“The Middle East hotel construction pipeline hit an all-time high in the second quarter of 2023 with 597 projects and 146,521 rooms, up 10 percent and 5 percent, respectively, year-over-year (YoY), US-based global hotel intelligence provider Lodging Econometrics said in a report. Projects under construction stand at 330 projects with 90,619 rooms at the close of the second quarter. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months increased 17 percent YoY to 102 projects with 23,909 rooms.”
[Zawya]
“In the beginning, people were skeptical, but I think a lot of that has kind of gone away because they see that we’re giving out the money. We want to fund this science, it’s really important for the human race.”
Stephanie Lederman, executive director, American Federation for Aging Research, or AFAR, a U.S. nonprofit that has received $7.76 million in funding from Hevolution. Saudi Arabia Is Dangling Billions for Research on Aging. Scientists Are Lining Up to Take It. [Wall Street Journal]
“Globally, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are the best performing destinations in terms of tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2023.” Maitreyi Das, HSBC securities and capital markets economist, Middle East records strongest post-pandemic tourism rebound globally, HSBC says [The National]
“Ronaldo played a vital role in Al-Nassr’s latest Saudi Pro League win, scoring twice from the penalty spot, and after one goal, he performed a traditional Saudi dance instead of his trademark ‘Siuuu’ celebration. There were social media users from the country explaining afterwards that Ronaldo was copying a Saudi ardah: a folk dance that can be performed by men with swords.”
[Goal.com]
“It’s one element of a policy armory that Saudi Arabia is currently deploying. We are talking about a contest between nations to win the hearts and minds of people globally. Britain, the United States, France, India and so many other countries have implemented this policy. Now the Saudis are doing the same.”
Simon Chadwick, professor of Sport and Geopolitical Economy at Skema Business School in Paris. [BBC]
“This is the context surrounding Riyadh’s looming decision on the selection of a vendor — from China National Nuclear Corp., South Korea’s Korea Electric Power Co. (Kepco), Russia’s Rosatom and France’s EDF — for its first two power reactors. Sources close to the matter generally view EDF as an unlikely candidate given its own operational and financial headwinds, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is seen as a reason for Riyadh to distance itself from Moscow. But Beijing, with its robust domestic nuclear newbuild program, has made great strides in its diplomatic relationship with Saudi Arabia. South Korea, meanwhile, has Kepco’s nearly-complete Barakah APR1400 nuclear plant in the United Arab Emirates to showcase as a shining example of its export potential. But any export deal for APR1400 has still to contend with Westinghouse’s intellectual property (IP) dispute.”
Nuclear Key to US-Saudi Relationship Goals [Energy Intelligence]
“A 2022 French Institute of International Relations report noted that desalinated water makes up 90% of Kuwait’s water supply, 86% of Oman’s, 70% of Saudi Arabia’s, and 42% of the United Arab Emirates’. In 2022, more than 21,000 desalination plants were in operation worldwide, nearly twice as many as a decade ago. Desalination capacity in the Middle East is expected to almost double by 2030.”
Kate Dourian, Gulf Countries Explore Water Solutions to Mitigate Impacts of Climate Change [Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington]
“Biotechnology has risen to the top of national agendas in the post-pandemic era. PwC forecasts that mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. pharmaceuticals and life sciences sector alone could reach US$225 billion to US$275 billion in 2023. Biotechnology harnesses cellular and biological processes to develop products and technologies used in our everyday lives. The sector has grown globally over the past couple of decades owing to its potential to transform human health and its wide applicability across sectors, including health, agriculture, and chemicals. The green agenda has also brought to the fore applications such as resource recovery, recycling, and hazardous waste disposal.”
Accelerating Saudi Arabia’s biotechnology sector [Strategy&/PwC]
“More than three dozen different forms or funds based in Saudi Arabia have made investments in U.S. startups since 2016 — with many leading or co-leading some of them. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has led or co-led the most deals worth the most cash since 2016, however, most of those deals are older. In 2016, the firm led a $3.5 billion investment in Uber, and a $1 billion round for Lucid Motors in 2018. In total, the fund has led or co-led four rounds for U.S.-based startups totaling more than $5.3 billion.”
-Chris Metinko, Saudi Arabia Investment Is Increasing In US-Based Startups [Crunchbase]
“At the helm of Saudi Arabia’s AI expedition is the project codenamed Shaheen III, a supercomputer project poised to reshape computational horizons, planned to be powered by 700 Nvidia Grace Hopper superconductor chips.”
Saudi Arabia and the UAE opt for Nvidia chips to power their AI ambitions [KAWA News]
