“General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more. He had orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months – including the attack on December 27th – culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel. General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that took place this week…This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world.”
–The U.S. Department of Defense, in a statement last night confirming that it had taken “decisive defensive action” by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force. [Defense.gov]
“Saudi’s historic sites appear to be an important attraction for tourists to the Kingdom. Amongst those surveyed by YouGov, over one in five (22%) are keen to visit Jeddah’s historic old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Meanwhile, another UNESCO site, previously only known to a few travellers, is gaining a following amongst Chinese millennials. Al Ula now tops the list of destinations in the Arab world of a third of Chinese tourists under the age of 35. Italians top the list with 35% surveyed saying they would be more likely to visit Saudi Arabia following the new visa launch. British tourists were 15% more likely just ahead of Americans at 14%.”
-YouGov.com, in a recent poll conducted on the Kingdom’s burgeoning tourism market. [Press Release]
“The overall economy was weighed down by shrinkage of 6.4% in the country’s oil sector, according to data released Tuesday by the General Authority for Statistics. Overall growth for 2019 is expected to accelerate to a modest 0.4%, according to the latest government estimates, before climbing to 2.3% next year.”
–Abeer Abu Omar, Bloomberg journalist, reporting about the Saudi economy in 2019 and projections for 2020. [Bloomberg.com]
“On the non-oil side, growth seems to be evolving pretty much as we expected. Confidence in the economy seems to be better now than a few years ago and we would expect private sector momentum to be there even if government spending slows.”
Tim Callen, Saudi Arabia mission chief to the IMF, speaking with S&P Global about IMF projections for the Saudi economy in 2020.
“We wanted to appeal to young job seekers in the Kingdom by offering them a fun and simple way to apply to McDonald’s. Our main purpose was to make the application process instantaneous and accessible and Snapchat is the perfect channel to reach the target audience given its widespread popularity among them.”
–Mohamed Alireza, Deputy General Manager of Reza Food Services Limited, McDonald’s Western and Southern regions, in comments about how his company used a Snapchat campaign to hire Saudis. The effort netted 42,000 applications; far surpassing its goal of 10,000. [Campaignme.com]
“We will face criticism whether we do something or we don’t…Saudi Arabia is going through a transformation. We were always criticized that we are not opening up to the world, we’re not doing anything in the kingdom, we’re not opening up to tourism…Sports has been a tool for social change within the kingdom.”
–Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Faisal, the 36-year-old head of Saudi Arabia ‘s General Sports Authority, in an interview with the AP about the numerous major sporting events now being hosted by the country. [Associated Press]
In 2020, “Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and Egypt could lead bond sales in the Middle East and North Africa in what Abdul Kadir Hussain, the head of fixed-income asset management at Arqaam Capital in Dubai, predicts will be another strong year for issuance. Governments and companies in the region raised a record $111 billion selling debt in 2019.”
–Bloomberg’s Netty Idayu Ismail, assessing some of the trends we might see in the Middle East in 2020. [Bloomberg]
“Right now, the kingdom is losing a significant portion of its top-tier tech talent to Silicon Valley and other tech ecosystems around the world. So its challenge is twofold: building leadership in emerging fourth industrial revolution tech fields, like artificial intelligence, for example, to attract Saudi tech talent home; and developing homegrown tech talent to feed the investments in emerging tech sectors.”
-Wes Schwalje, COO at Dubai-based research firm Tahseen Consulting, in comments on Saudi efforts to promote tech innovation and entrepreneurship. [ComputerWeekly]
“The kingdom considers the European Union one of its most important international partners…Saudi Arabia looks forward to strengthening the partnership between the two sides to serve their common interests and to support international efforts to achieve security and stability in the world.”
-Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, in a call with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in which the two leaders discussed the upcoming G20 2020 summit in Riyadh. Ms. von der Leyen expressed the EU’s “keenness to play a constructive role.”
“With the launch of the Dakar Rally here in the kingdom, the world will see the picturesque nature of our country and its wonderful desert…The world will come closer than ever to the people of the hospitable kingdom (that is) looking forward to welcoming the world.”
–Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Faisal, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Sports Authority, in remarks to reporters in Qiddiya on the upcoming 2020 Dakar Rally. [France24]
