Trade InvestSaudi to open second US office in Miami Saudi Arabia’s investment promotion authority, InvestSaudi, will establish its second office in the United States in Miami to target flows to and from North and South America. Khalid A. Al-Falih, the Saudi investment minister, made the announcement on Thursday at the Future Investment Initiative summit in the South Florida city. “By selecting Miami as our […] February 21, 2025
Oil & Gas Trump hails Saudi Arabia at investment event in Miami Donald Trump’s speech on the opening day of a Saudi-backed investor summit in Miami once again highlighted the close relationship the US president is nurturing with the world’s second-largest oil producer. Calling Saudi Arabia a “special place with special leaders”, Trump individually greeted Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the state-owned Public Investment Fund (PIF), and Mohammed […] February 20, 2025
Business of Sport LIV Golf losses outside US widen to almost $400m Saudi-government owned LIV Golf posted a second year of financial losses, widening to almost $400 million in the 12 months to April 5, 2024, through its global tournaments outside the US. UK-based LIV Golf Ltd has attracted some of the world’s biggest names in the sport and runs tournaments in Australia, Singapore, Spain, Mexico, the […] February 19, 2025
Markets PIF invests in delivery app DoorDash and drops Walmart Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has sold its stake in US retailer Walmart and more than doubled its holdings in ecommerce giant Amazon, it has announced. PIF also invested in food delivery business DoorDash in the three months to December 31, according to the sovereign wealth fund‘s latest filing to the US Securities and Exchange […] February 17, 2025
Opinion Oil & Gas Trump’s maximum pressure will squeeze Iran’s oil exports It’s becoming increasingly difficult for Iranian oil sellers to secure tankers and it may get even harder February 17, 2025
Banking and Finance Iraq bans five local banks from US dollar deals Iraq’s central bank will ban five more local banks from engaging in US dollar transactions following meetings with US treasury officials. The move is in line with efforts to combat money laundering, dollar smuggling and other violations, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Sunday. Meetings were held in Dubai last […] February 17, 2025
Opinion Industry How Trump’s tariffs could reshape Gulf aluminium exports Ports, shipping, transport and logistics services must be ready to react quickly February 14, 2025
Banking and Finance US banks buy Dubai gold to counter potential tariffs Dubai is among several global gold centres benefiting from fears among US banks that President Donald Trump might impose duties on the precious metal, analysts say. A backlog at refining facilities in Switzerland has added to US banks’ concerns about the availability of bullion. “There is now a real concern about the tariffs being imposed […] February 13, 2025
Aviation Abu Dhabi-backed Archer to develop hybrid defence aircraft Archer Aviation, the California-based air taxi operator, has raised $300 million in a new funding round that involved institutional investors including funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. Archer, which describes itself as an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) developer, said the capital raise will accelerate the development of its aircraft and a new defence […] February 13, 2025
Opinion Banking and Finance GCC banks will prosper under Trump’s presidency The challenge for Gulf banks will be to keep their balance and focus in a volatile policy landscape February 13, 2025
Analysis Trade $600bn Saudi-US trade pledge ‘unlikely to be achieved’ Saudi Arabia’s pledge to increase trade and investment with the US to at least $600 billion over President Trump’s four-year term is “very optimistic” and “unlikely to be achieved,” according to a Washington-based think tank. Instead the kingdom is prioritising domestic projects and faces lower oil revenue. The commitment was made by Crown Prince Mohammed […] February 13, 2025
Opinion Economy Gulf sets the bar for proposed US sovereign wealth fund Plenty of questions remain, especially about how the entity will be funded February 11, 2025
Analysis Industry Gulf aluminium supplies to US to continue despite tariffs Short-term supplies of aluminium from the Gulf to the US are set to continue despite new tariffs planned by President Trump, according to experts. The new US president announced tariffs of 25 percent on all supplies of aluminium into the US on Sunday. In 2024 the Gulf made up over 16 percent of US aluminium […] February 11, 2025
Opinion Trade US trade bravado hides a cautious stance on China Presidents Trump and Xi are going through the motions February 6, 2025
Artificial Intelligence OpenAI CEO seeks fresh funding in the UAE Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, is to visit Abu Dhabi to seek fresh funding from the UAE-based technology investment company MGX. The visit is likely this week, Reuters reported, citing two unnamed sources. Altman is looking for $40 billion fundraising to upgrade OpenAI’s ChatGPT model and back artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure developer Stargate amid […] February 6, 2025
Oil & Gas Adnoc moves its US investments to XRG Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s investments in the US now sit within its new international investment arm, XRG, Adnoc’s CEO said on Tuesday, as the oil giant moves to build up a business focused on lower carbon energy and chemicals. The US investments are in an ExxonMobil hydrogen plant and in NextDecade’s liquefied natural gas […] February 5, 2025
Analysis Markets Trump’s tariffs inject volatility into metal markets President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs have increased uncertainty for global metals and minerals markets. Demand for gold – a traditional safe haven – soared on Tuesday, with the price of international spot gold rising to $2,819.46 an ounce. The precious metal was trading still higher on Wednesday morning at $2,851.21 an ounce. This is despite […] February 5, 2025
Analysis Trade A 10% tariff on China – and a tricky calculation for the Gulf At one minute past midnight in Washington, the United States’ 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports came into effect. Beijing retaliated moments later, announcing even heavier levies on US goods from next week. Canada and Mexico were granted a temporary reprieve after talks on Monday, but there was no last-minute deal for President Donald Trump […] February 5, 2025
Leisure & Hospitality Abu Dhabi’s Modon plans to buy UK events company Modon Holding has announced plans to acquire a global events company. Modon, an investment company that is backed by state-owned Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ), announced on Monday that it plans to complete the acquisition of Theta Bidco, a limited company registered in London that owns 100 percent of Arena Events Group (AEG). The […] February 4, 2025
Analysis Trade Trump tariffs ‘pose long-term risk to Gulf’, say economists Gulf economies could benefit in the short term from a tariff-led trade war between the US and some of its major partners, but they face longer-term risks of lower oil prices, tariffs on their own non-oil exports and high interest rates, analysts have warned. Although President Donald Trump delayed tariffs on Canada and Mexico at […] February 4, 2025
Opinion Tech US ambitions are a fork in the road for GCC crypto If Trump follows through on deregulation, the States could be a serious competitor to the Gulf February 4, 2025
Opinion Trade GCC should target tariff-free food deals with Trump US agriculture could be looking for new export markets February 4, 2025