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Stay up-to-date on the latest news and events in Saudi Arabia with this blog. You’ll find information on the latest happenings in politics, business, and culture, as well as analysis and commentary on the issues that matter most to Saudis.
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The Latest News in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is a monarchy ruled by the Al Saud family. The government is working to modernize the country and has recently taken steps to improve human rights. The economy is based on oil and Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest exporter of crude oil.
The Saudi Crown Prince’s Plan to Diversify the Economy
The Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, unveiled a sweeping plan to overhaul the Saudi economy and wean it off its dependence on oil. The plan, called “Vision 2030,” includes privatizing state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco, building up new industries such as tourism and mining, and selling government bonds for the first time. The goal is to increase the non-oil sector’s share of the economy from 40 percent to 60 percent and create jobs for young Saudis. The plan faces many challenges, including low oil prices and a young population that is accustomed to generous state subsidies.
The Saudi-led Coalition’s Airstrikes in Yemen
The Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes in Yemen for over four years now, in an attempt to restore the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The conflict has resulted in the death of thousands of civilians, as well as widespread damage to infrastructure. The United Nations has described the situation in Yemen as “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”
The Saudi-led coalition announced on Tuesday that it had carried out a series of airstrikes against targets in Yemen. The strikes reportedly targeted military camps and weapons depots belonging to the Iran-aligned Houthi group. The Saudi-led coalition said that the strikes were in response to recent Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, including cross-border missile and drone attacks.
The Saudi Press Agency quoted a coalition spokesman as saying that the strikes had “destroyed and damaged” a number of military targets, and that they would “deter and disrupt” future Houthi attacks. The strikes come amid reports of increased tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The Yemeni government has condemned the airstrikes, saying they will only serve to “worsen the humanitarian crisis.” The Houthi group has also condemned the airstrikes, accusing the Saudi-led coalition of targeting civilians.
The Opening of the Saudi Stock Exchange to Foreign Investors
In an effort to stimulate the Saudi economy and attract foreign investment, the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) will be opening to qualified foreign institutional investors (QFIIs) on June 15, 2015.
This move has been anticipated for some time, as the Tadawul has been working towards meeting international standards and increasing its transparency. The QFIIs that are approved to trade on the Tadawul will be subject to certain conditions and restrictions, including a minimum investment of $5 billion.
The Tadawul is the largest stock exchange in the Middle East, with a market capitalization of over $500 billion. It is hoped that by opening up to foreign investors, the Tadawul will become even more successful and help to grow the Saudi economy.
The Saudi Crown Prince’s Plan to Diversify the Economy
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has unveiled a plan to wean the country off its dependence on oil. The ” Saudi Vision 2030 ” plan includes a number of reforms, such as privatizing Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company. The plan also includes creating a $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund and diversifying the economy.
The Saudi Vision 2030
In response to the global oil crisis, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled a far-reaching plan in 2016 to wean the Kingdom off its dependence on crude exports and transform it into a diversified economy. The ambitious agenda, called Saudi Vision 2030, envisages major investments in renewable energy, tourism, entertainment, and military manufacturing.
The plan is also designed to create jobs for Saudi Arabia’s rapidly growing population of young people. About two-thirds of Saudis are under the age of 30, and the country has one of the world’s highest youth unemployment rates.
So far, the Crown Prince’s reform efforts have been met with mixed results. While his reforms have won support from many Saudis who are eager for change, they have also sparked backlash from those who fear they will upend the country’s conservative social customs. In recent months, the Crown Prince has crackdown on dissent and instituted a number of sweeping changes that have centralised power within his own office.
The Saudi National Transformation Program
In 2016, the Saudi government announced its National Transformation Program (NTP) with the goal of modernizing and diversifying the Saudi economy by 2030. Part of this effort includes reforming the country’s inefficient state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which account for a large portion of Saudi GDP. Another key plank of the NTP is to increase foreign investment in Saudi Arabia, which has been constrained by the country’s restrictive investment laws.
The NTP has made some progress, but implementation has been slow due to resistance from vested interests within the Saudi government. Nonetheless, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) appears committed to pushing ahead with economic reform, and in 2018 he unveiled an ambitious plan to privatize Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company. If successful, this could provide a much-needed shot in the arm for the Saudi economy and help achieve the NTP’s goals.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund
The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) is a sovereign wealth fund created by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1971 to manage the country’s public finances. The PIF is one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world, with assets estimated at $320 billion.
The PIF is overseen by the Ministry of Finance and is responsible for investing in domestic and foreign assets. The fund has a mandate to achieve long-term financial returns and to support the development of the Saudi economy.
The PIF has investments in a number of high-profile companies, including Uber, Virgin Group, and SoftBank. In 2016, the PIF committed $45 billion to a joint investment fund with Japan’s SoftBank. The fund has also invested $3.5 billion in electric car maker Tesla.
In 2018, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced that the PIF would be transformed into the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, with a target size of $2 trillion. The Crown Prince said that the fund would be used to finance domestic infrastructure projects and to attract foreign investment into Saudi Arabia.
In 2019, it was announced that the PIF would invest $1 billion in ride-hailing app Uber. The investment was part of Uber’s planned initial public offering (IPO).
In 2020, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced that the PIF would invest $10 billion in US tech firms over the next four years. The investments will be made through a new $40 billion venture capital fund called Future Fund.
The Saudi-led Coalition’s Airstrikes in Yemen
The Saudi-led coalition has been accused of carrying out airstrikes in Yemen that have killed civilians, including children. The strikes have hit schools, hospitals, and homes. The Saudi-led coalition has denied that it is targeting civilians.
The Saudi-led Coalition’s Airstrikes in Yemen
The Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes in Yemen since March 2015, in an attempt to reinstate the internationally recognized Yemeni government. The conflict has resulted in the death of over 10,000 people, most of them civilians, and has displaced over 3 million people.
In recent months, the Saudi-led coalition has been accused of carrying out indiscriminate airstrikes that have hit civilian targets, including schools and hospitals. The United Nations has urged the coalition to stop these attacks and to comply with international humanitarian law.
The Saudi-led Coalition’s Airstrikes in Yemen
The Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes in Yemen have come under increased scrutiny in recent months, with human rights groups accusing the coalition of targeting civilians in violation of international law.
In March of 2015, the Saudi-led coalition began a military campaign in Yemen against the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group. The conflict has since devolved into a complex civil war, with the Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni government against the Houthis, who are allied with shattered remnants of the former Yemeni government.
Since the start of the conflict, over 10,000 civilians have been killed in Yemen, and over 3 million people have been displaced. The majority of civilian casualties have been caused by airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition.
human rights groups have documented numerous cases where civilians have been killed or wounded by airstrikes that hit homes, schools, hospitals, markets, and other civilian structures. In many cases, it appears that the strikes were indiscriminate or reckless, and that no effort was made to avoid civilian casualties.
In some cases, such as an airstrike on a school bus in August of 2018 that killed dozens of children, it appears that civilians were deliberately targeted. The attack on the school bus was widely condemned by international rights groups and even prompted a rare public criticism from the U.S. State Department.
Despite mounting evidence of violations of international law, Western governments have continued to support the Saudi-led coalition with arms sales and other forms of assistance. In November of 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would be declassifying information related to “specific terrorist incidents” in order to show that Iran was behind them and justifying continued American support for Saudi Arabia.
The Opening of the Saudi Stock Exchange to Foreign Investors
Saudi Arabia has taken a major step towards economic reform with the opening of the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) to foreign investors. This move allows foreign institutions to directly own shares in Saudi companies for the first time and is part of the Saudi government’s Vision 2030 reform agenda. The move is expected to attract billions of dollars of foreign investment into Saudi Arabia and boost the country’s economy.
The Saudi Stock Exchange’s Opening to Foreign Investors
The Saudi Stock Exchange (SSE; Arabic: السوق المالية السعودي) is the largest stock market in the Middle East and one of the largest in the world. The SSE is located in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. As of May 2017, its market capitalization was $533.6 billion.[1]
In 2016, the SSE introduced reforms aimed at making it more attractive to foreign investors, including permitting foreign investors to directly own and trade shares on the exchange and increasing transparency and disclosure requirements for listed companies.[2][3] On June 15, 2017, MSCI Inc., a leading provider of global indexing and analytical tools for financial markets, announced that it would include Saudi Arabia in its MSCI Emerging Markets Index beginning in June 2018,[4][5] which is widely tracked by global index funds. This should result in increased foreign investment in the Saudi stock market.
The Saudi Stock Exchange’s Listing Requirements
The Saudi Stock Exchange (“Tadawul”) has released a new Regulation on the Listing of Securities and Admission of Trading (the “New Regulation”), which will come into effect on June 15, 2020. The New Regulation sets out, for the first time, the complete listing regime for companies wishing to list their securities on Tadawul.
In order to be eligible for listing on Tadawul, a company must:
1. Be established and registered in accordance with the laws of Saudi Arabia;
2. Have its principal place of business in Saudi Arabia;
3. Be partially or wholly owned by Saudis; and
4. Comply with the ownership requirements set out in the Capital Market Law and its Implementing Regulations (the “CML”).
In addition, the company must:
1. Have a minimum paid-up capital of SAR 100 million (approximately USD 27 million); and
2. Meet one of the following financial criteria:
– Net profits after zakat and tax attributable to shareholders of SAR 30 million (approximately USD 8 million) for each of the two financial years immediately preceding the date of application; or – Total assets exceeding SAR 1 billion (approximately USD 273 million) as at the end of each of the two financial years immediately preceding the date of application, with a market capitalization not exceeding 25% thereof.
Conclusion
The situation in Saudi Arabia is constantly evolving, and it can be hard to keep up with the latest news. However, by following some key sources of information, you can stay up-to-date on what is happening in the country.
There are a number of English-language news sources that cover Saudi Arabia, including the Saudi Gazette, Arab News, and Al Jazeera. These outlets can provide valuable insights into the latest developments in the country.
In addition to traditional news sources, social media can also be a helpful way to stay informed about what is happening in Saudi Arabia. Twitter, in particular, is a platform that is often used to share breaking news stories. By following some key accounts, you can stay up-to-date on the latest developments.
