“Rapid Saudisation is one of the key elements of the Vision 2030 plan and the latest move concerning engineering jobs is one further step to fulfil the aim of increasing Saudis in the expanding private sector in the kingdom,” Junaid Ansari, head of investment strategy and research at Kamco Invest, Saudi Arabia’s move to nationalise engineering jobs ‘required’ to tackle unemployment [The National]
“There was a 17% increase in the number of passengers over the past six months, reaching approximately 62 million passengers, compared to 53 million passengers during the same period last year. The number of flights also reached approximately 446,000, marking a 12% increase compared to the same period last year, which saw 399,000 flights. Additionally, the airfreight volume in the first six months of 2024 witnessed a 41% increase, reaching 606,000 tons compared to the 430,000 tons in the same period of 2023.” GACA Reports Significant Growth in Air Travel in Saudi Arabia [General Authority of Civil Aviation]
“Film, as beautiful as it is, is an industry. It provides significant direct jobs and . . . a strong indirect economic impact on local businesses.” Charlene Deleon-Jones, executive director of Film AlUla, a government program promoting the sector in the city, which is home to Saudi Arabia’s first Unesco World Heritage site, Saudi Arabia rolls out red carpet for foreign filmmakers [Financial Times]
“When we talk to the government, we don’t talk about crypto — we talk about what Web3 can do.” Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh may be crypto’s sleeping giant [Cointelegraph]
“The Kingdom is keen on a just, orderly, and pragmatic energy transition and is working towards the advancement of the circular carbon economy framework. Through this challenge, related to innovation inside the circular carbon economy, we look forward to seeing new solutions that would help push innovation forward. We encourage all the innovators, thinkers, and companies to come up with out-of-the-box solutions, even solutions that could perhaps look like a long shot at present but which could turn out to be applicable and actionable in the future.” Faisal Alibrahim, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Economy and Planning, Saudi Arabia Announces Carbon Capture And Utilization Challenge For Startups [Carbon Herald]
“Saudi Arabia’s balancing act between maintaining OPEC stability, sustaining oil revenues, and investing in non-oil sectors is a complex endeavor. As it shoulders the burden of OPEC production cuts, the kingdom’s economic transformation under Vision 2030 poses a unique challenge, potentially reshaping global oil dynamics and OPEC’s future.” Julianne Geiger, Saudi Arabia’s Economic Strategy is a Double-Edged Sword for OPEC Stability [Oilprice.com]
“According to a report by the Saudi Central Bank, restaurants and cafes in the Kingdom have spearheaded a notable increase in point-of-sale (POS) transactions from June 30 to July 06. The food and beverage sector held the largest share of POS spending, with an 8.8 percent increase to SR2.05 billion, up from SR1.88 billion the previous week. This was followed by the restaurant and cafe sector, which saw a 9 percent rise in spending, reaching SR1.96 billion.” Food and beverage sector dominates Saudi POS spending [Caterer Middle East]
“What they’re doing in terms of adjusting these projects gives us a lot of comfort. They’re basically saying they’re not going to go for broke or bet the house on any one particular thing. If it’s possible, they’ll do it. If not, they won’t. They’re being quite sensible.” Farouk Soussa, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s MENA economist, Saudi Prince’s Trillion-Dollar Makeover Faces Funding Cutbacks [Bloomberg]
“The reality is that this kind of spending would create some sort of overheating in the economy and that’s not really desirable. There’s also a risk to the profitability of projects if they go ahead sort of unabated without financial constraint.” Jean-Michel Saliba, Bank of America Corp.’s Middle East and North Africa economist, Saudi Prince’s Trillion-Dollar Makeover Faces Funding Cutbacks [Bloomberg]
“Expat remittance from Saudi Arabia jumped by 12 percent year on year to SAR12.6 billion ($3.4 billion) in May, according to the Saudi Central Bank (Sama). Remittances rose 11 percent month on month, or SAR1.3 billion, in May, the central bank said. Globally, remittances to low- and middle-income countries grew by an estimated 3.8 percent in 2023, reaching $669 billion, the World Bank said in its December 2023 report. It is forecasting a global increase of 2 percent for 2024.” Expat remittances from Saudi rise 12% to $3.4bn [Arabian Gulf Business Insight]
