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Saudi Arabia Vision 2030

Clothing, Hat, Aircraft

Saudi Arabia pins branding hopes on Riyadh Air launch

Saudi Arabia still hasn’t found the magic sauce for branding its social and economic reforms.  Hopes are high that the launch of Riyadh Air will do for the kingdom what Emirates airline did for Dubai, industry experts say. “We saw the journey of the UAE, how brands started there then became iconic on a global […]

MB4W54 industrial pump jack

IMF lowers 2024 Saudi GDP forecast on oil output

The International Monetary Fund has lowered its GDP growth prediction for Saudi Arabia this year and next because of oil output cuts continuing to the end of this year. The Saudi economy is expected to expand 1.5 percent this year, down 0.2 percent from the IMF’s last review in July, and 4.6 percent in 2025, […]

Co-working spaces, such as this one in Riyadh, complement state-led VC funding initiatives for Saudi startups

Saudi Arabia pumps funding into startups as it vies for Mena No 1

Saudi Arabia is piling money and government support into its venture capital industry as it competes with the UAE to attract startups. The VC market across the Middle East and North Africa raised $1.3 billion from January to September 2024 – and Saudi Arabia “led the region”, said startup analyst Magnitt, The kingdom secured “39 […]

The housing needs of hundreds of thousands of workers on construction sites in Saudi Arabia will now be met by the Smart Accommodation for Residential Complexes Company

PIF launches company to build worker accommodation

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has established a company to develop and operate accommodation for workers employed on major projects in the kingdom. Smart Accommodation for Residential Complexes Company (Sarcc) will build workers’ accommodation for both public and private sector developers who are working on projects across the country.  Sarcc will also seek opportunities […]

Visitors tour the exhibition halls at Gitex Global. This year's expo runs until October 18

Tech startups drive rise in Ireland’s exports to UAE

Exports from Ireland to the UAE rose by 21 percent last year, driven by Irish technology and healthcare companies.  The trade agency Enterprise Ireland says exports to the GCC increased 13 percent last year, reaching €532.5 million ($580 million). Qatar had the region’s fastest growth in exports from Ireland last year, with a rise of […]

A street in Khobar is adorned with flags to celebrate Saudi Arabia's national day. The region has benefited from an influx of PIF money

Real estate picks up in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province

The Gulf city of Dammam and the Eastern Province that surrounds it have long trailed behind Riyadh, Jeddah and Mecca in the push for glitzy development, but real estate activity is picking up across the hospitality, residential and industrial sectors. The province, which has deep pockets thanks to its importance to the Saudi energy industry, […]

Construction is well underway at King Salman Park in Riyadh. Developments in the city may take priority over giga-projects elsewhere

World Cup and Expo wins divert funding to Riyadh

Saudi Arabia’s giga-projects have slowed down because of financing constraints – and now the government’s unexpected success in bidding for global events is redirecting even more resources towards Riyadh.  Even prestigious developments such as Neom, the $500 billion futuristic city in north-west Saudi Arabia, are taking second place. The priority is turning the capital into […]

Saudi Arabia data centre

Four-fold boost to Saudi data centres planned

Saudi Arabia plans to boost its data centre capacity four-fold to more than 1,000 megawatts over the next five years, according to one of the country’s leading data centre providers. The current capacity in the kingdom is approximately 250-300MW. Abdullah Al Ghamdi, CEO of Al Moammar Information Systems (MIS), revealed the target in an interview […]

Saudi Vale copper

Saudi-backed Vale plans to increase copper output

Brazilian miner Vale, which is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), aims to increase copper production after conceding that it had lost ground to competitors in its output of the key metal. Vale is a top global iron ore producer but also operates base metal projects including copper and nickel.  In his first […]

Workers prepare to clean the floor of the holy Kaaba at the Grand Mosque, during the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca

Saudi Arabia promises more pilgrimage industry work visas

Saudi Arabia will issue more temporary work visas to those employed in the pilgrimage industry.  A statement by the ministry of human resources said Hajj and umrah work would now be included in its temporary visa programme. A half-year visa will cover the fasting month of Ramadan and the Hajj pilgrimage, which comes around three […]

Visitors to the Mipim property conference look at images of the Mukaab, which will be the centrepiece of New Murabba in Riyadh

New Murabba CEO promises Riyadh district’s core by 2030

The New Murabba giga-project, which aims to create a 19-sq-km city district in Riyadh, will be up and running by December 2030, its CEO said this week.  Michael Dyke told a tourism forum in Dubai: “What’s important is to say that New Murabba is real, tangible today. It’s physically there, it’s not something on a piece […]

Commercial development near Mecca's Grand Mosque can be sensitive and PIF keeps projects tightly guarded

PIF companies push ahead with Mecca expansion plans

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is building a vast commercial district in Mecca with an estimated value of $10 billion, giving the Islamic holy city a radical makeover.  After a series of ownership changes, two companies have emerged as the lead developers of commercial space around the Grand Mosque in Mecca – the 100 percent […]

Members of Saudi Arabia's security forces participate in a parade in Mecca. Military spending decreased by 6.3 percent in the first half of the year Video length: 06:31

Saudi Arabia cuts military spending as deficit increases

Saudi Arabia estimates its military spending will be 15 percent lower than budgeted this year, while capital expenditure rises, according to figures released on Monday. The kingdom’s budget deficit will increase to 2.9 percent of GDP in 2024, according to the preliminary budget statement released by the ministry of finance, as spending on the Vision […]

Red Sea hotels Desert Rock, 'a hotel that’s literally built into the side of the mountain', is expected to open this year

Red Sea Global to open 19 luxury hotels in 2025

Red Sea Global, the Saudi giga-project, is due to open 19 new luxury hotels in 2025, it was revealed this week. It will also be opening two hotels this year, including one carved into a mountainside, an official said. “2023 saw us opening our first resort, and in 2024 we’ve opened another two resorts and […]

Diriyah, a Unesco World Heritage site, is expected to receive funding of SAR12 billion from PIF next year, says CEO Jerry Inzerillo

Global investors seek stake in Diriyah projects says CEO

The Diriyah Gate Development Authority is holding discussions with foreign investors interested in buying equity stakes in hotels and other real estate developments in the $63 billion Diriyah giga-project. The Public Investment Fund (PIF)-backed developer has secured deals worth $1 billion with an Italian developer and a French company, CEO Jerry Inzerillo told Reuters. The names and specifics of the […]

Traffic in central Riyadh. The capital's roads are being improved in time for the 2030 World Expo

Riyadh signs off billions to improve road safety

Riyadh municipality has signed five contracts worth SAR6 billion ($1.6 billion) to improve roads in the Saudi capital, where traffic accidents are above the global average.  The contracts entail rehabilitating and asphalting 83 million square metres of road network over five years, in time for Riyadh’s hosting of the 2030 World Expo, which will bring […]

Saudi Arabia is investing in the development of a sports culture and infrastructure; the first of Melee's Al Khobar social sports club is scheduled to be completed first

Egyptian developer invests $1bn in Saudi sports clubs

Egyptian real estate developer Melee will spend SAR4.5 billion ($1.2 billion) to establish three new sports clubs in the Saudi cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar, according to a company executive. The club in Al Khobar is slated to be first in line for completion before the end of the year, Gasser Bahgat, Melee […]

Saudi Arabia tourism projects Dragon Ball theme park

Arab Disneyland and Da Vinci: Saudi Arabia’s two great hopes

Saudi Arabia is spending billions on tourism projects at the heart of its grand plan to transform a once isolated kingdom into a global tourist destination. But a nagging question is haunting policymakers: will the world pay attention?   Tourism numbers are rising, hitting 27.4 million in 2023, but half of those were religious visitors.  The […]

Halo Space, a Madrid-based company, said Saudi Arabia would play a key role in construction of the craft

Halo Space to manufacture capsules in Saudi Arabia

Spanish company Halo Space plans to localise most manufacturing of its high-altitude balloon capsule to Saudi Arabia, it said this week before its first test launch in the kingdom.  The Madrid-based startup is due to stage an unmanned test flight from the Al-Aflaj oasis 330km south of Riyadh within the next two weeks, depending on […]