MUST-READS

• Revenues touch SR3.7 billion in Saudi cinema sector since 2018

  The revenues of the cinema sector in Saudi Arabia from April 2018 until March of current year amounted to about SR3.7 billion, while the total tickets sold reached more than 61 million tickets, according to the General Authority for Media Regulation.

  These statistics come 6 years after the opening of the first cinemas in Saudi Arabia.Hanaa Al-Omair, president of the Saudi Cinema Society, said that Saudi box office is thriving, and Saudi Arabia is currently the most growing market in the Middle East.

• Egypt says no deal with Saudi Arabia on Ras Gamila resort yet

  The Egyptian government denied on Sunday that any foreign investment deal in prime Red Sea coastal land in Ras Gamila has yet been officially approved amid local and regional reports saying otherwise.

  The official spokesman for the Ministry of Public Enterprise, Mansour Abdelghany, told state-run Ahram online that “no offer for the development of Ras Gamila would be considered until an international advisory firm is tasked with designing "an optimal investment plan for the zone.”

• Saudi Record Rises to 54 Medals in First Gulf Youth Games

  The Saudi badminton team dominated the medals on the second day of the badminton competition, held at the Sheikh Zayed Sports Complex in Fujairah. This took place as part of the first Gulf Youth Games hosted by the UAE. Saudi national team won 7 medals, which are 3 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze, raising the Saudi record to winning 54 medals which are 25 gold, 17 silver and 12 bronze.

• Fish prices soar 30% in Saudi province amid severe weather
  Inclement weather, which recently gripped the eastern part of Saudi Arabia, has sent prices of fish in the region going up by up to 30 per cent, according to fishers and market insiders.
  Last week, the Eastern Province was lashed by heavy rain prompting authorities there to suspend in-person classes.

• IMF projects Saudi Arabia’s oil output to hit 11M bpd by 2029

  Saudi Arabia's oil production is expected to reach 11 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2029, according to Amine Mati, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Mission Chief for Saudi Arabia.   In an interview with Asharq TV, Mati added that the IMF expects the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers (OPEC+) to completely reverse its production cuts by 2025.   “Considering the announcements made by OPEC+ and the voluntary production cuts by Saudi Arabia, the cuts will be extended until June 2024,” he said.

• Commentary: Gulf states’ response to Iran-Israel conflict may decide outcome of crisis

  Dana Stroul, who until December was the most senior civilian official at the Pentagon with responsibility for the Middle East, insisted: “Whatever regional politicians may say, the military, security and intelligence establishments of both the Arab states and Israel are quite clear – that Iran is the centre of gravity for instability, the export of terrorism and its illicit nuclear weapons programme.”

• Saudi PIF-backed Savvy Games to invest more in mobile after ‘Monopoly Go’ success

  After seeing the major success of its mobile game Monopoly Go, Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group plans to invest more in mobile game development and acquisitions, according to the company’s chief executive officer.

  Savvy, wholly owned by Saudia Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), agreed to buy mobile game maker Scopely for $4.9 billion last April, the same month the Monopoly title was released. Since then, the online iteration of the famous board game has grossed $2 billion in revenue.

• Saudi Arabia is making a high-risk $1 trillion bet on tourism

  On a clear day in March, tourists in golf carts and jeeps bounce amid dunes and cliffs at Desert X AlUla, a biannual open-air exhibition affiliated with Coachella, the famed California desert arts festival. They gaze at a giant hollow sphere with reflective glass set against a line of rock fragments by Saudi artist Faisal Samra and terra cotta pots scattered on the sand courtesy of Ghanaian Ibrahim Mahama. “We are trying to give them the time of their lives,” says Abdulaziz Alsulami, 18, who recently graduated from an international school in Riyadh and works at the exhibition.

• House passes long-awaited aid for Ukraine, Israel, Indo-Pacific

  By large margins on Saturday, the House passed a package of three linked bills advancing $60 billion in military aid for Ukraine, $26 billion in military aid for Israel, and $8 billion for “countering China” in the Pacific.

  The measures come at “a moment of grave urgency, with Israel facing unprecedented attacks from Iran, and Ukraine under continued bombardment from Russia,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement. “I urge the Senate to quickly send this package to my desk so that I can sign it into law and we can quickly send weapons and equipment to Ukraine to meet their urgent battlefield needs.”

• UK Launches Saudi Investment Drive to Grab Share of MBS’s Vision

  The UK and Saudi Arabia will hold a trade expo in Riyadh next month as Rishi Sunak launches an investment drive aimed at taking advantage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 project. A delegation of more than 300 British business executives will join Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden at the Saudi Great Futures event on May 14-15, according to a statement from Dowden’s office. The event will mark the start of a year-long campaign to showcase UK firms to Saudi investors with a focus on sectors that support the country’s Vision 2030, which was established by bin Salman eight years ago to diversify the economy away from oil.

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