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Recent stories from sustg

  • “Milestone” oil manipulation case unsettles traders
     

    U.S. regulators’ $14 million settlement with high-frequency trading firm Optiver over oil price manipulation in 2007 is a “milestone” victory in their toughening stance on market malfeasance which is being closely watched by traders. In its first major case against an algorithmic trader, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said late on Thursday that a court […]

     
  • Home boom aids Saudi Telecom profit surge
     

    Soaring demand for broadband helped Saudi Telecom Co (STC) post a 60 percent increase in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, with the former monopoly reporting rising revenues in its mobile, fixed line, corporate and wholesale units. The former monopoly, which will pay a quarterly dividend of 0.5 riyals per share, made a profit of 2.52 billion […]

     
  • Saudi tops in job creation in GCC
     

    The Gulf region continued to create jobs despite the impact of Arab Spring in 2011 with the regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia topping the list followed by Qatar and Oman, according to a new survey. The oil and gas industry, healthcare and retail sectors enjoyed the largest headcount expansion in 2011, while banking and construction fared the […]

     
  • Chart of the Day: A Short History of 200 Years of Global Energy Use
     

    If you want to tell the story of worldwide energy consumption over the past 200 years, you need three chapters. Chapter 1: The Coal Age. Chapter 2: The Oil Age. Chapter 3: The China Age. In the early days of industrialization, the use of biofuels such as wood declined as the West learned to live […]

     
  • Saudis Increasing Riyadh Water Supply
     

    With the bulk of Saudi Arabia’s drinking water coming from desalination plants, the country’s sky-rocketing population growth puts enormous demand on water supply. Arab News reports that a new desalination plant in the Eastern Province is gearing up to go online. When it is producing, it will nearly double the amount of water flowing into […]

     
  • Internet in the Middle East Still Short of Its Potential
     

    Last week’s third ArabNet conference for digital entrepreneurs in the MENA region was, by the standard of these things, a modest affair. But nonetheless it showed how the regional digital economy has grown, and how it is poised to take off. As one commentator said: “Jordan for the talent, Lebanon for the creativity, Egypt for […]

     
  • Saudi to maintain oil supply if U.S. draws stocks
     

    Saudi Arabia is likely to maintain high oil production in the event consumer countries release emergency stocks, but it will not seek to lure buyers for more oil by discounting its crude, industry sources said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday in Riyadh sought an assurance from Saudi King Abdullah that the kingdom […]

     
  • Hillary Clinton: Time running out for diplomacy with Iran
     

    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made clear Saturday that time is running out for diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear program and said talks aimed at preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon would resume in mid-April. With speculation over a possible U.S. or Israel military attack adding urgency to the next round of discussions […]

     
  • Water Brings Green to Saudi Arabia
     

    Over the last two-and-a-half decades, a series of NASA’s Landsat satellites have captured these pictures of the growing agriculture industry in the northern reaches of the Syrian Desert in Saudi Arabia, not far from Jordan. Farmers use a technique called center-pivot irrigation to bring up water from below the desert floor to grow wheat and […]

     
  • U.S. Might Have More Oil Than Saudi Arabia, But…
     

    People are often confused about the overall extent of U.S. oil reserves. Some claim that the U.S. has hundreds of billions or even trillions of barrels of oil waiting to be produced if bureaucrats will simply stop blocking development. In fact, in a recent debate between Republican candidates contending for Gabrielle Giffords’ recently vacated House seat, one candidate […]

     

MUST-READS

  • Saudi Arabia embraces challenge of 2034 World Cup prep

    To host the 48-team World Cup, the country “needs 14 all-seater stadiums capable of holding at least 40,000 people.” Saudi Arabia currently has two: Jeddah’s King Abdullah Sports City Stadium and Riyadh’s “venerable” King Fahd International Stadium, which is “undergoing a major refit.” Among its 30-plus stadiums, “many are old, small and have fields surrounded by running tracks.”

  • Project to save Historic Jeddah buildings completed thanks to SR50m from Saudi crown prince

    The Historic Jeddah district contains more than 600 buildings, including 36 mosques, as well as five marketplace sites, ancient squares, and other locations of historical importance, such as the Waterfront, that were vital stopping-off points for Muslim pilgrims in days gone by. Many are being restored and renovated to help preserve and illustrate the history of the Hajj since the dawn of Islam.

  • Saudi Arabia’s unemployment rate declines to 4.4 percent in Q4 2023

    Saudi Arabia’s unemployment rate declined 0.7 percent to 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the year-ago period. In its latest report, the General Authority for Statistics revealed that the unemployment rate among Saudi nationals saw a 0.9 percent quarterly decrease and a 0.3 percent annual decrease to 7.7 percent in Q4 of 2023. The participation of Saudi nationals in the labor force saw a 0.3 percent decline to 51.3 percent. Meanwhile, the employment-to-population ratio of Saudis saw a 0.2 percent increase to 47.4 percent.

  • UAE, Saudi Arabia ranked as leading global entrepreneurial ecosystems

    The UAE and Saudi Arabia have been ranked first and third respectively in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report for 2023-2024. The report, which assesses the entrepreneurial ecosystems of countries worldwide, is highly regarded by international bodies such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and various UN organizations, Saudi Arabia showed significant progress in its entrepreneurial environment, with its National Entrepreneurship Context Index score increasing from 5.0 in 2019 to 6.3 in both 2022 and 2023.

  • Saudi Arabia to chair UN forum on women’s rights and gender equality

    A decision by the United Nations to appoint Saudi Arabia as the chair of a gender equality forum has been criticized by women’s rights advocates.

    The UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) unanimously appointed Saudi Arabia to chair its 69th session in 2025, according to the Saudi Arabia Mission to the UN. Saudi ambassador to the UN, Abdulaziz Alwasil, was elected as chair Wednesday.

  • Saudi Arabia to host conference on role of universities in promoting peaceful coexistence

    Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh will host an international conference next month titled “The Role of Universities in Promoting the Values of National Belonging and Peaceful Coexistence.” It will take place on April 28 and 29 under the patronage of King Salman. Ahmed bin Salem Al-Ameri, the president of the university, thanked the king for his support and said the aim of the event is to “highlight the experiences of universities in promoting these lofty values, and to demonstrate the importance of correct doctrine and the approach of moderation,” the Saudi Press agency reported on Wednesday.

  • Saudi Arabia sends 17th relief plane to Ukraine

    The plane was sent by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center to Rzeszow Airport in Poland, near the Ukrainian border, in preparation for a land route to Ukraine. The plane carried 60 tons of relief items, including generators and electrical appliances. A Saudi delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, visited the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in February on the first visit of its kind by a Saudi and Arab official to Ukraine since Russia started its “special military operation” against its neighbor.

  • Saudi Arabia’s net FDI at $3.49 billion in Q4 of 2023

    Net inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Saudi Arabia reached 13.1 billion riyals ($3.49 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2023, up 16% from 11.4 billion riyals ($3.04 billion) in the third quarter, government data showed on Thursday.
    The kingdom hopes to attract $100 billion in FDI by 2030 to boost non-oil gross domestic product as part of a wider strategy by de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to diversify the economy away from its reliance on crude oil exports.

  • Mixed Signals in the Latest Saudi Labor Market Report

    At face value, the Saudi labor market report released March 28 contained good news. The report showed that the overall unemployment rate (covering nationals and non-nationals) fell to 4.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 5.1% in the third quarter. The unemployment rate for Saudi nationals dropped to 7.7% from 8.6% in the third quarter (and 8% in the fourth quarter of 2022), with the unemployment rate for Saudi women declining particularly sharply to 13.7% (down from 16.3% in the third quarter of 2023 and 15.4% in the fourth quarter of 2022). The unemployment rate for Saudi men remained unchanged at 4.6% between the third and fourth quarters of 2023, still above the 4.2% rate in the fourth quarter of 2022. The overall unemployment rates for Saudi women and all Saudis are at their lowest levels since the kingdom began collecting statistics.

  • Saudi creative leaders go independent with agency launch

    “Proudly from Saudi Arabia, we’re a local advertising agency, which is creatively led, driven by ideas and innovation, and globally audacious. We are fast, young, and excited to deliver to the world what the advertising industry has been missing for some time,” said Sehly. The agency’s main focus is, but not limited to,  developing all creative communications for the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi (GEA) and Riyadh Season.