Recent stories from sustg

MUST-READS

  • Saudi Arabia Wants To Supply Europe With Green Hydrogen

    With global interest in hydrogen accelerating, he sees the project as especially well placed to capitalize on Saudi Arabia’s natural advantages. “We have the scale, location, and the partnerships in place that give us a significant lead,” he said, describing NGHC as a potential model for Saudi Arabia’s broader push into renewable energy and a significant part of Vision 2030’s economic transformation goals, NGHC has signed a 30-year distribution contract with Air Products to bring its green hydrogen to international markets in the form of ammonia, which makes it easier to transport and distribute. NGHC is not the only company in Saudi Arabia that is making green hydrogen a central part of its future. Securing Energy for Europe (SEFE) in Berlin, an instrumentality of the German government, has signed a letter of intent with Saudi-based ACWA Power to supply it with 200,000 tons of green hydrogen beginning in 2030. Is there a need for so much green hydrogen? One steel plant in Duisburg is expected to require 143,000 tons of it per year.

  • WhatsApp calls reportedly activated in Saudi Arabia: Permanent change or temporary test?

    Many WhatsApp users in Saudi Arabia reported on Saturday that voice and video calling features had been activated after years of restrictions. However, there has been no official confirmation on whether this is a permanent change or a temporary test. The sudden activation has raised questions, particularly in the absence of an announcement from authorities. Technology expert Abdullah Al Subaie noted that this move aligns with Saudi Arabia’s efforts to enhance telecommunications and digital infrastructure, potentially improving communication for users.

  • Türkiye in Talks with Saudi Arabia for US$6 Billion Defense Deal. KAAN to Get First Foreign Customer?

    The Turkish Air Force is expected to begin operating the KAAN fighter jet in 2028, with an initial delivery of 20 aircraft from TAI (TUSAS). By 2029, TAI is projected to produce two KAAN fighter jets per month, generating approximately $2.4 billion (RM9.6 billion) in annual revenue. Recently, Defence Security Asia reported that Saudi Arabia is considering a proposal to acquire approximately 100 units of the KAAN fifth-generation fighter jet, which is currently under development in Türkiye. Discussions on the potential acquisition were reportedly held during a recent visit by Saudi Royal Air Force Commander Prince Turki bin Bandar Al Saud to Türkiye. During his visit, Prince Turki met with key Turkish defense companies, including Roketsan, Aselsan, and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), the manufacturer of the KAAN fighter jet.

  • Saudi Arabia’s evolving lending market: Surge in international interest and diversification of borrowers

    In recent years, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has implemented large scale regulatory reforms, including the Civil Transactions Law, Bankruptcy Law, Public-Private Partnership Program, and the Government Tenders and Procurement Law. These reforms were designed to enhance the Kingdom’s diversification efforts and attract international business – they have also propelled the country to rank 16th globally on the IMD World Competitive index. Historically, the interest in Saudi borrowing has been predominantly domestic or from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. However, we expect to see a shift in 2025, with a surge in interest from international markets. Several factors contribute to this change.

  • Kering holds the first edition of its Kering Generation Award X Saudi Arabia

    In 2018, Kering launched the first edition of its Kering Generation Award in China to support local start-ups with a positive environmental and social impact. Since then, the Kering Generation Award has expanded across several regions, including Saudi Arabia, with the support of the Kingdom’s Fashion Commission. This first Saudi edition focused on identifying startups with a positive impact in the areas of customer engagement, circular economy, and water conservation. During a pitching session in early January, 10 start-ups among 100 were selected by a panel of experts. These 10 finalists then benefited from tailored mentoring before their final evaluation.

  • Saudi Arabia must punch its weight on global stage: minister

    "We are a key player in the world, the world economy, and we need to punch at our weight", Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos. "We need to make sure that emerging economies and low income countries' voice is heard," al-Jadaan said. "This is why we are really protecting, in every possible way, their interests in these multilateral institutions," he said, stressing that emerging economies were "becoming actually larger than advanced economies in total population and size of economy." "Collectively, they need to be represented in the table."

  • AWS announces new edge location in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Amazon Web Services (AWS) announces expansion in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by launching a new Amazon CloudFront edge location in Jeddah. The new AWS edge location brings the full suite of benefits provided by Amazon CloudFront, a secure, highly distributed, and scalable content delivery network (CDN) that delivers static and dynamic content, APIs, and live and on-demand video with low latency and high performance. All Amazon CloudFront edge locations are protected against infrastructure-level DDoS threats with AWS Shield Standard that uses always-on network flow monitoring and in-line mitigation to minimize application latency and downtime. You also have the ability to add additional layers of security for applications to protect them against common web exploits and bot attacks by enabling AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF).

  • Saudi Arabia surpasses 2030 investment target: Al-Falih

    Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih said Saudi Arabia has surpassed its $3.3 trillion investment target for the base economy, originally set for completion by 2030. Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih said Saudi Arabia has surpassed its $3.3 trillion investment target for the core economy, originally set for completion by 2030. Speaking with Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he said these projections were part of Vision 2030. Capital formation targets have already been exceeded, with a significant portion deployed into the base economy, the minister added. Al-Falih said the government is slowing spending to let the private sector drive growth, indicating that the Public Investment Fund (PIF) plays a key role but accounts for only 15% to 20% of total investments.

  • Saudi Arabia to launch 2 Orange Line stations tomorrow

    The Riyadh Public Transport Project announced that Al-Hala and First Industrial City stations on the Orange Line will be launched tomorrow, Jan. 21. The Orange Line stretches from East Riyadh to West Riyadh, with a total length of 41 kilometers. It spans from Jeddah Road in the west to the Second Eastern Ring Road, passing along the Khashm Al-An area in the east.

  • Saudi Arabia Seeks to Enhance Mining, Agricultural, and Financial Investments in Nigeria

    Leaders from Saudi Arabia’s private sector have agreed with senior Nigerian officials on a joint strategy to promote and attract Saudi investments in Nigeria, focusing on key sectors such as mining, agriculture, food products, banking services, and financial technologies. During a meeting today, President of the Federation of Saudi Chambers Hassan bin Moejeb Al-Huwaizi met with Minister of Solid Minerals of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Dele Alake and Minister of State Finance of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Doris Uzoka. The meeting was attended by Saudi investors. In his opening remarks, President Al-Huwaizi emphasized the importance of the Saudi-Nigerian Business Council in strengthening economic relations. He expressed Saudi Arabia’s interest in enhancing collaboration with Nigeria in the agriculture, livestock, and mining sectors.