Page 13 - Saudi Arabia

Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif set to visit Saudi to advance investment talks

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to visit Saudi Arabia soon, his second trip this month to the friendly Gulf kingdom, to advance investment talks as his cash-strapped government has presented lucrative returns on Saudi investment. According to The Express Tribune, in addition to the enticing prospects of harvesting rich dividends on investment, Pakistan has assured priority in profits to Saudi investors without any hindrances. Sharif's government has presented returns ranging from an appealing 14 per cent to an astounding 50 per cent on Saudi investment, the report said. According to government sources involved in these discussions, the indicated returns on Saudi investment are expected to allow the Kingdom to recoup its invested capital within three to nine years, depending on the nature of the project. Pakistan aims to advance the Saudi Arabia investment initiative during the April 27-28 visit of Sharif, who will be accompanied by a team from the Special ...

Saudi' Arabia's Neom hunts for more cash for $1.5 trillion desert city

Neom recently secured a 10 billion-riyals loan from a group of Saudi banks, according to two other people familiar with the deal

Eyeless in Gaza

Little visibility on the end of the conflict

Saudi Crown Prince MBS's $100 billion foreign investment quest falters

Saudi Arabia has long recognized its funding requirements would mostly be backed by local capital and only partly by foreign money

Saudi Arabia to preside over UN forum on women's rights, gender equality

Saudi ambassador to the UN, Abdulaziz Alwasil, was elected as chair on Wednesday

LTIMindtree-Aramco JV to work on enhancing women employment in Saudi Arabia

The joint venture of tech consulting firm LTIMindtree and Aramco will mirror India's strategy to build a technology talent pool in Saudi Arabia and enhance women's employment in the country, a senior official of the Indian IT company said. LTIMindtree and Aramco have formed a joint venture to create a next-generation digital and IT services company in Saudi Arabia to provide technology services for the rapid digitisation of the Saudi market and build a local talent pool over a period of time. LTIMindtree President and Executive Board Member Sudhir Chaturvedi told PTI that the company's collaboration with Aramco Digital will establish a next-generation digital and IT services company in Saudi Arabia. "We are going to make sure that like we do in India, wherein we hire both experienced professionals as well as freshers from universities and then train them into the process. Essentially, we will replicate that model there, obviously with nuances, which are specific to the Saudi market.

Saudi Arabia plans $40 billion investment in artificial intelligence

In recent weeks, representatives of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund have discussed a potential partnership with Andreessen Horowitz, one of Silicon Valley's top venture capital firms

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund in talks to buy national airline

The PIF would be taking over ownership of the airline from the government with a view to improving efficiency and profitability

Saudi Arabia attracts $13 bn private sector investment in tourism industry

'The current GDP contribution is 4.5% and we aim to get that to 10% by 2030,' she said in an interview. 'We started from 3.2% when we opened up for tourism.'

Saudi Arabia's Aramco hikes dividend 30% to $98 bn despite drop in profit

The profit, down from $161.1 billion in 2022, was still the company's second-highest on record, Aramco said on Sunday as it reported total dividends for the year of $97.8 billion, up 30%

Saudi Arabia transfers another 8% of Aramco shares to sovereign wealth fund

Saudi Arabia's crown prince transferred another 8% of shares in the kingdom's oil giant Saudi Aramco to the country's prominent sovereign wealth fund on Thursday. The shares are worth some $160 billion. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's decision comes as the kingdom is trying to build a series of megaprojects and invest in sports and other fields aggressively abroad to wean the country off of relying solely on oil. The country's sovereign wealth fund known as the Public Investment Fund, or PIF, has been a key element of Mohammed's plans, known as Saudi Vision 2030. The transfer of part of the state's shares in Saudi Aramco is a continuation of Saudi Arabia's long-term initiatives to boost and diversify the national economy and expand investment opportunities in line with Saudi Vision 2030, a statement announcing the deal said. The transfer will also solidify PIF's strong financial position and credit rating. The statement said the kingdom's ownership in Aramco would now be 82.186%

Kalpataru Projects International to lay 800 kms gas pipeline for Aramco

Kalpataru Projects International on Tuesday said it has secured an order from Saudi Arabia's energy major Aramco for laying 800 kilometres of gas pipeline. Kalpataru Projects International Ltd (KPIL) has received the letter of intent (LoI) from Aramco for carrying out engineering, procurement and construction works for three packages of the third expansion phase of the Master Gas System Network (MGS-3) in Saudi Arabia, KPIL said in a statement. The EPC work scope covers laying of over 800 kms of lateral gas pipeline, it said, adding that the value of the project will be confirmed upon contract execution. MGS-3 project aims to expand the existing gas network to supply gas to various industrial consumers. This expansion is expected to enhance Aramco's ability to meet the growing energy demand in Saudi Arabia and replace liquid fuel burning, contributing to Saudi Arabia's drive towards a diverse energy mix. Having roughly two decades of experience in cross-country pipelines, processin

Rajasthan Royals appoints Saudi's NEOM as main partner in a two-year deal

NEOM, being built in the northwestern Tabuk Province of Saudi, is boasted as a sustainably planned urban development initiative. NEOM is aimed at turning into an economic engine for the nation

Opec+ production cuts deepen with extensions from Saudi, other oil giants

Some members of oil cartel OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, and allied producers like Russia are again deepening their voluntary crude supply cuts. Announcements from several OPEC+ countries extend reductions of some 2.2 million barrels a day, the secretariat for the multinational organisation noted Sunday. Saudi Arabia led the pack by extending its previously-implemented cut of 1 million barrels a day through the end of 2024's second quarter. The extension, which was first shared by the state-owned Saudi Press Agency citing a Energy Ministry source, means the kingdom's crude production will stand at about 9 million barrels a day through the end of June. Also on Sunday, Russia announced an additional voluntary cut of 471,000 barrels per day for the second quarter across a blend of production and exports. Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman will be continuing reductions as well, according to OPEC's secretariat, in smaller amounts. The OPEC+ countries ...

Houthi rebels allegedly fire rocket off ship travelling through Red Sea

A rocket exploded late Tuesday night off the side of a ship travelling through the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, authorities said, the latest suspected attack to be carried out by Yemen's Houthi rebels. The attack comes as the Houthis continue a series of assaults at sea over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and as the US and its allies launch airstrikes trying to stop them. The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre, which oversees shipping in the Mideast, reported the attack happened about 110 kilometres off the coast of the Houthi-held port city of Hodeida. The rocket exploded several miles off the bow of the vessel, it said. The crew and vessel are reported to be safe and are proceeding to next port of call, the UKMTO said. The private security firm Ambrey reported that the vessel targeted appeared to be a Marshall Islands-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier in the area at the time. Another ship, a Panama-flagged, Emirati-owned chemical tanker

Saudi sovereign wealth fund pitches kingdom as AI hub outside of US

"AI will consume a lot of energy and we are the global leader when it comes to fossil fuel energy and when it comes to renewable energy," he said

Saudi Arabia eyes 7.5 mn Indian visitors by 2030, offers 96-hour free visa

When queried about the Indian market's role in Saudi Arabia, Aldabbagh asserted, 'India is a priority market for Saudi. Last year alone, we welcomed 1.5 million visitors from India

Indian drug firms look for new opportunities in Saudi Arabia pharma market

Indian drug firms sense opportunity to increase presence in $8.9 bn Saudi market

Alibaba looks for partners in West Asia as Beijing deepens Gulf ties

Alibaba is trying to stage a comeback after years of government punishment and strategic missteps that cost the e-commerce operator its place as leader of the country's tech industry

Former Trump advisor Kushner defends business dealings with Saudi Arabia

Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's former White House advisor and his son-in-law, defended on Tuesday his business dealings after leaving government with the Saudi crown prince who was implicated in the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Kushner worked on a wide range of issues and policies in the Trump administration, including Middle East peace efforts, and developed a relationship with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has overseen social and economic reforms and a far-reaching crackdown on dissent in the kingdom. After Kushner left the White House, he started a private equity firm that received a reported USD 2 billion investment from the sovereign wealth fund controlled by Prince Mohammed, drawing scrutiny from Democrats. Kushner, speaking at a summit in Miami on Tuesday sponsored by media company Axios, said he followed every law and ethics rule. He dismissed the idea of there being any concerns about the appearance of a conflict of intere