Day: June 16, 2022

Jakarta– At the terminal of the Makkah Route Initiative of the Jakarta International Airport in Indonesia, Indonesian pilgrims, benefiting from the initiative for the 1443 Hijri year, feel surprised that employees of the General Directorate of Passports speak with them in their own language, which facilitated procedures for them and contributed to finishing travel procedures quickly, where language is no longer a hindrance to know about requirements or procedures.

The Saudi Press Association (SPA) checked on the impressions of pilgrims throughout their journey to complete procedures, where they expressed happiness of facilitated procedures the initiative offers them, such as having Saudi personnel who speak the language of the country in which the service is provided.

This is a part of a series of services and arrangements that are offered to pilgrims at the initiative terminal at the Jakarta International Airport to realize the highest quality, safety and security standards for them.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– Japan logged its second largest ever monthly goods trade deficit of 2.38 trillion yen ($17.7 billion) in May, remaining in the red for the 10th consecutive month mainly due to high commodity prices, Kyodo news agency quoted the Finance Ministry as said Thursday.

The trade deficit in May widened from 839.2 billion in the previous month and was the second largest after a 2.80 trillion yen deficit recorded in January 2014, according to the ministry.

The value of imports increased 48.9 percent to 9.64 trillion yen, shattering the highest figure on record for the third consecutive month, while exports rose 15.8 percent from a year earlier to 7.25 trillion yen for the 15th straight month of increase, the ministry said in a provisional report.

Driven by rising energy prices, imports of petroleum rose in value for the 14th consecutive month to 1.07 trillion yen and increased in terms of volume for the seventh straight month to 12.2 million kiloliters.

Exports rose on the back of brisk iron and steel shipping, refined fuel products such as fuel oil to Singapore, and semiconductor components, the ministry’s official said.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Jeddah– President of the United Republic of Tanzania Samia Suluhu Hassan left Jeddah today after she perform Umrah.

At King Abdulaziz International Airport, the president was seen off by Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Jalawi, Governor of Jeddah, and a number of senior officials.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Aden– The Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY) has started implementing Adequate Housing Project in Aden in partnership with the Alwaleed Philanthropies and United Nations Human Settlement Program (UN-HABITAT), where the first phase includes delivering 80 locations for housing at Al-Mualla District out of 600 housing units that will be rehabilitated in Aden.

The first phase of the project is part of the Adequate Housing Project that aims at providing proper living conditions for Yemeni families and covering minor to medium damages of houses and their sewage facilities, in a bid to provide safe living conditions and create a better civil future.

The project includes a special program to train Yemeni personnel in the housing sector to contribute to building up their capacity, where the project will develop the capabilities of 40 engineers in the Yemeni housing sector, advanced geographical information systems, project management in construction, specialized procurements, calculating project costs and technical and economic feasibility studies.

The scheme also includes providing 200 training opportunities in the vocational fields, electricity, solar energy, photography, and drawing, and will contribute to improving the living conditions of households and beneficiaries.

These project is a part of 207 development projects and initiatives that SDRPY implemented in various Yemeni governorates to serve Yemenis in seven main sectors: education, health, water, energy, transport, agriculture and fishery and building the capacity of government institutions and development programs.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– Minister of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance, and Chairman of the Higher Committee for Hajj, Umrah and Visit Sheikh Dr. Abdullatif bin Abdulaziz Al Al-Sheikh has inaugurated several qualitative projects to serve pilgrims during this season of 1443 Hijri with a total value of SAR90 million, including the launch of projects for maintenance and operation of all mosques of Al-Mashair (holy sites), mosques of Al-Hall, and two projects of air conditioning at Al-Mashar Al-Haram Mosque and Umm Al-Mominin Aisha Mosque at Al-Tanim, in addition to furnishing Al-Jahfah and Yalamlam areas.

This was during the inspection tour Dr. Al AL-Sheikh made yesterday to the mosques of the holy sites to check on their preparedness to receive pilgrims, in line with directives of the wise leadership to provide all services to pilgrims before the start of the Hajj season.

The minister stopped by Al-Khaif Mosque at Mina, which was halted for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, checking on the completion project of developing AC systems and air purification inside the mosque, in addition to checking on the project to furnish the mosque and entrance and exit routes of pilgrims, and the electronic monitors that provide guidance materials for guests in several languages.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– The Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants (SOCPA) has realized a positive progress in the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) for 2022 published by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD), in the index of auditing and accounting in commercial activities, advancing from the 32nd rank to 17th, up 15 ranks, where the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also advanced 8 ranks compared with last year to the 24th among 63 countries that are the most competitive in the world.

SOCPA CEO Dr. Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Meghames expressed pride in what the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has realized of progress in several indexes, which highlights the keenness of the wise leadership to enhance progress and competitiveness globally, where Saudi Arabia can boost this economic activity in a bid to realize Saudi Vision 2030 targets.

Al-Meghames stressed that the increase in the auditing and accounting index in commercial activities was the result of distinguished efforts, mainly applying international standards that contributed to attracting and stimulating foreign investment that requires the availability of financial information relying on transparency for foreign and local companies, adding that using globally unified standards allow investors to compare data and information between local and global companies, which helps take proper investment decisions, increases trade exchange volume among countries, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and increases exchange of investments between Saudi Arabia and other countries.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Marib, Yemen– King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) yesterday distributed 963 food baskets in Alwady District of Marib Governorate, Yemen, benefiting 6,741 individuals.

This aid comes within KSrelief’s 2022 project to support food security in Yemen.

The project aims to distribute more than 192,000 food baskets weighing more than 20,000 tons to needy and affected families in 15 Yemeni governorates.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language , under the patronage of Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, Minister of Culture and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the academy, will hold on Saturday, June 18th, the closing ceremony of the “Arabic Hackathon”, the most prominent challenge internationally in processing the Arabic language automatically, which was launched by the academy to invent technical solutions and digital platforms, and the provision of specialized tools that serve the Arabic language and enhance its status among the world’s living languages ​.

A total of 151 projects submitted by more than 1,030 participants from 40 countries around the world compete to win the Arabic Hackathon awards totaling more than SR1 million, distributed over (22) prizes, of which 12 prizes will be allocated for the first three tracks including the Arabic Poetry Challenge, Lexicon Challenge, and the Challenge of Language Games for Children, with four prizes for the first four places in each track, while the other 10 prizes will be distributed to the winners of each of the innovative idea projects, the attractiveness of the marketing presentation, user experience, data quality, and the cleanest code, by two prizes for each project.

The Award’s criteria are based on the accuracy of the application in providing results and outputs, the impact and added value of the idea, in addition to the programmatic maturity of the idea, and the ability to develop and modify, as well as the user-friendly experience, and the understanding of the idea in the largest possible areas related to it.

The closing ceremony will be accompanied by an exhibition in which the strategic partners of the Arabic Hackathon will participate, offering the winners an opportunity to showcase their innovative projects and initiatives, and to introduce visitors to the technical aspects and the impact of their projects on the Arabic language.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Skopje– King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) on Tuesday delivered the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s gift of 25 tons of dates to the Republic of North Macedonia.

The gift was handed over by Saudi Ambassador to Albania and Non-resident Ambassador to North Macedonia Faisal bin Ghazi Hefzy in the presence of President of Islamic Religious Community (IRC) of North Macedonia Sheikh Shaker Fattaho and a team from the center.

Hefzi praised KSrelief’s works in offering assistance to the needy around the world as part of efforts of the Saudi government that always seeks to support all peoples without any discrimination.

For his part, Sheikh Fattaho expressed sincere appreciation to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, for helping the underprivileged across the world, praising the historical positions and continuous assistance that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia offers through KSrelief.

He added that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a top country in providing aid without discrimination among societies, referring to the sublime message that KSrelief delivers in helping afflicted people and alleviating their suffering, especially under the current circumstances the world is witnessing.

This gift comes as a part of humanitarian programs being provided by the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to a number of friendly countries around the world.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Doha– The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud sent today a written message to Emir Sheikh Tamimm bin Hamad Al Thani of the State of Qatar, related to consolidating fraternal relations between the two brotherly countries.

The message was delivered by Saudi ambassador to Qatar Prince Mansour bin Khalid bin Farhan.

During the meeting, the Saudi ambassador conveyed the greetings and appreciation of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.

In turn, the Emir of Qatar sent his greetings and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and HRH the Crown Prince.

The audience was attended Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Chief of the Qatari Emiri Diwan Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– Saudi Stock Exchange’s main index ended trading lower here today, losing 154.09 points to close at 11,824.42 points.

The total value of the trading reported was SAR 8.8 billion, while the toll of shares traded was over 219 million, divided into over 300,000 deals.

The Saudi Parallel Market Index (NOMU) ended the day gaining 202.75 points, to close at 21,504.18 points, with a valuation of SAR 60 million and an overall tally of more than 1,000,000 stocks traded and divided into as many as 3,615 deals.

Source: Saudi Press Agency