“The project was implemented after conducting several scientific and behavioral studies to determine the most efficient methods of early education, the ministry said. The studies found that female teachers bring benefits to education. According to the ministry, one major benefit of the program is the presence of female teachers in classrooms eases communication between teachers and parents.”
Women to teach 4th grade elementary students in private and foreign schools [Saudi Gazette]
The energy industry right now is a “broken ATM spewing out cash and there aren’t enough people around to pick it up.”
Rafi Tahmazian, a senior portfolio manager at Canadian investment firm Canoe Financial. Big Oil Is Paying Out Years of Dividends in One Day [Bloomberg]
“Saudi Arabia has pledged to ‘decouple’ state spending from oil price fluctuations. Its expected surplus for 2022 – which would be its first in nearly a decade – will sit in the government’s current account until the government’s finance committee decides how to allocate it, likely early next year.”
-Saudi Arabia posts almost $21 billion second-quarter surplus [Reuters]
“With spare capacity below 2 mbpd (million barrels per day) in August, we believe OPEC+ preferred to keep their powder dry and use their buffer to address potential future disruptions. There are growing fears of demand destruction and if the current trend continues, additional barrels would put unwanted downside pressure on prices and, at the same time, would unnecessarily deplete thinning spare capacity.”
Tamas Varga, Analyst for PVM Oil Associates. [Reuters]
“The overarching objective is to protect populations and infrastructures. This exercise is designed to enhance regional, civil, and military interoperability along with process development, honing the skills necessary to implement crisis management and defend the skies from inbound threats.”
–Air Force Maj. Gen. Steven J. deMilliano, Director of Exercises and Training Directorate, United States Central Command, discussing the 16th annual EAGLE RESOLVE exercise designed to develop and employ a Combined Joint Task Force capable of responding to the complexity of the current and emerging regional threats in the United States Central Command area of responsibility. [U.S. Central Command]
“Valvoline’s global products business fits perfectly with Aramco’s growth strategy for lubricants as it will leverage our global base oils production, contribute to our R&D capabilities and strengthen our existing relationships with OEMs.”
-Mohammed Al Qahtani, Aramco senior vice president of downstream. [ICIS]
“We reviewed the previous mechanism where the 13 regions competed against one another. After several workshops with the national sports federations, we found that many areas will struggle to compete due to the lack of official regional governing bodies to recruit and train athletes for the Saudi Games. Therefore, we have identified competition between clubs representing regions and cities across the kingdom as the optimal way to achieve our objectives in this milestone event.”
Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal, Minister of Sport and President of the Saudi Arabian Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Saudi Games sets new dates for inaugural tournament [Zawya]
“For the United States, this looming labor transition does more than provide an opportunity for increased relevance in the region. It is also a key differentiator in a world of great power competition. Although some may argue that the energy transition will render the Middle East strategically irrelevant in several decades, a seething region would undermine the global economy and threaten world security. The United States has an opportunity not only to head off the region’s worst-case scenarios, but also to advance its interests in a more competitive global environment.”
Jon B. Alterman, The Middle East Transition We Need to Talk About [Center for Strategic and International Studies]
“I will tell you that the collections that you see here are inspired by Arabia, but they are made for the world. That is the magic that the Saudi Fashion Commission has brought by bringing the collections to New York, the heart of the fashion world. Creativity is not born in one country. Culture is not defined by a border. And what you’re about to see is a symbol that has nothing to do with politics, that has nothing to do with governments, but has everything to do with the human spirit.”
–Princess Reema bint Bandar Al-Saud, the Saudi ambassador to the US, Saudi 100 Brands exhibition celebrates kingdom’s emerging designers in New York [The National]
“Having high public sector salaries damages the economy in two main ways. First, it shrinks the talent pool available to the private sector, by giving nationals a highly lucrative alternative to the kinds of jobs that 90 percent of the world’s population must do daily. This makes it very difficult for businesses to operate competitive commercial models where the primary labor input is local citizens. It is also a major reason for the low productivity levels that Gulf companies typically possess. Second, seeking an alternative to nationals, the private sector develops a fixation on low-wage migrant workers. The whole business model is skewed further away from investing in local human resources, toward exploiting an inexhaustible supply of expatriates. This reinforces the low productivity and contributes to anemic levels of innovation much seen in Gulf businesses.”
Omar Al-Ubaydli, Inflation is an opportunity to recalibrate Gulf public sector salaries [Al-Arabiya]
