“The Renault and Geely venture — which doesn’t have an official name yet — will have 17 plants and 19,000 employees, with research centers in Europe, China and South America, and significant synergies in development spending and fixed assets, Renault told investors last year. The venture will also develop technologies for cleaner fuels, which is why Renault has been seeking an energy company as a partner.”
Saudi Aramco Near Deal to Join Renault-Geely Car Venture [Bloomberg]
“The Biden administration deserves credit for recognising not only the centrality of this region to the US global posture but also the centrality of local partners in realising such security and stability. The equation drawing the US close to its Gulf Arab and other Middle Eastern partners is no longer anything resembling “oil for security”. Instead, on both sides, it is increasingly viewed as a partnership necessary to achieve mutual goals even if they are being pursued for different reasons. That is a lot more like the US relationship with its Nato partners, Japan or South Korea.”
Hussein Ibish, Opinion: How ambitious is Biden’s Middle East policy? [The National]
“What’s in it for us? The greenback is freely convertible, the yuan isn’t; the dollar is liquid, the yuan isn’t. That’s the polite version; the more candid answers sounded even more emphatic about the absurdity of turning to a managed currency produced by an opaque and unpredictable financial machine.”
Javier Blas, The Myth of the Inevitable Rise of a Petroyuan [Bloomberg]
“According to a recent report by Knight Frank, the UHNW population in the Middle East is expected to soar by 24.6% in the next five years, with Saudi Arabia set to become home to 72 billionaires and the UAE 42, according to the WealthX Billionaire Census”
[Ocarian]
In Riyadh, “average occupancy rates for both Grades A and B stock saw improved slightly to 99.2 percent and 98.7 percent in 2022, marking annual increases of 0.8 and 1.9 percentage points respectively. In Jeddah, Grade A office rents increased by 7.4 percent in the 12 months to December 2022, whereas Grade B rents remained unchanged. Occupancy rates for both Grade A and Grade B office rose to reach 90.6 percent and 76.0 percent, up from 87.8 percent and 74.6 percent in 2021.”
Riyadh to get 63ha of new office space in 2023 amid Saudi commercial real estate growth [Construction Week]
“There’s a lot more competition than a year ago … a lot more EVs becoming available at lower price points than the Lucid Air vehicle….There’s probably a lot of frustration from customers having to wait for so long to get the vehicles they ordered.”
Garrett Nelson, an analyst at CFRA Research, discussing Lucid Motors’ disappointing production numbers forecasted for 2023 -well short of analysts’ expectations. [Reuters]
“Around 8.9 million Indians reside in the Gulf, with around 3.4 million in the United Arab Emirates and 2.5 million in Saudi Arabia. Fifty percent of India’s over $80 billion in remittances annually come from the Gulf countries.”
India Ups Its Game in the Middle East [The Diplomat]
“Fireworks and aircraft shows are our favourite. We plan to get ice cream and have a picnic by the corniche as all of us have a long weekend and it’ll be great fun outdoors.” Aya Hisham, a Saudi resident of Jeddah. Saudi Arabia prepares for second Founding Day celebrations [The National]
‘If you think about how it was before and how it is now, I can’t believe this all happened in less than five years. For me, or any other female in the industry, you used to feel like you were doing something wrong or that, as a woman, you shouldn’t be doing. But now I feel like it’s something you do with respect, with your head held high.”
Jara, Saudi female rapper. [Metro UK]
“MNCs looking to sell their goods and services to Government Authorities in Saudi Arabia will require a new Business License, which in itself requires setting up a legal entity known as a regional headquarters within Saudi Arabia that allows access to tenders. The new regulation will become effective starting in 2024, though B2G firms can expect to be questioned on this topic when dealing with Saudi government authorities in 2023 as the kingdom seeks to learn about MNCs’ long-term plans.” Saudi Arabia’s Regional Headquarters Program [Frontierview]
