Saudi Arabia is in a second era of massive expansion. Plans are even more spectacular in scale than the first time round. The effect on Saudi business and industry is already apparent. As can be seen... Full Story

IT is boom time again in Saudi Arabia, thanks to consistently high oil prices — and the investment spree is on a par with the more famous boom of the 1970s. Hardly a week passes without another mega... Full Story

There are few big surprises in the latest Top 100 list. Most companies are in the same general area of ranking as last year, the first seven in exactly the same position. Kingdom Holding Company —... Full Story

Kingdom Holding, which for the third year in a row topped the list of major Saudi earners, is to build two massive real estate projects, one in Riyadh and the other in Jeddah. Kingdom Holding Chairman... Full Story

The year 2005 was a remarkable one for Bank AlJazira. Although not the largest bank in Saudi Arabia by a long shot — it is No. 10 on the list of Top 10 banks with revenue last year of SR1.3 billion... Full Story

Saudi Arabia has embarked on a major SR100 billion ($26.6 billion) project to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and transform the Saudi economy into a global economic powerhouse. Last December,... Full Story

The planned Jizan Economic City (JEC), launched by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah at the beginning of the month, will have an industrial zone, a logistic service center, a power and... Full Story

The Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Musaed Economic City (PABMEC) in Hail, 720 km north of Riyadh, offers more than 360 investment opportunities in agricultural and mineral industries as well as in educational... Full Story

The Knowledge Economic City (KEC) planned for Madinah stands out among the Kingdom’s economic cities because of its goal of promoting knowledge-based industries (KBIs). The new city will have a technological... Full Story

The extraordinary industrial and infrastructural expansion now under way across the Kingdom promises massive opportunities for the construction sector. However, a report compiled by the Council of... Full Story

Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid is chairman both of the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry and of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He is, effectively, the voice of the... Full Story

The petrochemical sector in the Kingdom has reached a defining moment. It has assumed a critical mass. Higher oil prices, enhanced liquidity and cheap feedstock continue to provide the industry in... Full Story

A newspaper cartoon some time ago depicted the Kingdom’s Eastern Province as an economic milch cow being sucked dry by Riyadh and Jeddah. That is not only an exaggeration but unfair as well. Eastern... Full Story

Founded just seven years ago, Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) is the largest private petrochemicals company in the Kingdom and one of the largest in the Middle East — and business... Full Story

With the construction boom at home and a growing market for petrochemicals abroad, Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) has gone into expansion mode in order to cope with escalating demands. It has... Full Story

The industrial cities of Jubail and Yanbu, conceived by a Royal Commission 31 years ago, laid the foundations for economic diversification with the recognition that the Kingdom needed to move away... Full Story

During Microsoft Corporation Chairman Bill Gates’ recent visit to the Saudi capital, there was an emphasis on building stronger relationships with both the government and the nation’s business community.... Full Story

Mission statements and declarations of commitment are almost obligatory on company websites these days. The HSBC-SABB website is no exception. HSBC Saudi Arabia, it says, is committed to “be the preferred... Full Story

These are exciting times for Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG), one of the leading media groups in the Kingdom and the Middle East. Buoyed by a record SR181 million net profit for fiscal... Full Story

Urban development is an important area of expertise at Saihati Group, based in Eastern Province. It is involved in a variety of activities — construction, real estate, transport, industry, banking,... Full Story

Saudi Arabia is taking to the skies. The foundations of a Saudi aerospace industry have been laid with a $40 billion deal to buy 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jet planes from the UK’s BAE Systems. The deal... Full Story

The paradigm shift associated with the high oil revenues and vastly increased liquidity has had its impact on the markets. Taking investment opportunities to a bankable stage is a challenge as the... Full Story

It is not surprising that the asset class to which banks in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the GCC have the largest exposure is real estate, followed by equities. Although Saudi and foreign banks now... Full Story

Al-Rajhi Bank is a name people have come to trust. Unlike most other banks in the Kingdom offering Islamic services in some respects, Al-Rajhi is 100 percent Islamic in all its transactions, stocks... Full Story

The emergence of the sukuk (Islamic bond) market in Saudi Arabia in the last year is a major boon, not only for the nascent Islamic capital markets but also for the involvement of Islamic finance in... Full Story

By the middle of 2006 there were 209 investment funds in the Kingdom, according to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), with assets of SR109 billion provided by 580,000 subscribers. That is down... Full Story

Most people around the world think that all Saudi exports are measured in barrels. It is remarkable how few realize that there is more to the Saudi economy than oil, let alone that Saudi products are... Full Story

With 13 insurance companies already licensed by the authorities and 18 more still waiting for approval, the insurance market in the Kingdom is poised for a big leap forward. It is estimated that the... Full Story

He has been hailed as a marketing genius. His job is to sell Saudi Arabia Inc. to the world — especially to foreign investors — and if he has his way then the Kingdom will attract a staggering $650... Full Story

Italian trade with Saudi Arabia is booming. Last year Saudi Arabia bought SR8.5 billion worth of Italian goods, putting the country in eighth position in the list of principal suppliers to the Saudi... Full Story

Demonstrating the sector’s continuing strength, investors snapped up telecom shares on the Saudi stock market’s first trading day after the Eid Al-Fitr holiday last month. The Saudi Telecom Co. (STC)... Full Story

Despite occasional bouts of political anti-Americanism invading the commercial sector and manifesting themselves in threats of private boycotts, despite the diversification of Saudi commercial ties... Full Story

Saudi Arabia has the infrastructure that tourism requires with the exception of a tourist-visa process for individuals, according to a top travel and tour operator. “I don’t see any challenges... Full Story

The new intensity marking Saudi and Indian ties is likely to become even stronger in the near future. Saudi Ambassador Saleh Al-Ghamdi attributes this to “the will and determination” of both... Full Story

The opening by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah of the International Medical Center (IMC) in Jeddah on Oct. 29 marked a new era in private health care in the city, and beyond. It... Full Story

China is the fourth largest supplier of goods to Saudi Arabia, while the Kingdom is the No. 1 oil exporter to China. Last year, it bought 22.2 million tons of crude oil from the Kingdom. This year,... Full Story

Saudi Arabia is fast heading into a new era in civil aviation. The privatization of state-owned Saudi Arabian Airlines is under way and plans for the operation of two low-cost airlines are being made. The... Full Story

The Arab Supply & Trading Corporation (ASTRA Group), ASTRA, whose products and services are known for more than 35 years, is an integral part and reflection of the economic developments taking place... Full Story

A trip to the local souk can be fun. It is full of color, full of people, full of activity — and full of fakes. But hey, we all know a fake when we see one. The label says Prada, Christian Lacroix... Full Story

Japan is optimistic that the historic visit of Crown Prince Sultan to Tokyo in April this year has opened a new chapter in Saudi-Japanese relations. Many Japanese companies, buoyed by the recovery... Full Story

In the next four years, some $11.9 billion will be invested in mining projects in the Kingdom, much of it by the state-run Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden). The main minerals are gold, phosphates... Full Story

The Ninth Arab Conference for Mineral Resources held in Jeddah recently urged investors to explore, develop and industrialize a sector that has remained largely untapped in the region (including Saudi... Full Story

There are few registered businesswomen in the Saudi chambers of commerce and industry and only a small fraction of the number is investing in industry. Most of the businesses registered in women’s... Full Story

Work in establishing the first all-women industrial zone (or “city,” as it is locally called) is progressing and the project will be ready for operation after the completion of infrastructure and equipment.... Full Story

In Jeddah, a tanker full of water costs about SR115. The price of the same amount of water delivered through the mains is roughly equivalent to the price of a can of soft drink. This seems to... Full Story

UniTrans Budget, described as the largest car rental company in Saudi Arabia, has announced that it will soon be going public. Claimed to be the only ISO 9001 car rental company in the Kingdom, UniTrans... Full Story

American Express, through its local presence, Amex (Saudi Arabia), is offering corporate cards to Saudi businesses to help streamline their travel and entertainment expenses. American Express has become... Full Story

When the Saudi stock market bubble burst earlier this year and the Saudi stock market, the Tadawul, took a dive, the howls of financial pain could be heard from one end of the Kingdom to the other.... Full Story

Saudi Arabia this year started installing post office boxes at residences, and there seems to be very few signs that people have begun adapting to the new service. This might be due to the fact that... Full Story

Saudi Aramco has been a major contributor to meeting the Kingdom’s and the world’s energy needs for nearly seven decades. Responsible for roughly 260 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, Saudi Aramco... Full Story

The niche that Eastern Province has carved out in the Saudi industrial map reflects its dominance in oil, gas and petrochemicals. These sectors, however, have put into the shadow much of the world-class... Full Story