Recent stories from sustg

MUST-READS

  • Saudi Arabia’s Q3 GDP grows by estimated 2.8% y/y

    Saudi Arabia's economy grew 2.8% in the third quarter year on year, preliminary government data showed on Thursday, supported by an increase in non-oil activities. Non-oil growth rose 4.2%, government activities increased 3.1% and the oil sector grew 0.3%, data released by the General Authority for Statistics showed. GDP had shrunk in the second quarter on a year-on-year decline in oil activities of almost 9%.

  • BlackRock Gets Nod From Saudi Arabia for Regional HQ in Riyadh

    With the move, BlackRock will be able to expand its operations across the Middle East, according to a statement. The company established BlackRock Saudi Arabia Company six years ago and is regulated by the kingdom’s Capital Market Authority. “BlackRock plays an important role in Saudi Arabia’s asset management landscape,” Hassan Alduhaim, senior adviser of the minister of investment of Saudi Arabia, said in the statement. “We look forward to BlackRock’s continued growth in Saudi Arabia and the Region.”

  • Israel pounds Beirut’s southern suburbs after US truce push

    Israel pounded Beirut's southern suburbs with a series of powerful airstrikes early on Friday morning after issuing evacuation orders to residents, in the first such strikes in days targeting the dense urban area, Reuters witnesses said. The Israeli military said it was targetting Hezbollah facilities and assets, an assertion that it has repeated over the course of dozens of strikes over more than a month in the neighborhood where the Iran-backed group holds sway.

  • Gulf region poised to rival Silicon Valley as next global tech hub, ‘unicorn factory’, tech investor says

    Speaking on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh this week, Moschini outlined an ambitious vision where the Gulf could become a “unicorn factory,” particularly by capitalising on its growing ties with Latin American entrepreneurs seeking global expansion. “One of my main goals is to connect talented Latin American entrepreneurs who are eager to expand with the resources and vision that can help them grow and turn the Gulf into a unicorn factory,” Moschini said in an interview with Arabian Business. She noted that Latin America, despite being home to dozens of unicorns, still faces significant capital access challenges that the Gulf could help address.

  • Red Sea Global announces $1.5bn AMAALA infrastructure funding

    The deal, supported by local and international financial institutions including First Abu Dhabi Bank, Emirates NBD, Riyad Bank, SNB, and Alinma Bank, highlights the consortium’s efforts to realise AMAALA’s vision of a sustainable luxury destination. Red Sea Global Group chief executive John Pagano said: “This project showcases our ability to develop large-scale, fully renewable energy-powered tourism destinations, delivering exceptional guest experiences and strong financial returns for partners.

  • Saudi commercial property market thrives as office investment interest hits 6-year high

    Saudi Arabia remains one of the strongest commercial property markets in the world, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Global Construction Monitor Q3 2024. Overall occupier demand reported a very strong reading (+56 per cent net aggregate), and this growth is found among every commercial property sector, with office property recording an exceptionally strong +76 per cent result. There is exceptionally strong international investor demand growth, particularly for office property, which posted a +88 per cent reading – a record since the monitor was established in Q4 2018.

  • Saudi Arabia aims to enable direct investment by GCC residents: ElKuwaiz

    ElKuwaiz sees two prominent amendments to expand the scope of foreign investment. The first is to work on reviewing the rules of opening investment accounts, considering dealing with GCC residents as Saudi residents regarding investing in stocks, and thus allowing them to invest directly in the Saudi market.   This will be followed—after a year—with a review of the investor regulations to liberalize them in terms of the targeted categories and ratios, which have become a restricted factor for foreign investors.

  • Saudi Arabia may cut December oil prices for Asia, sources say

    Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia may cut prices for most of the crude grades it sells to Asia in December, tracking weakness in Middle East benchmark Dubai, trade sources said. Price cuts for Saudi oil would signal weak demand and provide more evidence for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, led by Saudi Arabia, and its allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, to potentially delay plans to increase production from December.

  • Saudi Arabia and India agree to study feasibility of establishing power grid

    The second Ministerial Meeting of the Economy and Investment Committee under the Saudi-India Strategic Partnership Council was held in Riyadh. The meeting was co-chaired by Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and India's Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal. During the meeting, Prince Abdulaziz and Goyal witnessed the signing of an agreement between the Saudi National Electricity Transmission Company and the Central Transmission Utility of India to study the feasibility of electrical interconnection between the two countries. The minutes of the Economy and Investment Committee of the Saudi-Indian Strategic Partnership Council was also signed on the occasion.

  • Singapore’s Olam receives buyout offer for agri unit amid IPO delays

    Singapore-based Olam Group (OLAG.SI), opens new tab said on Friday that Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment (SALIC) had made an offer to buy its remaining stake in Olam Agri (IPO-OLAA.SI). The offer comes almost two years after the group completed the sale of a 35.43% stake in Olam Agri to SALIC for $1.24 billion in December 2022. The transaction had given Olam Agri an equity valuation of $3.5 billion. Olam Group currently holds a stake of 64.57% in Olam Agri.