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Turkey off grey list

Turkey moves out of FATF grey zone

Turkey has been removed from an international watch list of countries with lax regulations on international money laundering and countering funding to illegal groups. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) announced it was taking Turkey off its grey list at the watchdog’s plenary session in Singapore on Friday. It said the country had made significant […]

Fans of Saudi team Al Hilal at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. Will Mena football clubs be as enthusiastic about the Club World Cup?

Mena football teams weigh appeal of revamped Club World Cup

Football teams from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia will compete alongside the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich at Fifa’s revamped Club World Cup next summer, potentially giving the Mena outfits unprecedented global exposure. The United States will host the 32-team tournament in June and July 2025. Yet less than a […]

Trending

  1. Mining licences granted for six sites in Saudi Arabia

  2. Neom offers financial guarantees to lure private investors

  3. UAE introduces regulations to clean up crypto market

  4. Israel’s gas export plans complicated by war

  5. $65m credit boost for Kuwait developer Mabanee

OPINION & Analysis

Best of AGBI

Field, Nature, Outdoors In 2023, El Niño arrived early, impacting crops. The Indian government reacted by banning exports of non-basmati white rice

Weather and politics keep pressure on price of rice

The status of rice as a global food staple means that it is also a political minefield for producer nations. So all eyes are on India as rice prices fluctuate at around a 15-year high.  Different varietals and markets command different prices, but trading on “contracts for difference”, which track benchmark prices, saw the cost of […]

Aramco ventures further into US LNG market

Saudi Aramco continues its push into the US liquefied natural gas sector with an initial agreement to buy a stake in Sempra’s Texas LNG export plant and for the supply of the fuel. Aramco has signed a non-binding agreement to buy 5 million tonnes per year of LNG for 20 years and a 25 percent […]

Fees and procedures make UAE IPOs more complex 

UAE companies seeking to go public must undertake complex and often costly procedures to complete an initial public offering, although fees remain reasonable by international standards because of competition among advisers, according to experts. This decade, Abu Dhabi and Dubai have part-privatised many government-owned companies, sparking an IPO flurry that runs counter to slowdowns in […]

Adnoc, Emirates Global Aluminium and the outlook for net zero

It is a tall order. The UAE is striving to develop its industrial capacity while also decarbonising in a world that needs a 40 percent-plus reduction in emissions by the end of the decade to avoid devastating climate change. Two of the country’s biggest state-owned enterprises – Adnoc and Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) – are […]

Silver is riding high but the market remains volatile

With a gain in its spot price of nearly one-third since the start of the year, silver is now 2024’s best-performing precious metal.  It is a major industrial material with an important role in the green energy transition. Yet, while these factors are combining to give silver a moment, analysts are quick to warn of […]

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UAE latest

The UAE's regulations are designed to exclude fraudulent crypto companies and attract legitimate businesses

UAE introduces regulations to clean up crypto market

The UAE has taken steps towards regulating its payments sector with the introduction of Payment Token Services Regulation in an attempt to push out fraudulent crypto companies and attract legitimate businesses. The new regulations introduced by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) focus heavily on stablecoins – digital currencies pegged to a real-world asset […]

The UAE fiscal breakeven oil price will average $64 per barrel from 2024 to 2026, says Fitch

UAE’s budget to remain in surplus in 2024

The consolidated budget of the UAE will remain in surplus in 2024 at 4.1 percent of GDP after reaching 7.8 percent last year, ratings agency Fitch has said. Abu Dhabi and Dubai will remain in surplus, but deficits will be seen in Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah. The Emirates’ consolidated surplus will amount to 3.3 […]

Saudi Arabia latest

They will spend SAR136 million ($36 million) on exploration, and an additional 15 million to develop local communities

Mining licences granted for six sites in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has granted exploration rights to five local companies to mine for precious metals at six sites around the country, while a further round of licence bidding has been opened.  The locations at Al-Halahilah, Jabal Qaran, Makman Hijab, Al-Hijra, Nimas and Al Miyah exploration sites cover a total area of around 1,000 square km […]

Dr Manar Al Moneef said, 'our job is not only to identify the opportunity, but to make them bankable'

Neom offers financial guarantees to lure private investors

Neom is adopting stabilisation guarantees and varied financial arrangements to encourage private sector investments, according to a senior executive. The $1.5 trillion giga-project, owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is a linchpin in Saudi Arabia’s move away from oil dependency. Dr Manar Al Moneef, chief investment officer at Neom, said it plans to offer […]

Moammar Riyadh

Riyadh IT company wins $10m project with Saudi AI authority

Al Moammar Information Systems, a Riyadh-based technology company, has secured a SAR39 million ($10 million) project with the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA). Al Moammar, a listed company formed in 1996, invested $5 million in the giant American artificial intelligence research company OpenAI earlier this year. OpenAI is known for its large language AI […]

Boulevard City, Riyadh, where the first Esports World Cup will take place

Visas on offer as Esports World Cup hits Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is offering electronic visas for ticket holders for the first Esports World Cup, which starts next week at an entertainment district in Riyadh called Boulevard City. The event is being held over eight weeks from July 3. Around 1,500 players from 500 international clubs will compete for this year’s record total prize money […]

A ship at Porth Arthur, Texas. The port provides direct access to the Gulf of Mexico for LNG from the Sempra facility

Aramco ventures further into US LNG market

Saudi Aramco continues its push into the US liquefied natural gas sector with an initial agreement to buy a stake in Sempra’s Texas LNG export plant and for the supply of the fuel. Aramco has signed a non-binding agreement to buy 5 million tonnes per year of LNG for 20 years and a 25 percent […]

Around the Middle East

Fans of Saudi team Al Hilal at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. Will Mena football clubs be as enthusiastic about the Club World Cup?

Mena football teams weigh appeal of revamped Club World Cup

Football teams from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia will compete alongside the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich at Fifa’s revamped Club World Cup next summer, potentially giving the Mena outfits unprecedented global exposure. The United States will host the 32-team tournament in June and July 2025. Yet less than a […]

The Leviathan field holds as much as 600 billion cubic metres of gas and Israel is aiming to increase output and exports

Israel’s gas export plans complicated by war

Israel has agreed a move to double its natural gas exports from the Leviathan reservoir, but experts warn that tension with Hezbollah and a potential escalation in Lebanon may undermine expansion plans. The Israeli government is seeking additional revenues to improve an economy that has been badly hit by the war in Gaza. The energy […]

Anwar al-Mudhaf, chairman of the Kuwait Investment Authority, said Saudi Arabia is 'witnessing a notable rise in its investment importance'

Kuwait opens wealth fund office in Saudi Arabia

Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund is to open an office in Saudi Arabia, as the kingdom turns to its Gulf neighbours to shore up flagging foreign investment in its giga-projects.  Anwar al-Mudhaf, chairman of the Kuwait Investment Authority and Kuwait’s finance minister, praised Saudi Arabia as an investment location and as a key player in the […]

Mumtalakat's investment aims to support the expansion of Racing Force’s helmet factory in Bahrain

Mumtalakat invests in Italian motorsport safety products

Mumtalakat, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, has invested in Italian Racing Force, the parent company of Racing Force Group (RFG), makers of motorsport safety products. The investment, made through its wholly owned subsidiary, aims to support the expansion of Racing Force’s helmet factory in Bahrain. Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, CEO of Mumtalakat, said that collaborating […]

QatarEnergy CEO and Qatar's energy minister Saad Al Kaabi. The company has secured sales of 25 million tonnes of LNG in the past year

QatarEnergy profits down by 31%

Annual profits at QatarEnergy have dropped by almost a third after gas prices fell from the highs caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The state-owned company reported net profits of QAR101.9 billion ($28 billion) in 2023, down 31 percent on the previous year, when the start of the conflict in Eastern Europe caused gas prices to […]

Shoppers in the Marrakech souk, Morocco. Inflation has dropped partly due to lower prices of certain food products

Morocco lowers interest rate as inflation falls

Morocco’s central bank has reduced its benchmark interest rate to 2.75 percent, down 25 basis points – the first change in almost a year – amid falling inflation. Inflation stood at 6.6 percent in 2022 and 6.1 percent in 2023 but has returned to low levels, averaging 2.1 percent over the first five months of […]

Gas flaring at a plant in Veracruz state, Mexico. The country is one of the biggest contributors to global flaring, along with Iran, Iraq and Libya

Iran, Iraq and Libya among worst offenders on gas flaring

Environmentally ruinous flaring of gas at upstream oil and gas facilities has risen to its highest level for five years, despite pledges to end the practice, the World Bank has said. Iran, Iraq and Libya were among the biggest contributors in 2023, according to a World Bank report published on June 20. Along with six […]

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Neom
HYDROGEN
SAUDI VISION 2030
IPOs
mergers & acquisitions
crypto
Electric cars
israel-hamas war
FOOD SECURITY
islamic finance
ukraine-russia war
OPEC
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Turkey Latest

Turkey off grey list

Turkey moves out of FATF grey zone

Turkey has been removed from an international watch list of countries with lax regulations on international money laundering and countering funding to illegal groups. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) announced it was taking Turkey off its grey list at the watchdog’s plenary session in Singapore on Friday. It said the country had made significant […]

Geopolitical risks and food prices are helping keep inflationary pressures alive, said Turkey's central bank

Turkey holds interest rate at 50% despite inflation risks 

Turkey’s central bank maintained its benchmark interest rate at 50 percent and will retain a tight monetary stance until inflation is tamed. The last 500 basis points rise to the benchmark rate was announced in March following a deteriorating inflation outlook. The rate has been hiked by 4,150 basis points since June 2023 to ease inflation […]

The e& stand at World Mobile Congress. The GlassHouse acquisition is its latest, following ventures in Egypt and Saudi Arabia

UAE’s e& buys Turkish cloud provider GlassHouse

The UAE telecom operator e&, formerly Emirates Telecommunications Group company and Etisalat, has acquired the Turkish cloud services provider GlassHouse through its wholly owned subsidiary e& enterprise. A binding agreement has been signed between e& enterprise and Mediterra Capital, a private equity firm that provides investments in Turkey, to take over 100 percent of GlassHouse […]

Tourists among houses in Bodrum. Turkey's housing costs rose 93 percent year on year, well above the general inflation rate of 75 percent

Turkey announces plans to drop cap on rent increases

Turkey is set to remove a two-year-old cap on residential rental increases, but some analysts warn that the lifting of restrictions may spark a further rise in rents and feed into already high inflation.  On May 20 treasury minister Mehmet Şimşek announced restrictions on rental increases would be abandoned at the beginning of July, saying […]

Mubadala injects $250m to revive Turkey’s Getir

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company will invest $250 million in Turkish grocery delivery startup Getir as part of a restructuring programme that will split it into two standalone units. The first standalone business will focus on domestic online groceries and food delivery services, with Mubadala, an existing shareholder, holding the management and majority stake, Reuters […]

Egypt Latest

A money exchange centre in Cairo. The World Bank funding is intended to support private sector growth in Egypt

World Bank’s $700m push for Egypt’s private sector

The World Bank will provide $700 million in funding to Egypt to address short-term economic challenges. The development policy financing (DPF) will aid in supporting the Egyptian government’s focus towards more private sector participation. The financing will further advance structural reforms to level the playing field to support private sector growth, build macroeconomic and fiscal […]

Water is handed out to pilgrims in Mecca. Hundreds of pilgrims without a Hajj permit died during extreme heat last week Video length: 07:15

Egypt shuts down 16 travel companies after Hajj tragedy

Egypt has withdrawn the operating licences of 16 travel companies for organising unlicensed Hajj trips to Saudi Arabia. A statement from the Egyptian government said the companies would be prosecuted and fined, with the funds used to compensate pilgrims’ families for their loss.  Hundreds of Egyptians were among 1,301 people who died of exposure to […]

A floating production unit in Israel's Karish gas field in the eastern Mediterranean. Carlyle is creating a new oil and gas company to manage the field

New Carlyle entity to manage East Med gas projects

Carlyle, the Nasdaq-listed private equity company, is creating a new oil and gas company to manage recently-acquired assets in the Mediterranean hydrocarbons market. The new as yet un-named entity will be led by former BP CEO Tony Hayward and will manage a portfolio of gas-weighted exploration and production assets in Italy, Egypt and Croatia, according […]

A stall holder in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. People in Istanbul faced rises in the cost of living this year, as soaring inflation impacted wages

Cairo and Istanbul feel biggest cost of living squeeze

Dubai has become the most expensive city in the Middle East for expatriate workers, while Cairo and Istanbul were among the cities that saw the biggest rise in the cost of living this year, as soaring inflation impacted wages. Dubai, the UAE’s largest city, saw rental prices rise by about a fifth in the last […]

Features

Saudi sport

Saudi sports push ‘winning global audiences’

Saudi sports investments are winning a global audience as the kingdom tries to overcome charges of “sport washing”, a major survey of media coverage said this month. Media analytics consultancy Carma found that coverage of human rights in Saudi Arabia fell in favour of “a sports-related narrative” around the world, including in the West. The […]

Aramco adopts heat-sensing construction helmets

Saudi Aramco is deploying advanced safety helmets equipped with heat stress sensors to protect workers on some of its construction sites, a critical concern in the Gulf region’s scorching climate. The helmets, developed by Dubai and Saudi Arabia-based construction tech startup WakeCap, utilise internet-of-things (IoT) technology that monitors worker attendance, location, and safety incidents in […]

The future of DXB: airport could be turned into a city

The $35 billion plan to turn Al Maktoum International into the busiest airport in the world has everyone talking about the remaking of Dubai South. Perhaps a bigger challenge is the redevelopment of the city’s main airport – Dubai International, or DXB. DXB is near some of the city’s most densely populated neighbourhoods and the […]

Wealthy migrants to UAE boost luxuries but stir inflation

The UAE is likely to attract a new surge of ultra-rich migrants, lured by low tax rates, high-privacy settings and a luxurious lifestyle, at a time of global geopolitical upheaval and heightened anti-money laundering measures in developed countries.  But, while the wave of wealth is likely to stimulate specialised sectors of the economy, the arrivals […]

People & Lifestyle

The Villaggio Mall in Doha. Qatar's prime malls are succeeding but others are experiencing growing vacancy rates

Premium Qatar malls thrive despite online competition

Large high-end malls in Qatar are winning the favour of consumers who still choose to shop in person amid intensifying competition from the internet. However, other shopping venues are suffering from reduced footfall and growing vacancy rates. The flagship Doha Festival City announced last month that it is fully leased after clinching its 500th retail […]

A stall holder in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. People in Istanbul faced rises in the cost of living this year, as soaring inflation impacted wages

Cairo and Istanbul feel biggest cost of living squeeze

Dubai has become the most expensive city in the Middle East for expatriate workers, while Cairo and Istanbul were among the cities that saw the biggest rise in the cost of living this year, as soaring inflation impacted wages. Dubai, the UAE’s largest city, saw rental prices rise by about a fifth in the last […]

Adult, Female, Person

Private jets to flamingos: the personal shopping lists of the super rich

The luxury e-commerce retailer Pastor & Co, which boasts it can supply clients with everything from Picasso paintings to swans, is aiming to pass $10 million in profits this year, buoyed by strong interest from the rich and famous across the Mena region. The personalised shopping service gets requests to source anything from a rare Fendi […]

Hotel franchising is a well established model in the West and is becoming more popular in the Gulf Video length: 07:12

Hotel franchising model takes off in the Gulf

Global hospitality brands are aggressively expanding across the Gulf, stepping up competition and giving disgruntled owners unprecedented freedom to choose how and by whom their hotels should be run. Some hotel owners are opting for franchising agreements and third-party management arrangements. “Operators have become more flexible when offering their brands under a franchise than they […]

A pilgrim prays on Mount Arafat, Mecca. Saudi Arabia has been enforcing a strict crackdown on performing Hajj without a permit Video length: 07:15

Hajj pilgrims feel the pinch as costs rise

The costs of Hajj are getting ever higher for pilgrims coming from around the world to perform the annual rites, which are a duty for every able-bodied Muslim to perform once in a lifetime.  Even pilgrims coming from within Saudi Arabia, for whom the costs are cheaper, are paying around SAR23,500 ($6,266) for up to […]

Electronics, Phone, Mobile Phone

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Around the world

A miner inside a tunnel of the Parrilla silver mine, Mexico. Mexico is the world's biggest producer of mined silver.

Silver is riding high but the market remains volatile

With a gain in its spot price of nearly one-third since the start of the year, silver is now 2024’s best-performing precious metal.  It is a major industrial material with an important role in the green energy transition. Yet, while these factors are combining to give silver a moment, analysts are quick to warn of […]

Covestro CEO Dr Markus Steilemann. The company has rejected two previous offers from Adnoc

Adnoc makes final bid for German chemicals maker

German chemical company Covestro AG has confirmed that it has started “concrete negotiations” over a $12.5 billion offer from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc). Covestro said in a statement that Adnoc had offered €62 ($67) a share as a starting point for the negotiations, which are subject to the completion of due diligence. In […]

ADIA Hargreaves Lansdown

ADIA group raises offer for UK stock trading platform

A consortium including Abu Dhabi’s biggest sovereign wealth fund is poised to buy stock trading platform Hargreaves Lansdown after making an improved non-binding offer for the British company. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s (ADIA) wholly owned subsidiary Platinum Ivy has teamed up with private equity firms CVC and Nordic Capital to offer £11.40 ($14.51) per share […]

Two companies are dominant in the lithium industry – Chile’s SQM and US business Albemarle. In 2023, each commanded about 20 percent of global supply

Saudi Arabia targets Chile for lithium investments

Saudi Arabia’s mining minister Bandar Alkhorayef will visit Chile next month to negotiate a deal to secure lithium to support the kingdom’s ambition to expand its electric vehicle (EV) sector, a news report said. Alkhorayef will meet with his counterpart in Santiago, Reuters reported, quoting a Chilean government statement. The report said the two officials will discuss […]