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  • Saudi Arabia: Workers entitled to wages in lieu of unused leave

    Saudi Arabia, home to a large community of expat workers, has stressed that employees are entitled to receive wages for the days of due leave if he/she quits work before using them under the kingdom’s labour system. The Saudi labour law also stipulates that the worker has the right to get paid leave of not less than 10 days and a maximum of 15 days, including the Muslim Eid Al Adha holiday, to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage in and around Mecca once during the time of his service if he/she has not performed the obligatory Islamic duty before. To obtain the Hajj leave, the worker should spend at least two consecutive years working for the same employer, who may determine the number of workers granted this leave annually according to the requirements of the work.

  • Turkey’s central bank expected to start cutting rates next week: Reuters poll

    Turkey's central bank is expected to start a cycle of interest rate cuts next week after eight months of steady policy, according to a Reuters poll on Thursday. Fourteen of 17 poll respondents forecast that the bank would cut its policy rate next Thursday, according to the poll. Three respondents expect the central bank to keep rates on hold until the first quarter. While most expected that the easing cycle will be launched this month, economists differed over the size of the first cut.

  • Saudi rights progress ‘irreversible’ due to youth popularity, says EU official

    Much of Saudi Arabia’s progress is “irreversible” due to its popularity among young people, an EU human rights emissary has told Arab News. Olof Skoog, EU special representative for human rights, sat down with Arab News to discuss the progress made by the Kingdom, ahead of the 4th EU-KSA Human Rights Dialogue that took place in Riyadh on Tuesday. Regarding the changes in recent years, Skoog said: “I see them very much as genuine reforms. Saudi Arabia (has) a very youthful population. The country is quickly modernizing, in a way, more attuned to what happens around the world, and the young people are very much onto that.”

  • FIFA chief Infantino warned by EU lawmakers over Saudi Arabia World Cup

    Members of the European Parliament delivered a stern warning to world football governing body FIFA over the 2034 men’s World Cup to be held in Saudi Arabia, according to a letter obtained by POLITICO. “We are writing to express our grave concerns regarding the decision to award the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia,” read the letter, which was signed by 30 EU lawmakers and addressed to FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Saudi Arabia, which has been criticized by human rights groups over its treatment of migrant workers and LGBTQ+ people, easily won the right to host the world’s most prestigious football tournament during a meeting of the FIFA Council last week.

  • Tawaref series: Premium residency for entrepreneurs in Saudi

    The Premium Residency for Entrepreneurs is a pioneering initiative that aims to attract funded tech entrepreneurs who have expanded to Saudi Arabia. Let’s take a closer look at this program. PR for Entrepreneurs targets (mostly tech) entrepreneurs who are funded by a whitelisted VC or angel groups. There are two categories: one offers 5-year fixed-term residency, while the other opens the door to permanent residency. The one-time fee for either category is 4,000 SAR.

  • Amid euphoria of Assad’s fall, anxiety about governing Syria

    Photos from the Syrian capital Damascus on Tuesday showed the surreal scene of the intransigent Assad’s former ministers sitting at a huge table with representatives of the Turkish-backed Syrian rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), that entered Damascus on Saturday and moved to form an interim government. Behind the HTS-appointed interim Prime Minister Mohamed al-Bashir stood two flags: the green, white and black Free Syrian flag of the broad anti-Assad coalition; and HTS’s white flag with black writing, that represented the jihadi rebel group that has run the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib the past several years.

  • Saudi Arabia, EU Hold Roundtable Discussion to Enhance Trade Partnership

    The Saudi General Authority of Foreign Trade (GAFT) hosted a roundtable with EU here, from December 9 to 10. Chaired by GAFT's Deputy Governor for International Relations Abdulaziz Alsakran and head of the Trade and Economic Affairs Department at the EU Delegation to Saudi Arabia Dr. Thomas Jorgensen, the meeting gathers representatives of various Saudi public and private entities. It aims to strengthen the trade partnership between Saudi Arabia and the EU, one of the Kingdom's major trading partners, and secure a marked increase in the volume of trade between the two sides. Discussions are slated to focus on common challenges and ways to tackle them, enhanced cooperation in trade and investment, and better global economic partnership.

  • Pharmaceutical industry in Saudi Arabia – statistics & facts

    Multinational companies like Sanofi, Novartis, and GSK hold a dominant share of Saudi Arabia’s pharmaceutical market. Sanofi leads with the largest market share, while local firms are also gaining ground. Notably, Jamjoom Pharma is the fastest-growing local player, driven by top brands like Azi-Once, which have seen impressive growth. Jamjoom Pharma’s revenue exceeded one billion Saudi riyals in 2023.

  • EU and GCC officials aim to resume FTA negotiations

    European and Gulf officials are holding “informal” efforts to “revive” and even “upgrade” negotiations over a free trade agreement between the two blocks. Efforts towards such an agreement are three and a half decades in the making, Luigi Di Maio, the EU’s special envoy to the Gulf has said. “I have to say it’s a very bad symbol of our relationship because unfortunately these trade negotiations have been stuck for 35 years,” Di Maio added.  “There are officials in the [Directorate General] Trade in Brussels that are younger than these negotiations. There are also many officials in the ministries of trade in the GCC states that are younger than these negotiations.” Di Maio was speaking at a virtual event hosted by the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington DC while on a trip to Doha, where he inaugurated the EU-GCC business forum.

  • Saudi-European talks to strengthen cooperation in environmental fields

    Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir met with European officials on Sunday in Riyadh, Saudi Press Agency reported. Al-Jubeir, who is also the Saudi climate envoy, held talks with Delphine Pronk, chair of the EU Political and Security Committee, and Luigi Di Maio, EU special representative for the Gulf region. They discussed issues surrounding climate change and environmental cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the EU, as well as ways in which existing cooperation on tackling climate change could be strengthened. They also talked about the recent development in foreign policy in Europe and the Middle East.