“These are the priorities: the health care of people and the livelihood of people, and we want to make sure that we maintain our fiscal strength so that as the economy gets out of the lockdown, we are able to support the economy. We are not cutting spending, we are reallocating spending. So, we would end up with spending almost as budgeted because of the increase in spending that we have allocated both to support the economy and the private sector and the jobs of Saudi employees in the private sector.”
-H.E. Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Saudi Arabia’s minister of finance, in a telephone interview discussing new austerity measures taken by the Kingdom in the face of harsh economic realities resulting from the global COVID-19 pandemic. [bloomberg.com]
“This has nothing to do with Saudi Arabia. This has to do with other countries, frankly, much more.”
-U.S. President Donald Trump, on the decision to remove Patriot missile batteries and dozens of troops from Saudi Arabia, first reported by the Wall Street Journal yesterday. [apnews.com]
“Regulation and government services also play a key role in the transition to a cashless society. The Saudi economy is conducive to the adoption of digital solutions, as the country enjoys a large, tech- savvy population, integrated e-government infrastructure and a supportive regulatory environment. These factors have also been beneficial to the fight against Covid-19, as the authorities were able to take proactive and technology-based measures. Most recently, in April 2020 the Nafith digital platform was launched, enabling banks to expand their digital financing offerings to customers.”
-Faisal Omar Alsaggaf, CEO, National Commercial Bank, talks about the enabling role of Saudi banks amid COVID-19 and beyond. [zawya.com]
“Saudi Arabia was the only one of OPEC’s top four producers to boost sales to India in April, according to Bloomberg tanker tracking. The kingdom’s shipments to China doubled, and its exports to the U.S. reached 1 million barrels a day, the most since August 2018.”
-Bloomberg Quint examines Saudi Arabia’s aggressive approach in a global fight for crude sales in a depressed economic environment. [Bloomberg|Quint]
“Our inbuilt systems for managing global crises ensure all our sites remain operational. Our supply chains also remain uninterrupted, as we continue to work with our partners to ensure safe delivery of materials…In our response to COVID-19… we have implemented measures to reduce the risk of infection and to mitigate the virus’s impact on our people and our business.”
-Saudi Aramco, in a statement on Monday confirming that its operations and supply chains were uninterrupted despite the outbreak of the new coronavirus. [reuters.com]
“Riyadh effectively set the minimum bid ($500m). The result: The first $8 billion that had been set as a goal will likely be raised on Monday.”
-SPIEGEL International reports on today’s donor conference hosted by the European Commission to raise money to expedite work on medications, tests and vaccinations that can help combat COVID-19. The EU, the World Health Organization (WHO) and many countries want to join forces to make that happen. [SPIEGEL]
“It’s so crazy now when you go to government offices and you just see men and women mixing and exchanging ideas, especially younger generations…Here in Saudi we have an amazing opportunity…I think young millennials and Gen Z are coming up believing that they can conquer the world. And that is exactly the right approach.”
-Tala al-Jabri, Saudi consultant and venture capital investor, on changes in the Kingdom. [FT.com]
“I wanted a name to reflect the philosophy of both East and West, and I found an Arabic word that is really no longer used. In fact it is so obscure, many Arabs would not even know what it means, which I like. Hindamme means to possess, like in harmony and aesthetic. An older generation of Arabs would have used it to describe someone who was well dressed and took care of their appearance. I thought it was a fitting name. Also, it is easily pronounced by a non-Arabic tongue.”
–Mohammed Khoja, Saudi Fashion designer, on his latest collection, Hindamme, which took his inspiration from Al-Ula in the Kingdom. [thenational.ae]
“I wanted to do my best during my studies so that I could get a job in academia afterwards, because that was the best option available for us. But big changes happened during the past four years. Almost all of my friends are now working, and when one of them doesn’t get a job, it seems strange.”
-Rouaa al-Mousa, who like thousands of Saudi women entered the workforce as reforms sweep the Kingdom and “is certain that neither grumbling male bosses nor the coronavirus will change that.” [AFP]
“It is hard, a lot of people are still skeptical and cling to things they thought were right, and they find it hard to see something so ‘immoral’ coming to their towns. But for me, making films [in Hollywood] doesn’t mean you are not religious. In the Middle East, we’ll always be very religious, we’re [similar to] Italians, but it is important to take religion and make it more personal. So the father in The Perfect Candidate goes to a concert, but that doesn’t mean he’s not religious. He goes and prays, but music is part of his journey.”
-Haifaa Al-Mansour, in an interview with Vogue Australia, discussing why she doesn’t worry how her Hollywood projects would be received in Saudi Arabia. She praised recent reforms in Saudi Arabia as paving the way for Saudi women to reach their potential. [vogue.com.au]
