Recent stories from sustg

  • USTR: Saudi Continues to Protect Intellectual Property Rights
     

    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Monday released the 2012 Special 301 Report reviewing the intellectual property protection policies of foreign nations.  Saudi Arabia is not named on the “Watch List” again this year and has not been since a successful Out-of-Cycle Review in 2009 to resolve IP issues in cooperation with the […]

     
  • How Gulf Countries Are Splurging at Home
     

    Asa Fitch, writing in the Wall Street Journal, details the extent to which oil dollars are fueling economic growth “at home” for GCC countries: Booming oil prices are flooding Arab countries with money, but where the lion’s share of that wealth would once have been pumped into the world’s financial markets, much of it is […]

     
  • Island in the Gulf – A Film of Juraid Island
     

    One of the great joys of living in Saudi Arabia has always been the natural environment itself – the dunes, the jebals and especially the Gulf with its beaches, reefs and islands. For those lucky enough to visit Juraid Island, fifteen miles offshore from Jubail, the experience has always been unforgettable. A pristine island shaped […]

     
  • Foreign Military Sales Keep Production Lines Hot
     

    “Partnership building is part of one of the largest benefits that we see,” Hunt said. “It’s building and maintaining friendships, it’s about building allies. United States Central Command, or CENTCOM, is obviously a very busy place for the United States now. The more that we can help those countries not only defend, but operate amongst […]

     
  • SEC unveils SR452b projects
     

    The Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has allocated SR452 billion to implement energy projects until the year 2021 according to SEC Chairman of the Board of Directors Dr. Saleh Bin Hussein Al-Awaji. These projects will provide services consistent with international standards, including building up an adequate power at a peak time about 10 percent of combined capacity. The […]

     
  • Journey of a lifetime
     

    To say that I was excited to be in the presence of such history would be an understatement. I had been looking forward to this trip for months and was absolutely beside myself. My purpose was to travel with my mother to Saudi Arabia to perform the Umrah, a mini version of the annual Hajj […]

     
  • Al-Qaida’s wretched utopia and the battle for hearts and minds
     

    Driving east out of Aden, we were just a few hundred metres past the last army checkpoint when we saw the black al-Qaida flag. It flew from the top of a concrete building that had been part-demolished by shelling. From here into the interior, all signs of control by the government of Yemen disappeared. This […]

     
  • Positive Steps: Interview with Saudi Minister of Finance Al Assaf
     

    The industrial sector is the real excitement for us, which is growing at a rate of 15 per­cent, which is not a joke. The other one is service sector, like the financial services or the restaurant and hotels or other services in the economy. A particular sector that we are excited about is the mineral […]

     
  • “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 […]

     

MUST-READS

  • US ‘winding down’ Gaza pier operations

    U.S. Central Command yesterday announced that U.S. operators and others attempted to “re-anchor the temporary pier to the beach in Gaza to resume humanitarian operations. However, due to technical and weather-related issues, CENTCOM personnel were unable to re-anchor the pier to the shore … The pier and support vessels and equipment are returning to Ashdod where they will remain until further notice. A re-anchoring date has not been set.”

  • Saudia plane catches fire during landing at Peshawar airport; all passengers safe

    A Saudi Arabian Airlines aircraft caught fire while landing at Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Thursday. Flight SV-792 was en route from Riyadh with 297 people on board. Saudi Arabian Airlines issued a statement confirming that all passengers were safely evacuated via inflatable emergency slides with no injuries reported. The aircraft is currently undergoing technical evaluation by specialists.

  • Lucid sees higher demand in Saudi Arabia, begins exports to UAE

    The demand for electric cars is increasing in Saudi Arabia, which is one of the company’s strongest markets in the world, due to the young generation’s awareness of the importance of sustainability and the efficiency, Faisal Sultan, Vice President and Managing Director of Lucid Group Middle East), told Argaam.

  • Is the Saudi POV different from the rest of the world?

    Contrary to the prevailing notion in other societies that culture is a barrier to innovation and economic progress, the Kingdom remains deeply entrenched in its culture and traditions while emerging as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, positioning itself as the new epicenter of global commerce. Saudi Arabia is young country with 63 per cent of its population being under 30 years old. The youth of the nation celebrate its culture, while driving the change from within.

  • Saudi Arabia ranks second best country for expats in key category in new survey

    In a surprising shift for expatriates, Saudi Arabia has emerged as the second-best country in the world for working abroad, according to the latest Expat Insider survey. The kingdom has made a significant leap from 14th place in 2023 to the runner-up position.

  • Saudi-European Investment Relations Enhance Global Economic Stability

    External financial bonds, including Eurobonds, constitute an important aspect of Saudi investments, experts told Asharq Al-Awsat. This came after the Ministry of Finance denied, on Tuesday, that the Kingdom had threatened to sell Eurobonds, according to a statement attributed to the ministry and reported by Bloomberg. The ministry stressed that Saudi relations with the G7 and other countries were based on mutual respect, pointing to ongoing discussions over matters that promote global growth and the flexibility of the international financial system.

  • Fresh scrutiny of free speech in Saudi Arabia after brothers’ convictions over tweets

    Fresh questions have been raised about the suppression of free speech in Saudi Arabia after the brother of a man facing the death penalty for tweeting to 10 followers was handed a 20-year sentence for largely innocuous tweets. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, had said Mohammed al-Ghamdi was a victim of “bad laws” after being sentenced to death, yet the crown prince permitted the same laws to be used to sentence Ghamdi’s younger brother, Asaad al-Ghamdi.

  • Lucid Group gains after its CEO says the Saudi Arabia PIF is the perfect partner

  • Biden says Israel-Gaza war should end now and Israel must not occupy Gaza

    U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday the Israel-Gaza war must end now and Israel must not occupy the enclave after the war, telling reporters his ceasefire framework had been agreed on by both Israel and Hamas but there were still gaps to close.  "That framework is now agreed on by both Israel and Hamas. So I sent my team to the region to hammer out the details," Biden said in a news conference.

  • A Biden Confidant Emerges as a Crucial Mideast Diplomat

    Mr. Hochstein has made at least five trips to Israel and Lebanon since the war in Gaza prompted Hezbollah to launch rocket attacks on northern Israel in solidarity with Hamas. He speaks constantly with Lebanese officials as well as top Israeli officials, sometimes including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.