“There are nearly three million Egyptians working and living in Saudi Arabia, latest statistics by the Egyptian Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics indicate. The value of remittance from Egyptians working in Saudi Arabia reached $9.6bn during the fiscal year 2019-2020, compared with $8.5bn during the fiscal year 2018-2019, an increase of 12.4 per cent.”
Saudi Arabia and Egypt have signed 14 agreements valued at $7.7 billion during a visit to Cairo by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s Minister of Commerce Majid Al Qasabi said on Tuesday. [The National]
“Local designers are benefiting financially from Spark by enabling them to monetize their skills as artists. Understanding how their creative expressions can relate to customers, thus makes a sale… As a business owner, you have to understand that your brand is up for a ride of constant change cultivated by your customers and fueled by your passion. And it starts when you hit the launch button.”
-Bahaa Gazzaz, owner of the website Spark, which transforms artists’ creative expressions into custom-made products. [Arab News]
“Local [Saudi] designers are benefiting financially from Spark by enabling them to monetize their skills as artists. Understanding how their creative expressions can relate to customers, thus makes a sale…As a business owner, you have to understand that your brand is up for a ride of constant change cultivated by your customers and fueled by your passion. And it starts when you hit the launch button.”
-Bahaa Gazzaz, the owner of the website Spark, discussing his company’s website which transforms artists’ creative expressions into custom-made products. The site has over 50,000 registered users including artists from Saudi Arabia and other parts of the world, Gazzaz said. [Arab News]
“Germany launched the “Germany Hydrogen Strategy” which allocates around $2 billion for the production of hydrogen out of the country with an emphasis on the MENA region. Focusing on the MENA region makes sense, as the region has multiple plans which align with the European Union’s plans to produce hydrogen. Its transportation infrastructure including ports and vessels, which are initially built for LNG, can be easily adopted for hydrogen.”
The geopolitics of hydrogen is bringing Saudi Arabia and the GCC closer to Europe [Arab News]
“In 2021, Saudi Arabia’s box office reach approximately $238 million, according to figures from Comscore, a rise of nearly 95 percent on 2020 and a figure that made it the 15th biggest market in the world. While 2020 was obviously dramatically impacted by the pandemic, Saudi Arabia’s growth the following year — spurred on by the organic development of a new market (the number of multiplexes grew from 14 in 2019 to 55 in April 2022, according to Comscore) — was higher than several other major markets.”
Is the “Untapped” Market of Saudi Arabia Still Attractive to Hollywood Following Bans? [Hollywood Reporter]
“A successful foreign policy for a global power such as the US cannot choose values over interests. A pure, values-centred approach to Saudi Arabia—or towards China, Russia, Iran or North Korea, for that matter—is unsustainable. The principal measure of a foreign policy is that it prioritises the country’s security over its preferences. Realism must prevail over idealism. History suggests that the ability of a country, even one as powerful as the US, to bring about political reform in other countries is limited.”
Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations. [The Strategist]
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia looks forward to welcoming President Biden and defining the next chapters of our partnership. At a time of global challenges related to the global economy, health, climate and international conflict, the partnership between our two countries is as critical as ever to the promotion of peace, prosperity and stability around the world.”
“The Crown Prince and President Biden will hold official talks that will focus on various areas of bilateral cooperation and joint efforts to address regional and global challenges. They will explore cooperation on emerging technologies, economic investment, space, renewable energy, cybersecurity, climate and environmental initiatives, food and energy security, and expanding trade and commercial ties to enable both countries to confront mutual challenges and seize the opportunities of the 21st century.”
President Joe Biden will visit Saudi Arabia July 15-16 [Saudi Gazette]
“The commitments from the Saudis don’t relate to anything having to do with energy. It happens to be a larger meeting taking place in Saudi Arabia. That’s the reason I’m going. And it has to do with national security for them, for Israelis… It has to do with much larger issues than having to do with the energy piece.”
-U.S. President Joe Biden commenting on reports that he plans to visit Saudi Arabia and Gulf states in July. [The Hill]
“Senior US officials have conveyed to Saudi Arabia that the US is prepared to move forward with a “reset” of the relationship, and effectively move on from the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in order to repair ties with the key Middle East ally.”
-CNN, reporting comments from unnamed Senior U.S. Officials. The report adds that the planning for a reset is a dramatic about-face for President Joe Biden. [CNN]
