Saudi Arabia pledges $932m boost to 17 tourism projects in Al-Ahsa

Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb is undertaking a tour of Saudi Arabia. SPA

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Updated 50 sec ago

Reem Walid

November 26, 2024 12:17

Saudi Arabia pledges $932m boost to 17 tourism projects in Al-Ahsa

Updated 50 sec ago

Reem Walid

November 26, 2024 12:17

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has committed over SR3.5 billion ($932 million) to develop 17 tourism projects in Al-Ahsa, positioning the region as a key destination in the Kingdom’s growing travel sector, according to a senior official.

During a meeting with investors and entrepreneurs as part of his broader tour across Saudi regions, Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb outlined plans to enhance the governorate’s tourism infrastructure.

The projects will add more than 1,800 hotel rooms, leveraging Al-Ahsa’s natural and cultural assets to attract domestic and international visitors, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The initiative aligns with the Kingdom’s National Tourism Strategy, which aims to attract 150 million visitors annually by 2030 and increase the tourism sector’s contribution to Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product from 6 percent to 10 percent.

Al-Khateeb highlighted investment opportunities in the sector, reaffirming the ministry’s commitment to providing comprehensive services and facilities to encourage further private sector involvement.

As part of the tour, the minister visited the SR200 million Radisson Blu Hotel in Al-Ahsa. Spanning over 10,000 sq. meters and featuring more than 180 rooms, the hotel — supported by the Tourism Development Fund — combines international luxury with local authenticity, serving as a model for future developments in the region.

Other regions across the Kingdom are also experiencing significant growth in the tourism sector.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Tourism announced that Saudi Arabia’s Hail region welcomed over 1.1 million tourists in the first half of 2024, including 170,000 international visitors, reflecting the Kingdom’s growing appeal as a travel hub.

The ministry also reported that over 907,000 visitors were domestic travelers, showcasing the region’s popularity among residents. Licensed hospitality facilities in Hail now offer around 2,600 rooms, meeting increasing demand.

The surge aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which focuses on enhancing tourism infrastructure and attracting global travelers.

The Kingdom plans to develop Hail as the fifth destination under the Saudi Tourism Investment Co., known as ASFAR, a Public Investment Fund-owned entity.

According to the latest UN Tourism report, Saudi Arabia climbed 15 places to rank 12th globally in tourist spending for 2023 — the largest jump among the top 50 countries.

This follows a September report from the UN Tourism, which highlighted the Kingdom’s leadership among G20 nations with a 73 percent increase in international visitor growth and a 207 percent rise in international tourism receipts from January to July, compared to the same period in 2019.

Topics: Al-Ahsa Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb

Jordan forecasts $14.3bn in public revenues in 2025 budget

Updated 26 November 2024

Miguel Hadchity

November 26, 2024 12:03

Jordan forecasts $14.3bn in public revenues in 2025 budget

Updated 26 November 2024

Miguel Hadchity

November 26, 2024 12:03

RIYADH: Jordan’s public revenues for 2025 are projected at 10.2 billion dinars ($14.3 billion), slightly down from the 10.3 billion dinars forecast for 2024, according to the nation’s General Budget Department.

The 2025 draft budget estimated 9.5 billion dinars in local revenues and 734.3 million dinars from foreign grants, closely aligning with the figures for 2024.

The draft budget provided a detailed financial framework for the country, highlighting major national development projects, governorate-specific allocations, and a roadmap for spending during 2025–2027.

The document underscored the government’s commitment to balancing fiscal discipline with strategic investments aligned with Jordan’s Economic Modernization Vision.

The vision is centered on the slogan “A Better Future” and focuses on two main pillars: driving accelerated economic growth and enhancing the quality of life for all citizens.

Sustainability is also a key foundation of this vision.

Economic and fiscal overview

Total public expenditures for 2025 are estimated at 12.5 billion dinars, consisting of:

11.04 billion dinars in current expenditures allocated for operational and administrative functions, including salaries, pensions, and subsidies.
1.47 billion dinars in capital expenditures, reflecting a 16.5 percent increase compared to 2024. This allocation prioritizes infrastructure development, health care enhancements, and educational improvements.

The budget targets a reduction in the primary deficit to 2 percent of gross domestic product, compared to 2.9 percent in 2024.

Key national investments

The draft budget emphasized transformative projects to address critical national needs, including the National Water Carrier Initiative, which addresses Jordan’s chronic water scarcity and ensures long-term water security.

There is also a focus on a railway project that connects Aqaba Port to Al-Shidiya and Ghor Al-Safi. This initiative aims to boost logistical efficiency and economic integration.

Other key projects include investments in renewable energy and infrastructure upgrades and enhancements in public transportation networks to ease connectivity and reduce environmental impact.

Economic growth targets

The budget framework projects there will be 2.5 percent real GDP growth, driven by ongoing structural reforms.

It also forecases 4.9 percent nominal growth, supported by moderate inflation rates that contribute to financial and monetary stability.

Governorate budgets and modernization efforts

The budget allocates significant funds to governorates to ensure equitable development and address local priorities. Notable regional allocations include money for the construction and maintenance of hospitals, schools, and transportation infrastructure.

There is also funding for agricultural development, water management, and job creation initiatives tailored to local needs.

Specific projects detailed in the governorate budgets include road maintenance and expansions in Irbid, Al-Mafraq, and other regions, investments in health care facilities, including expansions of hospitals and primary care centers, and the development of educational institutions, such as building new schools and upgrading existing facilities.

In line with the “Public Sector Modernization The Roadmap,” the draft budget included funding for implementing updated job guidelines, creating new vacancies, and modernizing public administration to enhance service delivery.

This framework is a comprehensive roadmap to improve public administration and enhance the institutional approach to responding efficiently to domestic and global developments.

Topics: Jordan Jordan economy

Oil Updates – crude steadies amid possible Middle East ceasefire

Updated 26 November 2024

Reuters

November 26, 2024 10:43

Oil Updates – crude steadies amid possible Middle East ceasefire

Israel, Lebanon eye ceasefire in Israel-Hezbollah conflict
MidEast ceasefire cuts likelihood of US sanctions on Iran oil
Kyiv faces sustained Russian drone attacks

Updated 26 November 2024

Reuters

November 26, 2024 10:43

SINGAPORE: Oil prices edged higher in early trade on Tuesday after falling in the previous session as investors took stock of a potential ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, weighing on oil’s risk premium.

Brent crude futures rose 15 cents, or 0.21 percent, to $73.16 a barrel as at 10:05 a.m. Saudi time, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $69.09 a barrel, up 15 cents, or 0.22 percent.

Both benchmarks settled down $2 a barrel on Monday following reports that Lebanon and Israel had agreed to the terms of a deal to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, which triggered a crude oil selloff.

Market reaction to the ceasefire news was “over the top,” said senior market analyst Priyanka Sachdeva at Phillip Nova.

While the news calmed fear of disruption to Middle Eastern supply, the Israel-Hamas conflict “never actually disrupted supplies significantly to induce war premiums” this year, Sachdeva said.

“The vulnerability of oil prices to geopolitical headlines lacks foundational backup and, coupled with the inability to maintain recent gains, reflects weakening global demand for oil and suggests a volatile market ahead.”

Iran, which supports Hezbollah, is an OPEC member with production of around 3.2 million barrels per day, or 3 percent of global output.

A ceasefire in Lebanon would reduce the likelihood that the incoming US administration will impose stringent sanctions on Iranian crude oil, said ANZ analysts.

If President-elect Donald Trump’s administration returned to a maximum-pressure campaign on Tehran, Iranian exports could shrink by 1 million bpd, analysts have said, tightening global crude flows.

In Europe, Ukraine’s capital Kyiv was under a sustained Russian drone attack on Tuesday, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Hostilities between major oil producer Russia and Ukraine intensified this month after US President Joe Biden allowed Ukraine to use US-made weapons to strike deep into Russia in a significant reversal of Washington’s policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Elsewhere, OPEC+ may consider leaving its current oil output cuts in place from Jan. 1 at its next meeting on Sunday, Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov told Reuters, as the producer group had already postponed hikes amid demand worries.

On Monday, Trump said he would sign an executive order imposing a 25 percent tariff on all products coming into the US from Mexico and Canada. It was unclear whether this would include crude oil.

The vast majority of Canada’s 4 million bpd of crude exports go to the US Analysts have said it is unlikely Trump would impose tariffs on Canadian oil, which cannot be easily replaced since it differs from grades that the US produces.

“Contrary to today’s sell-off in risk assets, I think the tariff announcements are actually risk-positive because they are lower than consensus expectations,” said market analyst Tony Sycamore at IG.

Trump’s proposed additional 10 percent tariffs on Chinese imports are “well below” the 60 percent level he threatened pre-election, Sycamore said.

For the time being, markets are eyeing Trump’s plan to increase US oil production, which has been near record levels throughout 2022 to 2024 and absorbed supply disruption from geopolitical crises and sanctions, Phillip Nova’s Sachdeva said.

Topics: oil updates oil prices

Saudi Arabia’s NEOM giga-project a ‘generational investment,’ minister says

Updated 26 November 2024

Reuters

November 26, 2024 10:27

Saudi Arabia’s NEOM giga-project a ‘generational investment,’ minister says

Foreign investors starting to come to NEOM, minister says
On recent departure of NEOM’s CEO, minister says there is a time to pass baton
Risk-return ‘very fair’ for outside investors, Al-Falih says

Updated 26 November 2024

Reuters

November 26, 2024 10:27

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s NEOM gigaproject, a futuristic region being built in the desert, is a “generational investment” with a long timeline, the country’s investment minister told Reuters on Monday, adding that foreign investment will pick up pace.

“NEOM was not meant to be a two-year investable opportunity. If anybody expected NEOM to be foreign investment in two, three or five years, then they have gotten (it) wrong — it’s a generational investment,” Minister Khalid Al-Falih said on the sidelines of the World Investment Conference in Riyadh.

“The flywheel is starting and it will gain speed as we go forward, as some of the foundational assets come to the market,” he said.

The world’s top oil exporter has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into development projects through the Kingdom’s $925 billion sovereign fund, the Public Investment Fund, as it undergoes an economic agenda dubbed Vision 2030 to cut dependence on fossil fuels.

NEOM, a Red Sea urban and industrial development nearly the size of Belgium that is meant to eventually house 9 million people, is central to Vision 2030.

NEOM announced this month its long-time chief executive, Nadhmi Al-Nasr, had stepped down, without giving further details.

Asked what effect the departure would have on investors, the minister said the executive had done “a respectable job” but that “there is a time for everybody to pass on the baton.”

Asked if PIF will continue to do much of the spending on NEOM until more foreign funds come in, Al-Falih said it was not binary.

“I think foreign investors are starting to come to NEOM, they’re starting to channel capital. Some of the projects that the PIF will be doing will be financed through global capital pools, through some alternative and private capital. That’s taking place as we speak,” he said.

“So I urge you not to look at NEOM as being 100 percent PIF and then suddenly there will be a cliff and it will go private.”

Saudi Arabia, which is racing to attract $100 billion in annual foreign direct investment by the turn of the decade — reaching about a quarter of that in 2023 — has recently seen more co-investment deals between state entities and foreign investors.

“It’s always been the intent,” Al-Falih said of foreign inflows alongside state funds.

He noted that foreign investors were at times “still looking, still examining, still sometimes questioning,” but that now there was confidence in the profitability of investment opportunities and that “the risk-return trade-offs are very, very fair and positive to them.”

Topics: NEOM Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih

Saudi Arabia’s fintech demand offers growth prospects for UK firms: London Lord Mayor

Updated 26 November 2024

Nadin Hassan

REEM WALID

November 25, 2024 18:00

Saudi Arabia’s fintech demand offers growth prospects for UK firms: London Lord Mayor

Updated 26 November 2024

Nadin Hassan REEM WALID

November 25, 2024 18:00

RIYADH: UK-based fintech firms have an opportunity to address rising demand for fintech services in Saudi Arabia, according to the Lord Mayor of London.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 28th World Investment Conference in Riyadh, Alderman Alastair King highlighted the UK capital’s extensive expertise in fintech, particularly as the city works on digitizing national debt instruments.

He noted that such initiatives could provide opportunities for collaboration between the UK and Saudi Arabia’s growing fintech sector.

“We have incredible expertise in London in relation to fintech and financial technologies in general. I know there’s a great demand for that sector here in Saudi, so those are some of the areas we are concentrating on,” said the Lord Mayor.

“In the United Kingdom, we’ve just started to digitize our national gilts, what they call the debt instruments. Now, there’s a road ahead to digitize them, which is a wonderful opportunity to work on those types of things,” he said.

A gilt is a UK government bond issued in sterling, and London’s efforts to digitize these instruments could pave the way for similar initiatives in Saudi Arabia, added.

King went to say that the payments sector could also be explored, noting that the entire sector is being transformed by fintech and that there are enormous opportunities for collaboration.

Other sectors that could be devoloped include infrastructure, insurance, and legal services, as well as asset management, and banking.

“London is the number one global center for professional services in the world. Saudi Arabia is the fastest growing economy in the G20. There’s going to be a fantastic symbiosis between us, and we can do all sorts of things together,” the Lord Mayor said during the interview.

King also discussed the broader opportunities arising from Saudi Arabia’s energy transition and economic diversification, particularly in industries such as asset management, banking, and insurance. He emphasized the role of both large companies and small and medium-sized enterprises in fostering innovation.

“In London, as an extraordinary financial and professional services ecosystem, there is a symbiosis between small and medium-sized companies and the large ones. Part of my job is to go around to the British companies, whether small, medium, or large, and encourage them to take advantage of the international markets that are going to be available to us,” the Lord Mayor said.

“So, although the early adopters are the large companies, I think you often see real innovation coming out of the small and medium-sized companies,” he added.

The Lord Mayor added that he would consider it a success if more British firms expanded into Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council markets, particularly in professional services.

“I’d also view success as greater investment flows into financial and professional services in the UK,” he concluded.

Investment trends

During a panel discussion at the World Investment Conference, Nan Li Collins, senior director of investment and enterprise at the UN Conference on Trade and Development, discussed global investment trends, emphasizing the importance of effective regional policies and multilateral efforts to counteract fragmentation and protectionism.

“I think these are the efforts we need to promote globally for more multilateral reasons, for more regional integration, to lower trade and investment barriers, and then work with countries’ investment promotion agencies to look at how to strengthen investment facilitation,” she added.

During the discussion, Collins highlighted three key trends shaping the market.

“The first is the long-term trend of trade and investment,” she said, adding that while GDP and trade have grown steadily since the 2008 financial crisis, FDI has stagnated.

She identified global fracturing as the second trend, noting that investment is increasing in geopolitically aligned countries but declining in more distant ones.

The third trend is digitization, Collins said, adding that over the last decade, investment in digital services has risen from 60 percent to 80 percent, now accounting for the majority of new global FDI.

Topics: World Investment Conference fintech Lord mayor of London business

Saudi Tadawul Group rolls out 2nd phase of post-trade enhancements

Updated 25 November 2024

Nour El-Shaeri

November 25, 2024 17:14

Saudi Tadawul Group rolls out 2nd phase of post-trade enhancements

Updated 25 November 2024

Nour El-Shaeri

November 25, 2024 17:14

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s capital markets are on track for substantial growth following the successful rollout of the second phase of the post-trade transformation enhancements by the Saudi Tadawul Group.

This latest phase, which includes upgrades across key subsidiaries — the Saudi Exchange, the Securities Clearing Center (Muqassa), and the Securities Depository Center (Edaa)—marks a significant milestone in the ongoing efforts to expand investment opportunities and bring the market in line with international standards.

Building on the first phase completed in 2022, these enhancements represent the largest transformation of the Saudi capital market to date. The upgrades are designed to broaden access to a wide range of financial instruments, improve market efficiency, and reduce systemic risks.

This initiative is part of the Tadawul Group’s contribution to the Financial Sector Development Program, a core element of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which aims to position the kingdom as a leading global investment hub.

Wael Al-Hazzani, program director of the post-trade transformation and CEO of Muqassa, described the second-phase rollout as a “pivotal moment” for the Saudi capital market. He highlighted the role of these enhancements in diversifying investment options, expanding opportunities, and creating a more efficient, transparent, and secure post-trade infrastructure.

“This initiative reinforces our commitment to strengthening the Saudi capital market’s infrastructure, ultimately positioning it as a leading global financial hub,” Al-Hazzani said.

The first phase of the post-trade infrastructure enhancements, completed in 2022, brought significant improvements to the market, including updates to business models and the transformation of post-trade technologies. These upgrades enhanced clearing, settlement, and custody services, laying the groundwork for the more advanced changes seen in phase two.

Among the key innovations in phase two are important upgrades to the Saudi Exchange, including enhancements to the derivatives market and market-making processes.

Market makers and high-frequency traders now benefit from unified trading functionalities across both cash and derivatives markets, improving liquidity and overall market efficiency. These updates also bring the Saudi Exchange in line with global best practices by improving transparency and harmonizing market microstructure elements, further solidifying its competitive position on the global stage.

Other improvements at the Saudi Exchange include an automated order flagging mechanism to cancel orders during trading engine disconnections, a new reporting service to enhance trade monitoring, and synchronized bid/ask quotes for market makers to optimize their quoting activity. Additionally, exchange members can now execute and accept bilateral trades directly through their order management systems.

Muqassa has introduced enhancements aligned with global Central Counterparty best practices. These updates include real-time trade reconciliation, improved reconciliation processes, and updates to trading limits for derivatives and covered call margining. These changes strengthen pre-trade risk management and operational efficiency. Furthermore, Muqassa’s transition to a multi-asset clearing engine places it among a select group of CCPs worldwide, capable of managing clearing activities across multiple asset classes on a single platform. These upgrades are expected to reduce costs, increase transparency, and enhance overall efficiency for market participants.

Edaa has made significant improvements to its post-trade infrastructure, particularly in messaging protocols and reporting processes. These upgrades, in line with international standards, aim to improve market efficiency, governance, and stability. The changes enhance the experience for capital market institutions, custodians, settlement agents, and investors, providing a seamless and secure post-trade environment.

Together, these enhancements are expected to bolster market stability, reduce systemic risks, and attract both domestic and international investors, positioning the Saudi capital market as a world-class financial center aligned with global best practices.

Topics: Tadawul

Saudi Arabia pledges $932m boost to 17 tourism projects in Al-Ahsa

Saudi Arabia pledges $932m boost to 17 tourism projects in Al-Ahsa

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Jordan forecasts $14.3bn in public revenues in 2025 budget

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Saudi Arabia’s NEOM giga-project a ‘generational investment,’ minister says

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Saudi Arabia’s fintech demand offers growth prospects for UK firms: London Lord Mayor

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Saudi Arabia pledges $932m boost to 17 tourism projects in Al-Ahsa

Saudi Arabia pledges $932m boost to 17 tourism projects in Al-Ahsa

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