“Hassana Investment Co. will take a 10.2% stake in assets including the Jebel Ali Port, which helped transform Dubai into a global trading hub. It will also take holdings in Jebel Ali Free Zone and the National Industries Park, according to a statement on Wednesday.”
Saudi Arabia Invests $2.4 Billion in Key Dubai Port Developments [Bloomberg]
“Today, women have “the right to drive and the freedom to travel without male authorisation, the right to live alone and the anti-harassment law, as well as equality in the workplace in terms of wages, occupation and working hours. The kingdom has witnessed a drastic shift towards women’s empowerment and the overhaul of all the regulations and restrictions that impaired women’s role in society.”
Maha Akeel, strategy and policy advisor on social development and gender equality. Progress on gender equality in Saudi Arabia ‘advancing in leaps’ [The National]
“It’s amazing to see. The World Cup has been an opportunity for people all around the world to learn about Qatar, but also to learn about Islam. I just had a nice conversation with a group of Argentinians about how we pray, and about our shared belief in God. We talked about football as well.”
-Mahi Hussain, Bangladeshi-born Doha resident. Qatar World Cup: Fans hope prayer rooms, halal food and clean toilets become norm [Middle East Eye]
“The rise of overweight and obesity has been particularly alarming in Saudi Arabia—The rate has nearly doubled over the past 50 years. Like in many other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, rapid economic development and urbanization have brought lifestyle changes including decreased physical activity and increased consumption of highly processed foods and beverages. As a result, more than 50 percent of the population in Saudi Arabia today is overweight, and more than 20 percent have obesity.”
“Atlas Turf grows its grass in Adel, a town of about 5,000 people in southern Georgia. At 90 days, the stolons, or sprigs of grass, are harvested, washed, packed into boxes and shipped by refrigerated air cargo to Doha. The first shipment went to Al-Rayyan Stadium in 2014. Over the next few years, Atlas Turf sent a total of 305,000 pounds of stolon to Doha. There, the grass is planted in fields next to each stadium until the individual sprigs knit together into a field. They are then rolled up transferred to inside the stadiums, and unrolled into the equivalent of 178 acres of field.”
How a Georgia company grew the grass for the World Cup—and then flew it to Qatar [Quartz]
“Production resources – from creatives, to crews, to distribution. On several of our projects this year, we had to fly in teams from outside of Saudi, from places like Tunisia and Egypt. We see this trend continuing for the near future, or at least until the local market starts seeing more of this type of talent emerge. There are a few experienced film producers in Saudi and, with so much competition in this new landscape, the few experienced Saudi crews tend to be overbooked. Similarly, it is very hard to find strong local script writers for films, so our process usually takes longer and needs more doctoring than in other more developed markets.”
Alaa Fadan (co-founder and CEO of Riyadh-based film and digital content production and finance company Telfaz11) in response to the question, What are the biggest challenges facing your company and the production sector? [Deadline]
“In 2021 PIF’s portfolio companies awarded SR140 billion ($37 billion) worth of contracts to local companies in the private sector, nearly 60 percent of which went to the construction materials and services, information technology and telecommunications, and financial services sectors.”
PIF zeroes in on local content growth to boost Saudi economy [Arab News]
“Americana’s listing is the biggest in Saudi Arabia in 2022, a year already marked by a flurry of such offerings in the Middle East as the region attempts to deepen its capital markets. The IPO, which drew orders worth $105 billion, is the third-biggest in the United Arab Emirates, where Abu Dhabi is the capital. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul stock exchange has been encouraging firms for years to dual list, but none had done so before Americana. The successful deal is likely to set precedent for others.”
Middle East KFC Operator Climbs in Landmark $1.8 Billion Listing [Bloomberg]
“We [have] strategic partnerships with [many] countries including the US, India and China. We do not believe in polarization or selecting between one partner and another… the kingdom’s economy is rapidly growing, and we need all partners…We have mutual interests with [both] the US and China, and we will continue to work to achieve them.”
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan [Middle East Monitor]
“The top 10 contractors in the Kingdom are responsible for $400 billion in projects that are currently in the execution stage, accounting for 40% of the total future pipeline value of $1.1 trillion. According to MEED Projects, the total value of projects awarded in KSA between 2021 and 2025 will reach $569 billion, with a total of $85 billion (15%) awarded to date across 2021 and 2022 (October end). This highlights the need for a greater supply of skilled contractors in the local market to meet the ambitious goals of Vision 2030 and the associated giga-project program.”
Saudi Arabia’s Construction Sector Remains the Strongest Across the MENA Region: JLL [Saudi Projects]
