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Saudi Arabia Vision 2030

The dream is over for Saudi's football fans after Mexico beat them 2-0 at the World Cup, but the countries remain strong trading partners

Saudi and Mexico get back to business after World Cup exit

The deepening relationship between Saudi Arabia and Mexico may have been tested for 90 minutes on Wednesday as the central American team prevailed 2-0 in their World Cup match in Qatar. Both teams went out of the tournament due to results elsewhere in their group, but, more importantly, the two countries are enjoying a bounce […]

Diriyah Saudi

Global hotel brands rush to be part of Saudi tourism push

International hotel brands are flooding into Saudi Arabia as the transformation of Diriyah, the birthplace of Saudi Arabia, gathers pace. Diriyah Gate Development Authority (DGDA), responsible for the Diriyah project, has announced the addition of 16 new global hotel brands to its hospitality portfolio.  This brings the total of hotel management agreements to 32, with […]

Saudi solar

Saudi to build Gulf’s largest solar power plant near Mecca

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), and ACWA Power will build the Middle East’s largest solar power plant in Mecca province, the duo announced on Wednesday, as the kingdom accelerates efforts to expand its renewables capacity.  Slated to begin commercial operations in late 2025, the 2,060-megawatt (mw) solar photovoltaic Al Shuaibah […]

Seera Group will be the primary investor in the development of Kayanat Central Business Park in Riyadh

Inside Riyadh’s plan to be a global fintech player

Saudi Arabia is poised to launch three digital banks over the next 12 months, plus new regulations, as part of its aim to become a major player in the financial technology (fintech) industry. The sector is “on the cusp of being propelled onto the global stage,” said Nezar Alhaidar, director of Fintech Saudi – an […]

Dubai solar power

World Bank says Gulf using oil wealth to become solar power

Gulf hydrocarbon producers could turn into the world’s leading solar energy exporters. GCC members, particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia – the first and third largest energy producers in Opec – have started to lay the ground for this goal with the launch of clean energy megaprojects. They aim to increase their renewable energy capacity […]

Red Sea Development: Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 airports and gigaprojects are viewed as opportunities by public services provider Serco

Serco expects 50% of Middle East revenue to come from Saudi

London-based public service provider Serco expects to draw 50 percent of its Middle East revenue from Saudi Arabia by 2026. Daniel McGregor, corporate development director at Serco Middle East, told AGBI that this ambitious plan is already in motion — and it is being formulated to capitalise on Saudi Arabia’s huge investment in public infrastructure, […]

Design changes mean Middle East has world’s worst project delays

Construction projects in the Middle East are facing some of the longest delays of any region in the world, with average overruns adding more than 80 percent to timelines, and dispute claims increasing costs by more than a third. Despite the prevalent availability of cash reserves in the region, due to the high oil price […]

The Aramco IPO raised $30 billion and industry observers believe now is the right time for a second listing that could raise a further $10 billion

Public Investment Fund reports 13% profit hike to $22.8bn

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) reported profit of SAR 85.7 billion ($22.81 billion) in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 13 percent, according to the Saudi Gazette newspaper. The PIF’s revenue rose 27 percent year-on-year to SAR 228.2 billion and profit from associate companies hit SAR 8.6 billion, a 75 percent increase. Its other operating incomes […]

Saudi HQ

70 multinationals secure Riyadh licence after Saudi HQ ruling

A total of 70 international companies have so far been issued licences to relocate their regional headquarters to the Saudi capital Riyadh as part of a major push to attract more overseas investment. The updated figure, revealed in a new report by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment (Misa), represents a significant increase compared to a […]

Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al-Arifi

New CEO named for Saudi’s $1.3trn private sector push

A new CEO has been appointed to the Private Sector Partnership Reinforcement Program which aims to facilitate investments of $1.33 trillion from Saudi private sector businesses by 2030. Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al-Arifi, advisor to the Secretariat General of the Cabinet and a former CEO of finance at Jadwa Investment, has been hired to lead the […]

‘The biggest construction site the world has ever seen’

Saudi Arabia was described on Tuesday as the biggest construction site the world has ever seen as projects valued at over $1.1 trillion are underway in the kingdom.  That’s the total value of real estate and infrastructure projects since the launch of Saudi Arabia’s National Transformation Plan in 2016, according to global real estate consultancy […]

Accountability ‘crucial’ for success of Saudi Vision 2030

Saudi Arabia is entering a “crucial” part of its ambitious Vision 2030 programme as the kingdom begins to deliver on its promises, described by a leading expert as the “moment of accountability”. Pedro Ribeiro, the recently appointed general manager for commercial real estate services and investment firm CBRE in Saudi Arabia, told AGBI that the […]

IMF urges Saudi to explore new taxes to boost non-oil revenues

Saudi Arabia should investigate new taxes, including on income and property, as it aims to boost its non-oil revenues. While significant change has already been undertaken by the kingdom, with a tripling of VAT to 15 percent during the coronavirus pandemic, more can be done, said Amine Mati, assistant director and mission chief for Saudi […]

Sinopec Limited's parent, Sinopec Group, is the world's largest oil refining, gas and petrochemical conglomerate

Aramco partners with Chinese giant for projects in Saudi

Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) on Wednesday signed an agreement with China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) to develop projects in the kingdom, underscoring the strong investment links between the two countries. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) covered a number of areas including potential collaborations across upstream and downstream businesses, engineering and construction, oilfield services, […]

Saudi Arabia's At-Turaif is a UNESCO World Heritage site

Diriyah CEO sets date for first stage of $50bn project

The first phase of Saudi Arabia’s $50.6 billion project to transform the historic Diriyah district will open later this year, its boss has told AGBI. Jerry Inzerillo, group CEO of the Diriyah Gate Development Authority, said the public would be able to visit the restored UNESCO World Heritage site at At-Turaif and the Mattal Al […]

Riyadh Skyline

Saudi GDP surges 11.8%, its fastest quarterly rise since 2011

Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product is growing at the fastest rate for more than a decade, rising 11.8 percent in the second quarter, according to a flash estimate from the kingdom’s General Authority for Statistics. GASTAT said the year-on-year increase – the most rapid acceleration since the third quarter of 2011 – was driven by […]

Saudi bank assets hit $879bn thanks to mortgages and oil

Saudi Arabian bank assets grew by 10 percent to reach SR3.3 trillion in assets ($879.43 billion) in 2021, buoyed by the kingdom’s booming mortgage market and a sharp rebound in oil revenues.  That’s according to global rankings from The Banker published earlier this month, which also shows that the kingdom’s credit grew by 15.5 percent […]