MUST-READS

• Saudi Arabia to raise localization rates in 269 professions

  The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) announced the issuance of a series of decisions aimed to raise the Saudization rates in as many as 269 professions across various sectors. According to the decision, it is mandatory to implement 55 percent Saudization in pharmacy activities and 65 percent Saudization in pharmacy activities associated with hospitals effective from July 27, 2025. The Saudization drive will be implemented in partnership with a number of supervisory bodies such as the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing. The decisions included localizing the professions of dentistry, pharmacy, accounting, and engineering technical professions. These decisions come within the framework of efforts aimed at providing more stimulating and productive job opportunities for male and female citizens in various regions of the Kingdom, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

• Italy, Saudi Arabia ink $10 billion cooperation and industrial deals

  "There is enormous potential in our cooperation and my wish is that this visit can open a completely new phase in our partnership," Meloni said. "This is what the joint declaration we signed today foresees. It declares that our two nations can broaden their horizons and explore many new opportunities together". Meloni said Italy and Saudi Arabia had signed "many agreements at government level but also supporting MoUs signed by public and private entities during the visit". She cited infrastructure, energy, defence, sport, entertainment and tourism as areas where cooperation between the two countries could become "stronger, more effective and deeper".

• Saudi Arabia Achieves Record Number of Venture Capital Deals, Maintains First Rank Across MENA

  The 2024 Saudi Arabia Venture Capital Report revealed that Saudi Arabia achieved a record number of 178 venture capital (VC) deals in 2024, accounting for 31% of the MENA region’s total number of deals. The Kingdom also maintained its first rank across the MENA region in terms of VC funding for the second year in a row. The report published today by the venture data platform MAGNiTT and sponsored by SVC also reveals a 34% increase in funding for VC deals in the Kingdom valued at less than $100 million (SAR375 million) in 2024 compared to 2023. This growth indicates a positive trend towards supporting early-stage startups, enhancing the opportunities for the Kingdom’s VC ecosystem to progress to later stages.

• Saudi dates exports surge to 1.5b tons

  Global demand for Saudi palm dates have increased, propelling the product’s exports to rise from 579 million tons in 2016 to about 1.5 billion tons in 2024, official figures have shown. Saudi Arabia boasts about 300 different types of dates, with more than 37 million palm trees producing more than 3 billion tons of dates annually, the Saudi news agency SPA reported, citing the National Centre for Palms and Dates. The number of factories of date products and processing industries has reached 137. Al Qassim in central Saudi Arabia tops the kingdom’s regions in terms of date production with more than 578,000 tons and having 10.7 million trees, the Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture has recently said.

• Oil turns lower after Trump says he’ll ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring the price down

  Crude oil futures fell Thursday after President Donald Trump urged Saudi Arabia and OPEC to cut their prices. U.S. crude oil fell 82 cents, or 1.09%, to close at $74.62 per barrel, while global benchmark Brent dropped 71 cents, or 0.9%, to close at $78.29 per barrel. Oil was higher on the session before Trump began speaking. Trump accused the Saudis and OPEC of fueling the war in Ukraine through high oil prices, claiming the fighting would end if they allowed global crude prices to fall. Russia is one of the largest oil exporters in the world and the revenues from those sales support its war. “I’m also going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil,” Trump said in a virtual address to the World Economic Forum. “If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately.”

• Saudi crown prince says kingdom intends to invest $600 billion in U.S. over next 4 years

  Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said Thursday the kingdom wants to invest $600 billion in the United States over the next four years, comments that came after President Donald Trump earlier put a price tag on returning to the kingdom as his first foreign trip. Trump’s 2017 trip to Saudi Arabia upended a tradition of U.S. presidents first heading to the United Kingdom as their first trip abroad. It also underscored his administration’s close ties to the rulers of the oil-rich Gulf states as his eponymous real estate company has pursued deals across the region as well. “The crown prince affirmed the kingdom’s intention to broaden its investments and trade with the United States over the next four years, in the amount of $600 billion, and potentially beyond that,” the report said. The readout did not elaborate on where those investments and trade could be placed. The U.S. in recent years has increasingly pulled away from relying on Saudi oil exports, which once was the bedrock of their relationship for decades. Saudi sovereign wealth funds have taken large stakes in American businesses while also looking at sports as well. .

• Trump holds first foreign leader call with Saudi crown prince

  President Trump held his first official call with a foreign leader since being sworn in for his second term with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a controversial figure who Trump on Thursday praised as a “fantastic guy.” Trump spoke with the crown prince Wednesday, according to a readout from the White House. The two discussed security concerns in the Middle East and stabilizing the region, as well as planned investments by Saudi Arabia in the United States.  The president, addressing political and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, highlighted reports that Saudi Arabia plans to invest at least $600 billion in the U.S. in the coming years.  “I’ll be asking the crown prince, who’s a fantastic guy, to round it out to around $1 trillion,” Trump said. “I think they’ll do that, because we’ve been very good to them.”

• A new era for nuclear energy beckons as projects, policies and investments increase

  The report, The Path to a New Era for Nuclear Energy, shows the fresh impetus behind nuclear in the form of new policies, projects, investments and technological advances, such as small modular reactors (SMRs). It provides a comprehensive assessment of the current situation, identifying the major challenges that need to be addressed to build on the current momentum and enable a new era to take hold. This includes insights on how to finance new nuclear projects while ensuring reliable and diversified supply chains for building and fuelling them. “It’s clear today that the strong comeback for nuclear energy that the IEA predicted several years ago is well underway, with nuclear set to generate a record level of electricity in 2025,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.

• Saudi women’s football sees 195 percent surge in professional players: NEOM report

  Women’s football in Saudi Arabia has experienced “remarkable transformation” since 2018, with over 70,000 girls now participating at the grassroots level, more than 1,500 registered players nationwide and the number of professional female players surging by 195 percent, according to a new report. The report, “Pioneering Change: Women’s Football in Saudi Arabia,” published by the Kingdom’s mega project NEOM in partnership with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), details the rapid development of women’s football in the Kingdom as part of its Vision 2030 reform agenda. The most significant growth has occurred at the grassroots level, with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation’s (SAFF) Girls’ Schools League seeing participation surge 46 percent year-on-year to reach more than 70,000 players in 2023.

• Iran inflation reaches 31.8% as housing, transport costs surge

  Iran's annual inflation rate reached 31.8% in January 2025, with monthly inflation climbing to 2.9%, the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) reported on January 22, releasing its data one day later than scheduled. The year-on-year increase in consumer prices showed significant pressure from government services, with miscellaneous goods and services rising 41.7%, housing utilities and fuel up 37.9%, and education costs increasing 33.9%. The data was released two days after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, amid a further weakening of the Iranian rial (IRR) against the greenback, to trade at just shy of IRR830,000 to the USD.

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