logo
Saudi giga project Diriyah awards $1.4bln contract for Opera House

Saudi giga project Diriyah awards $1.4bln contract for Opera House

Zawya17-04-2025
Diriyah Company has awarded a 5.1 billion Saudi riyals ($1.36 billion) construction contract for the Royal Diriyah Opera House and surrounding assets in the Diriyah mega project.
The award was bagged by a consortium comprising El Seif Engineering Contracting, Midmac Construction and China State Construction Engineering Corporation, the Public Investment Fund-owned developer said.
The main auditorium of the Royal Diriyah Opera House, designed by Norwegian architectsSnøhetta, will have a seating capacity of 2,000 and will be managed by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City.
The opera house will include a 450-seat studio theater, a shaded rooftop amphitheater with 450 seats and multipurpose halls, increasing total seating capacity to 3,100.
The contract also covers constructing a 5-star hotel and a mixed-use residential complex.
No timeline for the construction was disclosed. Diriyah will provide homes for 100,000 residents, attract 50 million annual visitors and contribute $18.6 billion directly to Saudi Arabia's GDP.
(Editing by Anoop Menon) (anoop.menon@lseg.com)
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Saudi wealth fund sold its stakes in Meta, Shopify and PayPal in Q2
Saudi wealth fund sold its stakes in Meta, Shopify and PayPal in Q2

Zawya

timea day ago

  • Zawya

Saudi wealth fund sold its stakes in Meta, Shopify and PayPal in Q2

BANGALORE/DUBAI: Saudi Arabia's almost $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund sold its stakes in several U.S.-listed companies - including Meta, Shopify and PayPal - in the second quarter, according to securities filings released on Thursday. The Public Investment Fund also sold its stakes in Alibaba Group, Nu Holdings and FedEx, the 13F filings show, during a quarter in which U.S. stock markets rebounded from an April drop tied to U.S. tariff policies. The filings showed that PIF no longer held any shares in Meta, Shopify, PayPal, Alibaba, Nu Holdings and FedEx. Its previous filing showed that, at the end of March, the fund had 667,996 class A shares in Meta, 1.25 million class A shares in Shopify, 1.76 million shares in PayPal, 6.83 million shares class A shares in Nu Holdings, 1.61 million in Alibaba sponsored ADS, and 498,164 common shares in FedEx. PIF's total exposure to U.S. equities, which include call options that give the state investor a right to buy an underlying asset at a specified price within a specific time period, was valued at $23.8 billion at the end of the second quarter, versus $25.5 billion at the end of the first quarter. Tasked with spearheading Saudi Arabia's economic diversification under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 plan, PIF has moved well beyond its early holdings in Saudi public equities and infrastructure. In recent years, the fund took high-profile stakes in global brands, such as Uber and Lucid Motors, while also backing sports ventures including LIV Golf and English soccer club Newcastle United. At home, it has poured billions into giga-projects such as NEOM, the futuristic city on the Red Sea, and sectors like tourism, logistics, and clean energy. (Reporting by Devalapur Deepak in Bangalore. Hadeel Al Sayegh in Dubai. Editing by Mark Potter)

Philippine envoys join ILO in talks to boost Saudi labor market reforms
Philippine envoys join ILO in talks to boost Saudi labor market reforms

Filipino Times

timea day ago

  • Filipino Times

Philippine envoys join ILO in talks to boost Saudi labor market reforms

Philippine Ambassador Raymond Balatbat met with senior officials from the International Labour Organization (ILO) on Aug. 12 to discuss strategies aimed at improving Saudi Arabia's labor market. He was joined by Labor Attaché Atty. Dominador Salanga of the Migrant Workers Office–Riyadh and First Secretary and Consul Dean Jason Arriola. The ILO delegation was led by Deputy Regional Director Peter Rademaker. The talks followed the recent signing of a cooperation agreement between the ILO and the Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. Both sides outlined measures to strengthen labor policies in the Kingdom, with a focus on fair recruitment practices, enhanced market data, and improved protection for workers. Filipinos, one of the largest expatriate groups in Saudi Arabia, are seen as a key stakeholder in the initiative. The ILO aims to create a comprehensive baseline of the Saudi labor market to guide future reforms that will benefit both employers and migrant workers. The meeting underscored the Philippines' active role in shaping labor reforms in Saudi Arabia and its commitment to safeguarding the rights and welfare of overseas Filipino workers. Officials expressed optimism that the collaboration would lead to concrete improvements in labor standards across the Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia's inflation rate remains stable at 2.1%
Saudi Arabia's inflation rate remains stable at 2.1%

Gulf Today

time2 days ago

  • Gulf Today

Saudi Arabia's inflation rate remains stable at 2.1%

Saudi Arabia's annual inflation rate remained relatively stable at 2.1 per cent in July 2025 compared to the same period last year, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. Data from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) showed that Consumer Price Index (CPI) was also stable on a monthly basis, with prices across most categories remaining largely unchanged from June to July 2025. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) remained stable at 2.1 per cent July, while recording a slight monthly decline of 0.1 per cent compared to June. The CPI measures changes in the prices paid by consumers for a fixed basket of 490 goods and services, while the WPI tracks changes in pre-retail prices for a fixed basket of 343 items. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 3.9 per cent in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. According to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), flash estimates of GDP for Q2 2025, released today by the General Authority for Statistics in Saudi Arabia, showed that non-oil activities recorded the highest growth at 4.7 per cent, followed by oil activities at 3.8 per cent and government activities at 0.6 per cent. Seasonally adjusted real GDP rose by 2.1 per cent in second quarter compared to the first quarter, with oil activities leading the growth at 5.6 per cent, non-oil activities increasing by 1.6 per cent, while government activities declined by 0.8 per cent. The Saudi's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2025, revealed a 3.4 per cent growth compared to the same quarter in 2024. This growth was driven by a 4.9 per cent increase in non-oil activities and a 3.2 per cent rise in government activities. Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that oil activities recorded a 0.5 per cent decline. Meanwhile, on a seasonally adjusted basis, real GDP increased by 1.1 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2024. WAM

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store