“Riyadh’s aim is to outsource the management and financing of health infrastructure and services to the private sector, as well as city transportation networks, school buildings, airport services and water desalination and sewage treatment plants. Asset sales will include television broadcasting towers, government-owned hotels and district cooling and desalination plants.”
–Mohammed al-Jadaan, Saudi Minister of Finance, told the Financial Times that as part of its privatization plan Saudi Arabia hopes to raise about $55bn over the next four years and has identified a pipeline of 160 projects across 16 sectors, including asset sales and public-private partnerships. [Financial Times]
“This year’s study shows that business is not only the most trusted institution among the four studied (business, government, NGOs and media), but it is also the only trusted institution with a 61 percent trust level globally, and the only institution seen as both ethical and competent.”
–21st Annual Edelman Trust Barometer. [Edelman.com]
“The Houthis are not winning in Marib. Instead they are putting a great deal of stress on an already very fragile humanitarian situation, they are putting the lives of 1 million internally displaced people … in danger.”
-Tim Lenderking, U.S. Envoy for Yemen, in comments carried by Reuters. Lenderking earlier on Thursday “urged the group battling a Saudi-led coalition for over six years to de-escalate and engage seriously with U.S. and U.N. efforts for a ceasefire needed to end the war, a top foreign policy priority for the Biden administration.” [Reuters]
“In 2020 new foreign investment projects in the MENA region fell to 1,031 in 2020, compared with 1,795 in 2019. Saudi Arabia attracted 18% of all MENA foreign investment leading the region with $10.4 billion while the UAE attracted $9 billion.”
–Arab News, reporting on recently-released data. The Number of FDI projects in Saudi Arabia fell 49 percent in 2020 to 73. [Arab News]
“Establishing and aligning cybersecurity practices across the industry enhances our collective resilience efforts and allows us to present a united front against cybercrime and other critical security threats.”
–Basim Al-Ruwaii, Aramco’s chief information security officer, said in a press statement. Saudi Aramco partnered with the World Economic Forum (WEF), Siemens Energy and others this week to release a report on cyber resilience in the oil and gas industry. It comes after Colonial Pipeline, the biggest fuel pipeline operator in the US, was hit with a devastating cyberattack earlier this month. [Aramco.com]
“There may be a change in the representatives that portray that policy, but in the end, it’s what happens on the ground that matters, and that is driven by the Supreme Leader.”
-Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi Foreign Minister, commenting on the potential impact of Iran’s June elections on the exploratory talks underway between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Regarding the exploratory talks, Prince Faisal added, “They are at a very early stage but we are hopeful.” [France24]
“The number of Covid-19 cases in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region crossed 8,467,276 on 17 May. Countries in the GCC account for 22.4 per cent (1,892,591) of all regional cases, and Iran’s 2,751,166 cases comprise 32.5 per cent of the Mena tally.”
–Neha Bhatia analyzes Covid-19’s impact across MENA and state-by-state response for MEED. [MEED]
“It’s a great feeling, thank God, we are happy, especially after the difficult period we and the entire world have suffered.”
–Bandar Al Nawash, a passenger waiting in the departure lounge of King Khalid International Airport . Effective on March 17, Saudi nationals who have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination shot a minimum two weeks prior to travel, those who have recovered from the coronavirus disease within the last six months, and those under 18 will be allowed to travel for the first time since March 2020. [Reuters]
“If you want to double foreign investments…and you tell investors to invest in your country that is running on an unknown system that their lawyers do not know how to navigate nor know how those regulations are applied and enforced, then those investors will just cut their losses and not invest altogether.”
–Mohammed Bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, during April 27, 2021 appearance on the Liwan Al Mudaifer Show on the Rotana network. [Arab News]
“Tuberculosis (TB) is among the world’s most lethal diseases, killing 1.4 million people each year, equivalent to more than 80% of the victims of COVID-19 in 2020. The majority (66%) of new cases come from 8 developing countries, but the threat of a global pandemic is real as cases of drug-resistant TB rise with a 10% increase between 2018 and 2019.”
-Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative Institute issued an executive briefing co-written with the International Vaccine Institute calling for “urgent action to fast-track the development of preventive measures against TB, while supporting relief efforts in the countries devastated the most by the disease.” [Future Investment Initiative Institute]
