MUST-READS

• The best residential PV system configuration for Saudi Arabia
  Researchers in Saudi Arabia have identified the best and optimum PV system configurations for the Saudi residential market. Their analysis investigated the capacity threshold that leads to a lower cost of electricity compared to grid electricity costs. They used NREL’s HOMER software to analyze the energy requirements of the residential units, the solar energy potential and weather characteristics of the selected location, and the financial parameters influencing a project’s profitability.
   

• Saudi wealth fund ramps up efforts to tap ETF investors

  The Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund’s investment in a recently launched exchange traded fund underlines the kingdom’s growing interest in using the mass-market fund structure to develop its capital markets. The Saudi Public Investment Fund has stumped up $200mn as a seed investor in State Street Global Advisors’ Europe-listed SPDR JPMorgan Saudi Arabia Aggregate Bond Ucits ETF, which launched in December. The ETF provides exposure to US dollar-denominated Saudi sovereign and quasi-sovereign bonds with an average maturity of about 10 years. It is believed to be the first Saudi bond ETF to be listed in Europe or the US. According to its latest strategy report, the PIF’s mandate is to act as an “economic catalyst” for Saudi Arabia at a time when the kingdom aims to diversify the economy away from oil and to develop its capital markets with the ambitious Vision 2030 development programme.

• Saudi EXIM Bank Provides Over $1.5 Billion to Support Global Mineral Flow

  Saudi Export-Import Bank (Saudi EXIM Bank) participated as a strategic partner in the fourth annual Future Minerals Forum (FMF), organized by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources under the theme "Year of Impact." The bank contributed insights to drive global development in the mining sector and foster international trade relationships through panel discussions and the conference’s accompanying exhibition. On the sidelines of the forum, Saudi EXIM Bank signed a $15 million credit-line agreement with Pakistan’s Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited to enhance the flow of non-oil Saudi exports to the South Asian country. Under the agreement, Habib Metropolitan Bank will provide credit facilities to importers in Pakistan to finance the purchase of Saudi products. The collaboration aligns with Saudi EXIM Bank's efforts to expand the Kingdom's export base, boost competitiveness in regional and global markets, and open new avenues for export.

• Saudi Aramco Sees Oil Demand Growth at 1.3 Million Bpd in 2025

  Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil exporter, expects global oil demand to grow by a steady 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) this year compared to 2024, the chief executive of the biggest oil firm in the world told Reuters. Oil demand is set to hit nearly 106 million bpd this year, up from about 104.6 million bpd last year, Saudi Aramco’s chief executive officer Amin Nasser told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. “We still think the market is healthy ... last year we averaged around 104.6 million barrels (per day), this year, we're expecting an additional demand of about 1.3 million barrels ... so there is growth in the market,” Nasser told Reuters

• Top Saudi diplomat says Trump administration is not looking for war with Iran

  The top Saudi diplomat on Tuesday played down fears that the incoming Trump administration was looking for war with Iran and called on Tehran to engage with the US to address the issue of its nuclear weapon program. “I don’t see the incoming US administration as contributory to the risk of war. On the contrary, I think President Trump has been quite clear that he does not favor conflict,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan said at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. Prince Faisal admitted that the Middle East was abundant in risk factors, but it also had huge potential. “I hope that the [Trump administration’s] approach will be met, also on the Iranian side, by addressing the issue of the nuclear program, by being willing to engage with the incoming administration in a way that can help us stay on track with this positive momentum,” he said.

• Trump wants an Israel-Saudi normalisation deal. Will he get one?

  Now that US President Donald Trump’s second term has begun, officials in his administration optimistically see the recently implemented Gaza ceasefire as paving the way for a normalisation deal between Israel and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The new US national security advisor Mike Waltz said he has high hopes for the “next phase of the Abraham Accords”, with Israeli-Saudi normalisation a “huge priority” for Trump’s administration. A diplomatic accord between Tel Aviv and Riyadh would be a “tremendous historic region-changing agreement,” he added. One of the main foreign policy legacies of the first Trump administration was the Abraham Accords, which brought four Arab states - the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco - into normalisation deals with Israel.

• Saudi Arabia FM Prince Faisal says he plans to visit Lebanon’s Beirut this week

  Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Tuesday that he plans to visit Beirut this week. “We will need to see a commitment to a Lebanon that is looking to the future, not to the past, in order for us to raise our engagement,” he said at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

• Hamas’ tight grip on Gaza complicates plan for lasting peace
  In neighbourhoods levelled by 15 months of war with Israel, Hamas officials are overseeing the clearance of rubble in the wake of Sunday's ceasefire. The group's gunmen are guarding aid convoys on Gaza's dusty roads, and its blue-uniformed police once again patrol city streets, sending a clear message: Hamas remains in charge. Israeli officials have described a parade of jubilant Hamas fighters that celebrated the ceasefire on Sunday in front of cheering crowds as a carefully orchestrated attempt to exaggerate the Palestinian militant group's strength.

• 90% of GCC CEOs confident of revenue growth in 2025: PwC’s 28th Annual CEO Survey

  CEOs in the Middle East are among the most confident globally about revenue growth in 2025, as revealed in PwC’s 28th Annual CEO Survey. Yet the survey also finds that regional chief executives are acutely aware of the huge wave of disruptive change, primarily driven by AI, climate challenges and an intensifying competition over new domains of growth as industry lines blur. In summary, the survey reveals that our region’s CEOs are striking a difficult balance - capturing the significant market opportunities today while also reinventing their businesses for tomorrow.

• Opinion: GCC economies are no longer defined by oil
  A common charge directed at the GCC’s progress is the supposed manipulation of economic d data. For instance, the decline in GDP of GCC countries is often emphasised negatively at the slightest drop in oil prices, which undeniably affect oil-dependent economies. However, it is important to highlight a crucial point: Gulf economies represent more than just the oil sector, with the non-oil side just as closely interconnected. What we used to witness in the relationship between these two sectors is that a decline in oil sector growth due to falling oil prices was always followed by a similar decline in non-oil sectors. This is no longer the case. Today, both sectors are growing with only a weak interdependence. For example, the recent drop in oil prices was not mirrored by a decline in GDP of the non-oil sector. On the contrary, this sector experienced growth rates exceeding 4%. This is the sector that should now be relied upon when evaluating economic conditions in the GCC.

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