Renewable Energy Masdar to develop wind farm in Kazakhstan Renewable energy giant Masdar has signed a deal to develop a wind farm in Kazakhstan. The facility will have a capacity of up to 1 gigawatt as well as a battery energy storage system. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Astana International Forum and supports the country’s goal of achieving half its […] June 12, 2023
Opinion Trade Saudi Arabia’s ‘transactional’ relationship with China is evolving fast There's more to the partnership than just energy June 12, 2023
Banking & Finance Saudi Arabia and China sign 30 agreements worth $10bn Saudi Arabia and China signed 30 investment agreements worth over $10 billion (SAR37.5 billion) on the first day of the Arab-China Business Conference in Riyadh. Deals were made in sectors including technology, renewables, agriculture, real estate, minerals, supply chains, tourism and healthcare. One of the largest was a $5.6 billion agreement between the Saudi investment […] June 12, 2023
Banking & Finance Pakistan seeks to restructure debt with bilateral lenders Pakistan is working on the possibility of restructuring its bilateral debt regardless of whether it successfully completes its International Monetary Fund (IMF) review, the country’s finance minister said on Saturday, but reiterated it would not approach Paris club nation creditors or seek haircuts. “We’ll see how things go,” Ishaq Dar told reporters, a day after […] June 11, 2023
Analysis Infrastructure Ooredoo to cut losses in Myanmar to tune of $2.3bn Should Ooredoo succeed in selling its Myanmar subsidiary, the Qatari telecom operator will exit nursing multi-billion-dollar losses in what has proved to be a disastrous strategic failure for the former monopoly. Ooredoo Myanmar’s customer base has shrunk by nearly half in just over two years, while its cumulative pre-tax losses from 2013-2022 total QAR8.6 billion […] June 8, 2023
Economy Musk and foreign CEOs keep silent during China visits A veritable parade of overseas CEOs including Tesla’s Elon Musk and Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon have made their way to a reopened China in the last few months. One notable common strand: they’ve not talked much in public about their trips which have mostly consisted of meetings with government officials, local staff and business partners. Media events […] June 8, 2023
Analysis Trade China dominates Saudi trade in Q1 as ties strengthen China’s trade with Saudi Arabia topped SAR91 billion ($24.3 billion) in the first quarter of 2023, making up 19 percent of the kingdom’s total commerce. Data from Riyadh’s General Authority for Statistics (Gastat) said China was the top trading partner for both imports and exports. Exports to China, which are dominated by crude oil, amounted […] June 6, 2023
Opinion Oil & Gas Saudi breaks Opec logjam with further oil cuts Prince Abdulaziz's announcement reduces the kingdom's output to its lowest level in years June 5, 2023
Markets Indonesian copper miner plans $880m IPO by July Indonesian copper miner Amman Mineral Internasional aims to raise up to 12.94 trillion rupiah ($880.6 million) in an initial public offering scheduled for June 28 to July 3, according to the company’s prospectus published on Wednesday. Book building is set to start on Wednesday with an offering price in the range of 1,650 rupiah to […] May 31, 2023
Banking & Finance Brics bank issues $1.2bn of panda bonds The New Development Bank (NDB) issued 8.5 billion yuan ($1.23 billion) worth of panda bonds in China’s interbank bond market on Monday to mobilise resources for financing sustainable development projects, the bank said in a statement. Proceeds will be used for general corporate resources and to finance infrastructure and sustainable development projects, the bank said. […] May 30, 2023
Retail Harrods checks into hotels as it awaits return of Chinese shoppers Harrods, the London department store owned by Qatar, has opened its first branded hotel project, diversifying into hospitality overseas as the retail sector faces challenges at home. In late March it launched the Harrods Residence Suite, a two-storey luxury suite in Swire Hotels’ Beijing property the Opposite House. The retailer also has a hospitality outpost […] May 30, 2023
Analysis Retail K-beauty is not just a pretty face in Middle East Thousands of UAE fans flocked to Expo 2022 Dubai when some of K-pop’s biggest musical acts took to the stage. From Psy and his mega hit Gangnam Style to girlband (GI)-dle, Korean superstars proved to be some of the biggest crowd pleasers at the world fair. And it would appear that devotees do not only […] May 29, 2023
Opinion Aviation Airline alliances? Emirates forges its own flight path Bilateral agreements can be easier to manage and more tightly targeted May 25, 2023
Opinion Economy China-GCC FTA will be a game changer A deal would galvanise Middle Eastern economic transformation May 25, 2023
Analysis UAE and Malaysia seek to grow $4.6bn trade with Cepa talks The UAE and Malaysia will embark on negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (Cepa) after non-oil trade between the two countries last year grew to $4.6 billion. The Emirates are Malaysia’s 17th biggest trade partner globally and the second in the Middle East, accounting for 32 percent of Malaysia’s trade with Arab countries. Trade […] May 24, 2023
Opinion Food & Drink The Arab world needs to ease global food trade barriers The region must embrace food imports May 23, 2023
Energy Indian oil refiner balances Gulf and Russian suppliers The Indian Oil Corporation remains committed to term contracts with the Middle East, but increased Russian imports have impacted spot purchases from the region. “Spot purchases have gone down because somewhere there has to be a dip to accommodate the Russian oil,” said the company’s chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya at the 30th annual Middle East […] May 22, 2023
Opinion Energy Opec+ ponders whether to stick or twist April's output cuts appear to have had the desired effect, but the oil alliance may yet cause another surprise May 22, 2023
Economy IMF says Jordan must push reforms to drive growth The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday Jordan needed to accelerate structural economic reforms to push growth beyond the average two-to-three percent it has struck in recent years to help it generate more jobs to reduce high unemployment. “With unemployment still high, and particularly among the youth and women, structural reforms are essential for achieving […] May 18, 2023
Tech Bahrain’s Beyon puts $250m into digital infrastructure Tech company Beyon Group is investing more than $250 million in new infrastructure to support Bahrain’s digital transformation. The parent company of telecoms operator Batelco said it has joined the Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 6 (SEA-ME-WE 6) consortium, which is building a 21,700km-long undersea telecommunications cable from Marseille in France to Singapore. The cable will […] May 17, 2023
Construction Al Habtoor forced to look overseas for contractor Billionaire Khalaf Al Habtoor had to look to China and India for a contractor for his latest Dubai development as experts say Saudi Arabia’s construction boom is impacting UAE projects. The founding chairman of the Al Habtoor Group (AHG) broke ground on the Habtoor Tower building earlier this month. AHG was previously involved in building […] May 16, 2023
Energy Vietnam approves $135bn power plan for 2030 Vietnam’s prime minister approved a long-awaited power plan for this decade that needs $134.7 billion of funding for new power plants and grids, the government said, in a move that may help unlock billions of dollars of foreign investment. The plan, known as PDP8, is aimed at ensuring energy security for the southeast Asian country […] May 16, 2023