Southern Dunes in northwestern Saudi Arabia, where camels graze at a distance and the only sound is the fizz-pop of sparkling water, a small folding table covered in a white linen cloth awaits me. Atop it: a barbecue platter so full, so juicy, it triggers a growl in my stomach like a well-timed Foley effect. There’s grilled wagyu striploin, chicken kebabs and lamb chops, roasted potatoes and grilled asparagus—a comical amount of food for a party of one.

  • Industry Ministry opens bidding for 7 exploration licenses on 1,000 sq. km areas

    This is part of the ministry’s Accelerated Exploration Program initiative, which aims to expedite the exploration and development of the Kingdom’s estimated SR9.3 trillion worth of mineral resources, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 objective of making the mining sector the third pillar of the national industry.

  • Saudi Institutions Intensify Efforts to Activate Maritime Shipping Lanes with Djibouti

    Three Saudi government and private entities are leading intensive efforts to activate maritime shipping lanes between the Kingdom and the Republic of Djibouti, to maximize the benefits of Saudi Logistics City in the Port of Djibouti's free zone. The city, established through an agreement signed in June, enables Saudi exports to reach 500 million consumers in East African markets. It will have permanent warehouses, yards, logistics services, and administrative facilities, and will provide investors and traders with all storage requirements.

  • Israel kills 40 Palestinians in Gaza airstrikes amid fears of wider war

    Israeli forces stepped up airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least 40 people, Palestinian medics said, in further battle with Hamas-led militants as Israel braced for potential wider war in the region. Israeli airstrikes hit a cluster of houses in central Gaza's Al-Bureij camp, killing at least 15 people, and the nearby Al-Nuseirat camp, killed four, medics said. Nuseirat and Bureij are among the densely populated enclave's eight historic camps and seen by Israel as strongholds of armed militants.