Category: Business

Riyadh– The Future of Desalination International Conference in Riyadh hosted, during its first day of events on Monday, an opening plenary session on innovation and entrepreneurship to discuss the ever-growing development of desalination technologies and the future aspects of innovation in this thriving industry.

The session was chaired by Peter Terium, the CEO of ENOWA, Neom, Saudi Arabia, who led the discussion among some world-class professors and innovation leaders in the desalination industry.

During the session, Terium and the other distinguished speakers emphasized on the need to see a disruptive change on how to accelerate the pace of innovation in desalination in order to further advance the rapid development of the industry.

Considering the city of Neom as a clean start and a fertile environment for desalination innovations, Terium mentioned that “Neom is the land of the future that is powered by ideas and is there to exceed boundaries. It is also where great minds and best talents exist in an inspirational world”.

Describing the Neom environment as quite a challenge, Terium emphasized on the delicacy of the environment nature of the red sea and the need to mitigate and adapt to the impact of climate change. He also mentioned the importance of promoting new ways of preventing environmental degradation, which are solutions that can be offered later to the world once achieved in Neom.

As for the desalination impact in Neom, Terium explained how they aim to absolutely zero brine discharge and that the only way forward is solving the brine puzzle and how to profit from it to further contribute to lowering the costs of desalination.

The session included some invaluable discussions about how to harness innovations to make profits through entrepreneurship.

Dr. Kevin Cullen, VP for Innovation at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), explained that more brilliant ideas always come from deeper search for more valuable resources.

Confirming the value of ideas, Dr. Kamal Youcef-Toumi, Engineering Professor at MIT, mentioned that “ideas are the perfect way to make a new ecosystem and that is why we need to nurture, support and develop ideas”.

Experts made clear that collaboration is the only way to bring fresh ideas to the table. “We trained thousands of people and collaborated with several companies to develop an economic system of desalination,” said Dr. Cullen.

Nicolaas Pannekeet, the Managing Partner at Pureterra Ventures, emphasized the importance of collaboration between the private sector and universities, which, according to him, contributed in boosting investment and producing innovations in desalination.

On the other side, Prof. Yoram Cohen, Distinguished Professor at the University of California, mentioned that past experiences are the key factor in making future plans and creating new solutions for desalination.

The discussion also included the importance of a healthy system to manage the whole process.

“The regulations of desalination needs to be updated around the world to be an enabler and a stimuli of the companies development and achievement of positive results for desalination,” Pannekeet noted.

Prof. Cohen also mentioned: “The emerging technology developments have a positive effect on innovation. If we think about it; we all have mobile phones and cars, and the system defines everything around us. Why don’t we do the same for desalination?”

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– The Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources said it issued 30 new industrial licenses in July. The manufacturing of food products, molded metal products, and other nonmetallic metals each received three licenses, while the furniture industry activity received seven licenses, making it the recipient of the greatest number of licenses.

According to a report released by the Ministry’s National Center for Industrial and Mining Information, the total number of industrial licenses issued by the Ministry since the beginning of this year until the end of July reached 531.On the other hand, the number of existing and under-establishment factories in the Kingdom as of the end of the same month reached 10,685 thousand, with an investment volume of 1.367 trillion riyals.

The report pointed out that the new industrial license investments totaled 973 million riyals for the month of July. Small businesses accounted for most of these investments 86.67%, followed by medium-sized enterprises 13.33%. National factories recorded the highest share of all licenses issued by investment type 73.33%, followed by foreign businesses 20% and businesses with joint investments 6.67%.

The National Center for Industrial and Mining Information reported that 22 factories started production in July with an investment of SR 548 million, the majority of which were food factories totaling 9, followed by paper factories totaling 4 and nonmetallic metal factories totaling 4. Production also started in two molded metal factories and one factory for beverage, furniture, and chemical activities. Joint-capital factories came in second with 4.55%, and national factories made up the remaining 95.45%.

According to the report, the new industrial licenses were distributed among five administrative districts, with the Riyadh region receiving the most 15 licenses – followed by the Eastern Province, which had seven licenses, the Makkah region, which had six, and the Qassim and Medina regions, which each had one license.

The most significant industrial indicators that show the type of industrial activity in the Kingdom, the degree of change in new industrial investments, and the number of jobs provided by the sector are released monthly by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources through the national center for industrial and mining information.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh — The Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) launches the first issue of the Digital Prosperity Report, to highlight some of the most pressing issues for digital economic development and report on DCO initiatives and programs that support the DCO member states in developing their own digital economies.

The Digital Prosperity Report is intended to share updates on the latest activities of the DCO, an international non-profit organization focused on enabling digital prosperity for all, through initiatives to develop policies and best practices that member states can apply to their own programs to create equitable and sustainable digital economies that empower their citizens.

The first issue of the report features an introduction by Borge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum (WEF), where he talks about the Digital FDI Initiative launched by WEF and the DCO to support FDI in the digital economy, and the global rebound in FDI post-COVID-19. The report also features an exclusive interview with HE Paula Ingabire, Minister of ICT & Innovation of Rwanda, in which the Minister discusses the country’s digital economic policy, the role of ICT in Rwanda’s development, and how DCO membership will help further Rwanda’s strategic goals in the digital sphere.

Other features include discussions of the gender gap in the startup sector and how the gap can be addressed to empower women with better opportunities; an examination of the challenges of effective end-user data protection legislation; and a report on the new Digital FDI Initiative that was recently launched by the DCO and the World Economic Forum.

The report also includes insights into upcoming DCO activities, including the DCO Global Round Table Series, the STRIDE initiative to support digital startups, the Digital Economy Maturity Index (DEMI), and the DCO Center of Excellence for Data Flows.

DCO Secretary-General Deemah AlYahya said on the launch of the report: “The DCO was founded to enable digital prosperity for all and to support our member states by enabling knowledge sharing and collaboration on the development of best practices, policies, and strategies to accelerate their digital transformation and therefore, support the development of an inclusive, thriving, and sustainable national digital economy. The Digital Prosperity Report is an important part of this knowledge-sharing commitment, which highlights the activities of the DCO and our member states, the report delivers expert commentary from high-profile stakeholders and draws attention to important issues such as tackling gender inequality in the digital economy, and the challenges of end-user data protection. This first edition of the report is a must-read for anyone interested in staying informed about the latest developments in the global digital economy, particularly in DCO member states”.

The DCO Digital Prosperity Report is available now: Digital Prosperity Report (dcoinsights.com)

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh — Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Abdullah bin Amer Al-Swaha, concluded his Asian tour by visiting a number of Singaporean government agencies, universities, major technology companies, and investment capital funds.

This visit aimed to highlight the investment opportunities in the digital economy and innovation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and to shed light on the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, and its role in acceleration of the transformation towards a vital digital society, a thriving digital economy, and a pioneering and ambitious digital government.

During the visit, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology and his accompanying delegation met with the Singaporean Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry; the President of the Enterprise Singapore; the leaders of the Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) in Singapore; the President of the JTC; the CEO of the INSIGNIAVC; the CEO of the Jungle Ventures; the CEO of the VERTEX; and the President of the NTU Singapore.

During the meetings, Eng. Al-Swaha and his accompanying delegation discussed highlighting the investment opportunities in the digital economy and innovation; enhancing cooperation; transferring and localizing expertise to suit the business environment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; the opportunities for cooperation and expansion in the Kingdom’s market in the digital fields; the development of Saudi talents; and cooperation in the areas of government digital transformation and innovation.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh — Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal bin Fadhil Alibrahim will lead a senior delegation to the island of Belitung, Indonesia, to participate in the G20 Development Ministerial Meeting tomorrow, 8 September.

The high-level forum will provide a platform for G20 development ministers to reinvigorate multilateralism and renew the momentum behind the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Progress on the plans and commitments made after the first G20 Development Ministerial Meeting took place in Matera, Italy, last year will also be reviewed.

“Saudi Arabia remains committed to advancing practical and collaborative solutions to enable developed and developing economies alike to make meaningful progress towards achieving the SDG Agenda”, Alibrahim said ahead of the meeting.

“We must take this moment to raise the bar on our sustainable development and strengthen global systems by improving public healthcare infrastructure, enabling inclusive digital transformations and safeguarding global food and energy security. We must also protect the environment, invest in the energy system of today and explore greener, cleaner fuels for the future”, he added.

The Kingdom’s delegation led by the Minister of Economy and Planning will demonstrate Saudi Arabia’s unwavering commitment to driving sustainable development – at home and abroad – through an agile approach to policy making across all economic, social and environmental sectors.

With less than a decade left to realize the SDGs, Alibrahim will highlight Saudi Arabia’s progress in achieving sustainable economic growth, social wellbeing and prosperity, environmental protection, and an inclusive digital transformation under Vision 2030. The Minister will also emphasize the importance of safeguarding global energy security by ensuring access to reliable and sustainable power.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh — Ministry of Economy and Planning staff members participated in an executive two-week education program with Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government to accelerate capability-building. The group undertook tailored economic and fiscal policy teaching at the Ivy League institution.

As part of the Ministry of Economy and Planning’s partnership with the Center for International Development (CID), established in 2016, researchers focused on studies in the areas of macroeconomic policy, revenue policy, sustainable development and productive transformation alongside world-renowned academics at the historic campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

As part of the scheme, Saudi researchers completed a two-week rotating training program with the CID over four months. They focused on economic planning, public financial management, tax policy, sustainable development, and how to create policies that drive growth, job-creation and productivity. They were also able to deepen engagement with CID’s research team with one-on-one interaction with the faculty, as well as contribute to a number of economic seminars.

“We continue to build the best in-house capabilities by providing our highly-skilled team with excellent opportunities for learning and development across economic policy and planning”, Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal bin Fadhil Alibrahim said.

“Our close and long-standing partnership with the Center for International Development at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government is a clear demonstration of this unwavering commitment to capability-building”, he added.

This program is part of the Ministry of Economy and Planning’s aim to support Saudis and enhance their participation in the job market. It also follows the launch of the ministry’s capability development initiative, which aims to equip the nation’s youth with training and upskilling opportunities across economics, taxation, administration, public policy, and social sciences.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh — The Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute will hold a press conference tomorrow at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Riyadh, in the presence of CEO of the FII Institute Richard Attias, its leaders, and a number of representatives of its strategic partners.

The press conference will review the most prominent achievements in the previous period, and will highlight the two upcoming conferences that the FII Institute will hold in New York on 22 September, 2022, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), entitled “PRIORITY”, in addition to the sixth edition of the Future Investment Initiative to be held from 25 to 27 October, 2022, entitled “Investing in Humanity: Enabling a New Global Order”.

It is worth mentioning that among the most important achievements of the FII Institute during the past year were the launch of Inclusive ESG Framework and Scoring Methodology, the launch of Global Infectious Disease Index, and the launch of the first edition of FII Award for Humanity during the fifth edition of the Future Investment Initiative.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh — Saudi Stock Exchange’s main index (TASE) ended trading lower today, losing 130.91 points, to close at 11863.81 points.

The total value of the trading reported was SAR 5.5 billion, while the toll of shares traded was 131 million, divided into over 360,000 deals.

The Saudi Parallel Market Index (NOMU) ended the day losing 322.71 points, to close at 20528.68 points, with a valuation of more than SAR 60 million and an overall tally of more than 1,000,000 stocks traded and divided into as many as 4361 deals.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh — According to estimates by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Saudi Arabia grew by 12.2% in the second quarter (Q2) of 2022 compared to second quarter (Q2) of 2021. In comparison to Q1 of 2022, the real GDP growth was 2.2%. This growth is mainly due to the high increase in oil activities by 22.9% y-o-y (4.4% q-o-q). Non-oil activities increased by 8.2% y-o-y (4.5% q-o-q). Government activities increased by 2.4% y-o-y (0.4% q-o-q).

GASTAT is the only official statistical reference for statistical data and information in Saudi Arabia. It carries out all the statistical work, in addition to the technical oversight of the statistical sector. It also designs and implements field surveys, conducts statistical studies and researches, analyzes data and information, in addition to documenting and archiving all works of information and statistical data that cover all aspects of life in Saudi Arabia from its multiple sources. Data are written, classified, and analyzed; their indicators are extracted as well.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Tokyo — Asian shares were mostly lower Wednesday, as pessimism prevailed about higher interest rates ahead and Wall Street continued a late-summer slump, the Associated Press reported.

Shares fell in Tokyo, Sydney, South Korea and Hong Kong, but were little changed in Shanghai. Oil prices fell, while the Japanese yen continued to decline against the U.S. dollar to about 144 yen.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 0.7% to finish at 27,430.30. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.4% to 6,729.30. South Korea’s Kospi slid 1.4% to 2,376.46. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped 1.0% to 19,003.55, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed, inching up less than 0.1% at 3,245.22.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.42 to $85.46 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell $1.30 to $91.53 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 144.01 Japanese yen from 142.76 yen. The euro was little changed at 99 cents.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), Sultan bin Abdulrahman Al-Marshad received here today Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Simeon Oyono Esono Angue, and his accompanying delegation.

During the meeting, the Minister was briefed on the developmental activity of the Fund in developing countries, and they discussed aspects of development cooperation and potential vital opportunities between the two sides, and the economic challenges facing the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.

The Minister valued the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s efforts through the Saudi Fund for Development to provide support for developmental projects and programs in developing countries in order to contribute to achieving sustainable development goals, noting that cooperation between the two sides will leave a mark for future generations.

It is noteworthy that the Saudi Fund for Development has financed over 48 years 697 development projects and programs in 84 developing countries around the world to support the least developed countries.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority, Bandar bin Ibrahim AlKhorayef, inaugurated today the first edition of the Local Content Forum.

In a speech delivered at the opening ceremony, AlKhorayef said that the Kingdom’s vision 2030 came with ambitious aspirations, and requires a unique business model that makes it difficult to achieve the goals of this vision by traditional methods, hence, it was necessary to adopt bold and qualitative concepts; (the “local content”), which was adopted by the Kingdom’s vision to be a real possibility to achieve the objectives of sectors related to economic diversification, and represents a comprehensive umbrella under which several important elements fall, including products and services, human resources, training, and technology, to maximize the economic impact of the Kingdom’s industry, services and natural wealth.

“To consolidate this concept and maximize the benefit from it, the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority was established, and the new government tenders and procurement regulation was approved,” the minister said, adding that the development of local content requires an integrated action by combining the efforts of various government agencies, partners from the private sector, and society. At the government level, the minister noted that the cabinet approved the formation of local content development teams in government agencies to ensure unification of efforts and joint work with agencies to achieve the goals. Moreover, 270 teams were formed to work on achieving the local content agenda in all government sectors, and efforts are being made in this file to create a solid and strong economy, said the minister.

AlKhorayef revealed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, since started implementing the legislations aimed at developing local content in 2020 until the end of the first half of 2022, has achieved many gains, adding that the estimated value of government tenders to which the requirements of local content and localization apply amounted to nearly SR300 billion, through which private sector facilities and national factories were enabled to be the first option for government spending, and the percentage of local content amounted to 46% of the total spending of companies members of the Council on goods and services for the year 2020, with an estimated value of SR113 billion, in addition to enabling national factories, through the mandatory list of national products, from which about 4000 factories will benefit, with an impact on the national economy of more than SR20 billion.

The Local Content Forum is one of the strategic initiatives of the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority and aims to be a platform for raising awareness, exchanging experiences, and empowering local capabilities, by activating partnerships and investment opportunities.

Source: Saudi Press Agency