Recent stories from sustg

  • The Good Stuff
     

    So, Walid, this Saudi student at the University of Southern California was in Pennsylvania talking with some Amish farmers about their camels… A lot has been made of the King Abdullah Scholarship Program (KASP) established in 2005 to encourage Saudi students to study abroad. It is a truly ambitious enterprise that has propelled 150,000+ Saudi […]

     
  • Sfakianakis: ‘The great giant of the emerging markets has finally awakened’
     

    Saudi Arabia’s stability in contrast to many of its neighbors in the Middle East region is a cause for optimism for the Kingdom’s economy and future, writes John Sfakianakis in the Financial Times’ Beyond Brics blog. Noting that those who argue that the Kingdom is the next destination for turmoil have “been thinking that for […]

     
  • Stanford, KACST Team Up for Six Year Collaborative Partnership on Aerospace Research
     

    Stanford University and Saudi Arabia’s KACST have launched a new six-year collaborative research partnership to establish a center to develop new liquid rocket fuels for satellite applications, according to the Northern California-based university.

     
  • 35 percent of hotel rooms in Dubai occupied by Saudi Citizens on Summer Vacation
     

    Saudis are escaping the heat in the Kingdom by flocking to destinations abroad, but many aren’t making it far – a recent report in the Saudi Gazette finds that many are flocking to neighboring Dubai, a popular vacation spot for Saudis during the summer months. The Saudi Gazette reports that the high rates of Saudis […]

     
  • Europe’s Role in Bankrolling Terror Groups Around the World
     

    European governments that bargain with Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations for kidnapped citizens are inadvertently filling the coffers of those organizations, according to this report by Rukmini Callimachi in the New York Times. Collectively, these countries are “underwriting jihad,” providing extremist groups with “at least $125 million in revenue from kidnappings since 2008, of […]

     
  • Strike hits shelter in Gaza
     

    He tweeted that coordinates of the shelter in Beit Hanoun had been provided to the Israeli army before the strike as a precaution, an effort to prevent a strike on it. The shelter is in an area in northern Gaza that has been the scene of tremendous violence recently.

     
  • The Saudi Stock Exchange is Opening Up to Foreign Investment
     

    The Saudi Stock Market, also known as the Tadawul All-Share Index or TASI, will open up to foreign investment to money managers outside the GCC for the first time, Bloomberg reports citing the official Saudi Press Agency. “The oil-rich kingdom’s cabinet authorized the Capital Market Authority to allow overseas financial institutions to buy and sell […]

     
  • IP in Saudi Arabia: Why does Saudi society ‘prefer to buy pirated material’?
     

    A guest contributor to the Saudi Gazette lamented the Kingdom’s inability to stop pirating, saying “because of our negligence and violation of intellectual property rights, we have been prevented from buying electronic books from the world’s major providers of such material.” Abdullah Azzam noted that he was unable to purchase ebooks through Google Play because […]

     
  • 10 Things to Know: 2014 SACM Career Fair and Graduation Ceremony at the Gaylord Hotel in Washington
     

    If you’re attending the 2014 SACM career fair and graduation ceremony in the Washington, D.C.-area starting on May 24th, you’ll be joining thousands of other Saudi students in the U.S. for an excellent networking opportunity. Students on the King Abdullah Scholarship Program and their families come from around the country to celebrate their achievements and […]

     
  • $16.5 Billion Mecca Metro Deal to be Signed in October by Mayor
     

    Mecca will sign a $16.5 billion contract with the winning bidder for a new metro project for the holy city, ArabianSupplyChain.com via the Arabic newspaper Al Youm said. The contract will include 88 new train stations and 22 underground depots, the report said:

     

MUST-READS

  • Tense Israel in waiting as attack threat looms

    Israel's ambulance service has stocked blood supplies in a fortified underground centre, factories have moved out hazardous materials and municipal authorities are checking bomb shelters and water supplies as the country waits for a threatened attack from Iran and its proxies. Israel has been fortifying its home front for months and many preparations have been in place since the start of the war in Gaza last October, when thousands of Hamas-led gunmen carried out a devastating cross-border attack on Israeli communities.

  • Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia reject US request to send peacekeepers to Gaza

    Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have rebuffed US requests to contribute troops to a post-war peacekeeping force in Gaza, an Arab official and a second source familiar with the matter tells The Times of Israel, the newspaper reports. According to the report, the dispatched troops would be seen to be “protecting Israel from the Palestinians”, the Arab official says, explaining the opposition of Amman, Doha and Riyadh to the effort being advanced by the US to secure Gaza after the war.

  • Saudi Arabia’s retail real estate sector to grow to $183.2 billion by 2027

    As modernization and urban development transform Saudi Arabia’s retail real estate sector, sales are expected to increase from 2.4% in 2024 to 2.7% by 2027, reaching $183.2 billion. In its 10th annual “Saudi Arabia Real Estate Predictions” report, global consultancy firm Deloitte, referencing the Economist Intelligence Unit, revealed that retail sales in Saudi Arabia amounted to $142.7 billion in 2022.

  • Saudi: New Fundraising Law to curb irregular fundraising practices and illicit financial activities

    The National Center for Non-Profit Sector (NCNPS) announced that the Fundraising Law, approved by the Saudi Cabinet on Tuesday, is designed to govern fundraising activities for non-profit organizations and the campaigns they undertake. The law aims to guarantee that donations are used for their designated purposes, and thus safeguarding non-profit organizations and donors from irregular fundraising practices and illicit financial activities.

  • Saudi Aramco Seeks More China Deals in Oil-to-Chemicals Push

    The world’s largest crude exporting company is targeting additional facilities that can turn oil into chemicals, Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said. Aramco sees demand for goods such as plastics outlasting the growth in consumption for gasoline and diesel amid the energy transition. “We are looking currently at a number of investments in China that will be announced in due course this year and next year,” Nasser said on an earning call Tuesday. He also mentioned South Korea and India as potential investment destinations.

  • Saudi Arabia’s Dammam port sets record with 20,645 containers handled on single ship

    The King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam has achieved a remarkable milestone, setting a new record for container throughput on a single vessel. The port handled a 20,645 TEUs on the COSCO SHIPPING AQUARIUS 036E, underscoring its pivotal role in supporting trade and the logistics sector.

  • Halo Space Plans Next Test Flight in Saudi Arabia

    Halo Space, a space tourism firm, will reportedly conduct its next test flight in Saudi Arabia. The test, scheduled for September, will feature a life-size prototype capsule named Aurora. This flight will reach an altitude of 30 km above Earth. This will be Aurora’s sixth test flight, a collaboration with the Kingdom’s Communications, Space, and Technology Commission (CST). The test flight aims to validate all critical systems developed over the past three years. Alberto Castrillo, the chief technology officer at Halo Space, stated that the chosen dates and location ensure reliable equipment operation and safe conditions for ground teams.

  • Improved labor laws benefit Saudi workers

    Saudi Arabia has enacted amendments to its labour laws to establish more clarity on hiring and firing and improve employee rights. The regulations, which cabinet approved on August 6, will “enhance job stability, protect the rights of all parties involved in employment contracts and increase job opportunities for Saudi citizens”, the state-owned Saudi Press Agency said. Among the new regulations, maternity leave has been set at 12 weeks, trial periods for new employees are fixed at 180 days, and notice periods for employees are locked in at 30 days and for employers at 60 days.

  • Non-institutional foreign ownership ex-Aramco down to 9.31% last week

    Non-institutional foreign investors’ ownership in Tadawul-listed equities, excluding Saudi Aramco, declined in the week ended Aug. 1 to 9.31% of the total market value, or SAR 319.9 billion, from 9.33% in the previous week, market data showed.

  • Arab States Urge Iran to Show Restraint in Conflict With Israel

    Several Arab countries are encouraging Iran to exercise restraint in responding to the assassination of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran last week, as fears of an unpredictable regional war expand. The diplomatic blitz, led by countries allied with the United States, came as the Biden administration was trying to lower tensions in the Middle East and renew efforts to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza.