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Saudi Arabia tourism projects Dragon Ball theme park

Arab Disneyland and Da Vinci: Saudi Arabia’s two great hopes

Saudi Arabia is spending billions on tourism projects at the heart of its grand plan to transform a once isolated kingdom into a global tourist destination. But a nagging question is haunting policymakers: will the world pay attention?   Tourism numbers are rising, hitting 27.4 million in 2023, but half of those were religious visitors.  The […]

Saudi Arabia has the seventh largest mining industry in the world

Mineral wealth leads global lab to open in Saudi Arabia

The drive to exploit Saudi Arabia’s estimated $2.5 trillion of untapped mineral wealth has moved another step forward with the opening by the global laboratory testing company Bureau Veritas of a new metal and minerals facility in Jeddah. “Saudi Arabia is one of our key markets. It’s fast growing and that’s what makes it quite […]

Visitors at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co museum in Taiwan. The proposed chip-making projects in the UAE could require more than $100 billion in investments

Global chip giants explore opening UAE factories

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest chip makers, are exploring the possibility of opening mega-manufacturing facilities in the UAE. The terms of discussion include projects to be funded by the UAE, with Abu Dhabi-based sovereign Mubadala playing a key role, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. Executives from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing […]

Trending

  1. Turkey imposes restrictions on hybrid car imports  

  2. Companies shortlisted for $1bn Oman wind farms

  3. MGM applies for UAE casino licence says CEO

  4. Egypt to sell United Bank stake next year

  5. Jordan tourism down 7% to 4.2m visitors

OPINION & Analysis

Best of AGBI

The huge ambitions of PIF come at vast expense

The scale of the holdings is vast and the ambition is huge. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund was the world’s highest-spending state-owned investor in the first half of 2024, according to Global SWF, a consultancy.   It is due to raise its annual spending to $70 billion in 2025, a year earlier than previously announced, according […]

‘Bot traders’ defy Opec and determine the price of oil

Oil has been trading at its lowest levels in a year, posing a severe challenge to Opec in its efforts to impose a floor on prices. But analysts say that speculative financial players are also driving price determination, alongside traders who study the fundamentals of supply and demand. Opec has voiced frustration at what it […]

Ankara’s twin tech challenge to woo foreign experts and keep its own

Turkey wants to persuade foreign tech entrepreneurs and innovators to move to the country with a scheme providing a fast-tracked business permit and residency visa, as it seeks to position itself as a leading international technology hub.  Ankara has already made a call to tech-savvy travellers through a programme launched in April offering an easy […]

Oil production in Libya returns, but full recovery is uncertain

Oil production in politically divided Libya is slowly recovering, after a tumultuous August when fields across the country were shut down. But crude exports remain disrupted, and government revenues are still dampened, amid concerns over prolonged instability. Libyan factions failed last week to resolve crises over the central bank’s powers and oil revenues. Crude output […]

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UAE latest

In the first half of 2024, Adnoc Distribution reported a 7.7 percent year-on-year rise in net profit to $319 million

Adnoc Distribution to pay $350m in interim dividend

Adnoc Distribution, an Abu Dhabi-listed fuel and convenience retailer, will pay an interim dividend of AED1.3 billion ($350 million) for the first half of 2024. The dividend is the first instalment of the expected full-year 2024 dividend of $700 million. The payout falls under the five-year dividend policy, which has set an annual dividend of […]

Visitors at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co museum in Taiwan. The proposed chip-making projects in the UAE could require more than $100 billion in investments

Global chip giants explore opening UAE factories

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest chip makers, are exploring the possibility of opening mega-manufacturing facilities in the UAE. The terms of discussion include projects to be funded by the UAE, with Abu Dhabi-based sovereign Mubadala playing a key role, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. Executives from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing […]

An impression of Wynn Al Marjan Island resort in Ras Al Khaimah, which is slated to open in early 2027

MGM applies for UAE casino licence says CEO

US hospitality and entertainment group MGM Resorts has submitted a proposal to the UAE government to secure a casino operating licence, CEO Bill Hornbuckle has confirmed. “The way it will work is the federal government in Abu Dhabi will approve it, we’ve applied for it and hopefully we’ll win the licence there,” Hornbuckle said at […]

Saudi Arabia latest

Saudi Arabia tourism projects Dragon Ball theme park

Arab Disneyland and Da Vinci: Saudi Arabia’s two great hopes

Saudi Arabia is spending billions on tourism projects at the heart of its grand plan to transform a once isolated kingdom into a global tourist destination. But a nagging question is haunting policymakers: will the world pay attention?   Tourism numbers are rising, hitting 27.4 million in 2023, but half of those were religious visitors.  The […]

Saudi Arabia has the seventh largest mining industry in the world

Mineral wealth leads global lab to open in Saudi Arabia

The drive to exploit Saudi Arabia’s estimated $2.5 trillion of untapped mineral wealth has moved another step forward with the opening by the global laboratory testing company Bureau Veritas of a new metal and minerals facility in Jeddah. “Saudi Arabia is one of our key markets. It’s fast growing and that’s what makes it quite […]

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, September 11, 2024. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY

The huge ambitions of PIF come at vast expense

The scale of the holdings is vast and the ambition is huge. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund was the world’s highest-spending state-owned investor in the first half of 2024, according to Global SWF, a consultancy.   It is due to raise its annual spending to $70 billion in 2025, a year earlier than previously announced, according […]

Saudi petrochemical

Second-half slide expected for Saudi petrochemical industry

With higher shipping and logistic rates and stable prices of raw materials, Saudi petrochemical producers are likely to report lower earnings in the second half of the year, an expert has said. The companies reported margin peaks in the second quarter of the year, but they are likely to face pressures on profit margins in […]

Around the Middle East

Oman windfarm

Companies shortlisted for $1bn Oman wind farms

Twelve companies have been shortlisted to build five large-scale wind power stations across Oman. The five projects, due to be completed by 2027, will bring a 20-fold increase in the amount of electricity generated by wind power in Oman, from 50MW to 1GW. The shortlist to build the projects, for a total investment of OMR500 […]

OQ Exploration & Production will offer 2 billion shares on September 30 on the Muscat stock exchange

OQ production unit’s IPO set to raise $2bn

OQ Exploration and Production (OQEP), a unit of Oman’s state energy company, OQ, is expected to raise a maximum of OMR780 million ($2.03 billion) from its listing on the Muscat stock exchange. The offering, expected to be the country’s largest IPO, has been priced between 370 and 390 baisas per share with the final price […]

Desert, Nature, Outdoors

Jordan tourism down 7% to 4.2m visitors

The number of visitors to Jordan fell 7 percent year on year to 4.2 million in the first eight months of 2024, official data reveals. However, Arab visiitors did increase, up 6 percent to 2.3 million tourists over the same period last year, Jordan Times reported, citing data from ministry of tourism and antiquities. Arab […]

Morocco cannabis

Legal cannabis offers Morocco a route into Europe

The King of Morocco, Mohammed Vl, has taken the unprecedented step of pardoning more than 4,800 illegal cannabis farmers in the north of his country.  Mohammed El Guerrouj, the head of the National Agency for the Regulation of Cannabis-Related Activities (Anrac), said the decision was made to encourage farmers to grow cannabis legally and to […]

QIA is exploring investment opportunities, including carve-outs among conglomerates and take-private deals in Japan

QIA looks at investments in Australia and Asia

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is looking at expanding into Australia, South Korea and Southeast Asia as part of its growth strategy, a senior fund official has said. The sovereign fund is starting to hire locally in Australia and South Korea, Abdulla Ali Al-Kuwari, head of Asia Pacific at QIA Advisory, told a panel at the […]

Work has commenced on Morocco's Khouribga pipeline project, which will have a total annual capacity of 80 million cubic meters

Moroccan company gets $108m to tackle water scarcity

A new €100 million ($108 million) loan from a World Bank unit will help Morocco tackle water scarcity, which has been hindering economic growth. The loan is being provided through the International Facility Corporation (IFC) to Casablanca-based OCP Group, a producer of plant nutrition solutions and phosphate-based fertilisers. It will fund the construction of a […]

Saipem's EPC contract will help sustain production at QatarEnergy LNG's North Field offshore natural gas reservoir

QatarEnergy LNG awards $4bn contract to Saipem

QatarEnergy LNG, one of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) companies, has awarded a $4 billion contract to Italy’s Saipem to boost its gas production. The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract will aid in sustaining production at the North Field natural gas reservoir off the northeast coast of Qatar. The work scope includes the […]

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Turkey Latest

Sales rose 159 percent in the first eight months of 2024 as 41,300 EVs rolled off Turkey’s lots, a third being the domestically-produced Togg

Turkey imposes restrictions on hybrid car imports  

Turkey has introduced stringent regulations on the import of plug-in hybrid vehicles from some countries, including China. The notice includes rules such as importers need to have at least 20 authorised service centres across seven regions in Turkey for chargeable hybrid vehicles not manufactured in the European Union or in countries with which Turkey has […]

Botas and TotalEnergies executives sign the long-term LNG supply deal in the presence of Turkish energy and natural resources minister Alparslan Bayraktar

Turkey’s Botas signs 10-year LNG deal with TotalEnergies

Turkish energy company Boru Hatları ile Petrol Taşıma AŞ (Botas) has signed a deal to purchase 16 billion cubic metres (bcm) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from France’s TotalEnergies. The 10-year deal will start from 2027, Anadolu Agency reported, citing Turkish energy and natural resources minister Alparslan Bayraktar. The deal offers flexible and competitive terms, […]

Turkey tech visa digital nomad

Ankara’s twin tech challenge to woo foreign experts and keep its own

Turkey wants to persuade foreign tech entrepreneurs and innovators to move to the country with a scheme providing a fast-tracked business permit and residency visa, as it seeks to position itself as a leading international technology hub.  Ankara has already made a call to tech-savvy travellers through a programme launched in April offering an easy […]

Turkey, Ankara, 2024-02-10. Togg T10X fully electric SUV produced by Turkish car manufacturer Turkey’s Automobile Joint Venture Group (Togg) during 6th Efficiency and Technology Fair held by Ankara Science University at ATO Congresium International Convention and Exhibition Centre. The fair aims to exhibit advanced technological products that contribute to increasing productivity in the country with establishing close relations with international companies and organisations.

Turkey’s automotive sector is decelerating sharply

Output in Turkey’s powerful automotive sector decelerated sharply in August, in a year-long trend that has seen domestic production fall and exports slow. Local manufacturers say they are facing competition from imports and grappling with sky-high interest rates.  Total vehicle production in August was 53,000, down 27 percent compared to the same month last year, […]

Almost half of all Turkish accommodation and food service providers took advantage of IT, up from 36 percent in 2022

Shortage of IT specialists slows Turkish business growth

A shortage of trained IT specialists is slowing Turkish companies’ growth and their development of artificial intelligence applications, according to a new report.  The report, issued by Turkey’s state statistics agency Turkstat, found some sectors had a strong uptake of ecommerce sales and services. Almost half of all accommodation and food service providers took advantage […]

Egypt Latest

United Bank’s total assets increased to EGP106 billion ($2.2 billion) in June 2024 from EGP72 billion in 2021

Egypt to sell United Bank stake next year

Egypt’s central bank intends to list the state-run United Bank on the local stock exchange in the first quarter of 2025. The central bank is working to secure approvals from the Financial Regulatory Authority and the Egyptian stock exchange to launch the initial public offering (IPO), the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported. Details of […]

Workers at Egypt's Zohr gas facility. It is unclear if the drop in output is due to technical issues or lack of investment

Egypt plans to restore full gas output in 2025

Egypt plans to restore its natural gas production to normal levels by June 2025, the prime minister has said.  The country has become a net importer of fuel amid declining domestic output and increasing energy demand.  Falling output from Zohr – Egypt’s largest natural gas field developed by Eni of Italy – led to daily […]

Saudi Arabia’s new investment of $5bn will be separate from its deposits with the central bank, Egypt's prime minister Mostafa Madbouly said

Egypt explores new mega deals like Ras El-Hekma

Egypt is planning new developments along the Red Sea coast, with at least five new areas identified for deals similar to Ras El-Hekma, prime minister Mostafa Madbouly has said. The UAE sovereign fund ADQ unveiled plans in February to invest $35 billion to build the “largest new city” in Egypt to promote tourism and drive […]

Egypt hotel Jaz Belvedere

Plan announced to build six new hotels in Egypt

Plans to open six new hotels in Egypt in 2025 at a cost of $215 million have been revealed by the CEO of an Egyptian hotel company. Alaa Akel, chief executive of Jaz Hotel Group, a subsidiary of the Egyptian travel and tourism company Travco, said the group will open two new hotels on Egypt’s […]

An Acwa Power wind farm near Tangier. Its plans for Egypt include a 1.1GW wind power project on the Red Sea

Egypt to receive half of Acwa Power’s $30bn Africa investment

Saudi energy company Acwa Power is hoping for financial close on the first phase of a scheme to invest $15 billion in Egypt over the next six years, as part of a plan to quadruple its total investment in Africa. A flagship green hydrogen scheme in Egypt, as yet unnamed, could become the second-largest of […]

Features

Ahmed bin Sulayem told AGBI that AI impacts every sector within DMCC Video length: 03:30

Dubai AI leaders call for global regulations

Digital economy leaders in the UAE called for the global unification of artificial intelligence regulations at the launch of DMCC’s AI Centre last week.  Dubai issued a universal blueprint for AI earlier this year, but a unified framework governing the growing AI technology sector is still lacking.  “How can you disregard the artificial intelligence sector […]

Project stardust: why Dubai developers still want celeb tie-ins

Lionel Messi, Rohit Sharma and Chris Hemsworth are just some of the famous faces who have promoted UAE real estate in recent years. Superstar sportsmen and Hollywood heroes do not come cheap, but are they really a good investment for developers or just an excuse for the CEO to get a selfie?  Many industry observers […]

Saudi Arabia plays the long game in a high-stakes market

Saudi Arabia has so far channeled $38 billion into the esports sector through its Public Investment Fund subsidiary Savvy Games Group. This includes high-profile acquisitions such as the $4.9 billion purchase of the Monopoly Go developer Scopely and the $1.5 billion buyout of ESL FaceIt Group, one of the world’s largest esports companies. Critics have […]

ESG-focused companies ‘give better shareholder returns’

Middle East listed companies that score highly on environmental, social and governance criteria provide a bigger total return for shareholders than their less ESG-conscious rivals. The Hawkamah Middle East and North Africa ESG Index includes the top 50 companies by ESG score from the 150 blue-chip stocks that constitute the wider S&P Pan Arab Composite […]

‘Common sense has returned’ to fintech investment market

There was a 31 percent increase in unique investors in the fintech market in Mena during the first half of 2024. But there was a distinct lack of “mega-deals”. Gautam Jain, head of investments at SC Ventures, told AGBI that he believes this is a good thing for the future of the market. “People were […]

People & Lifestyle

Executive, Person, Adult

Recruitment portals try to ease logjam in Saudi labour market

Saudi Arabia presents a golden opportunity for recruitment platforms that seek to match multitudes of job seekers with a plethora of employers looking to hire, labour market specialists say.   There are around 168 Public Investment Fund companies working on the $1.25 trillion Vision 2030 economic diversification programme, as well as foreign companies setting up offices […]

Turkish transport and infrastructure minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said that the user rights of social media accounts belonging to Turkish citizens will be protected

Turkey lifts ban after Instagram agrees to demands

Turkey has lifted its more than week-long ban on Instagram after the social media company agreed to collaborate with the government to address its concerns. The ban was removed on Saturday night after Instagram promised to work on demands regarding “catalogue crimes” and censorship on users, transport and infrastructure minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said in a […]

Oman biofuels

Oman’s entrepreneurs hope to turn biofuels into liquid gold

A bus powered partly by date kernels launched on the streets of Muscat at the end of 2022. It was a Sultan Qaboos University project, set up as Oman strives to develop sustainable sources of energy. The bus successfully runs on a mix of biodiesel made from the oil extracted from date kernels and conventional […]

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hit out at social media platforms on Monday after his government blocked Instagram

Turkey’s Instagram ban hits $57m-a-day ecommerce trade

For four days and counting, Instagram has been blocked in Turkey – not only putting a dent in the social lives of millions of users but also placing additional pressure on an economy under strain.  Turkish regulators gave no reason when they imposed a ban on the Meta-owned platform on August 2.  However, the shutdown […]

'Growing local talent is not a luxury' – experts say the UAE must move beyond hiring AI workers from abroad

Local talent vital for UAE to achieve AI ambitions

The UAE is on a quest to lead the artificial intelligence sector but one of the stumbling blocks it is striving to address is the lack of local professionals coming into the industry. AI is expected to contribute $320 billion to the Mena region’s economy by 2030 – $96 billion of which will be attributed […]

Electronics, Phone, Mobile Phone

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Around the world

Salic MHP chicken processing

PIF subsidiary takes stake in Ukraine poultry producer

A subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has taken a stake in the Ukraine-based poultry producer MHP in a deal worth more than $13.5 million. MHP, more fully Myronivsky Hliboproduct, which trades on the London Stock Exchange, is an international food and agrotech company, founded in Kyiv in 1998. It has a strong presence […]

DP World is already investing $3bn in new ports, terminals and economic zones in India’s western state of Gujarat

DP World among bidders for $84m Indian port upgrade

DP World is among the bidders to develop and upgrade a port in India’s eastern state of West Bengal, according to a media report. Indian conglomerate Adani is also in the running, The Telegraph, an Indian newspaper, reported The private-public-partnership project involves reconstructing one berth and mechanising two berths at Netaji Subhas Dock, Kolkatta, for […]

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said Japan and the UAE hope to strengthen bilateral ties and explore new opportunities

UAE and Japan to begin talks on trade agreement

The UAE and Japan will start negotiations on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (Cepa), President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has said. “We look to strengthen our bilateral ties and explore new opportunities that support sustainable economic growth for both countries,” he said in a post on social messaging platform X. Japanese prime minister […]

Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq Al Said visited UK prime minister Kier Starmer last month. UK ministers are now in Oman ahead of GCC FTA talks

UK ministers visit Gulf in pursuit of free trade deal

Senior ministers from the UK have arrived in Oman as part of a whirlwind tour of the Gulf designed to accelerate trade talks under the new Labour government. The UK topped the list of countries investing into Oman in 2022, with OR9.6 billion ($25 billion), dwarfing the US in second spot on OR3.7 billion, according […]