
KSA to invest $5bin Syria
Saudi Arabia has been a major backer of the new Syrian government, which seized power after Islamist-led rebels toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December following 14 years of civil war.
The delegation of some 150 investors and representatives of the Saudi public and private sectors, led by Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih, attended a forum in Damascus.
"The announced investments, valued at 19 billion Saudi riyals (about $5 billion), span vital and strategic sectors, including real estate, infrastructure, communications and IT, transportation and logistics, industry, tourism, energy, trade" and more, a statement from the investment ministry said.
On Tuesday, the ministry had said the Damascus forum aimed to "explore cooperation opportunities and sign agreements that enhance sustainable development and serve the interests of the two brotherly peoples".

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Business Recorder
7 hours ago
- Business Recorder
UAE gains on trade optimism, earnings hopes
DUBAI: Gulf equities were mixed on Monday, with UAE markets tracking global gains on trade optimism, while Saudi markets edged down amid mixed earnings and several blue-chip stocks trading ex-dividend. The United States and the European Union on Sunday struck a framework trade agreement that will impose a 15% import tariff on most EU goods, half the previously threatened rate. Meanwhile, senior US and Chinese officials will meet in Stockholm later on Monday to try to extend their tariff truce before an August 12 deadline. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index retreated 0.7%. Banque Saudi Fransi and Arab National Bank dropped 5.3% and 3.8%, respectively, after their shares traded ex-dividend. Petrochemical giant Saudi Kayan reversed early gains to close slightly lower as its second-quarter loss, though halved from a year earlier, was wider than analysts expected. Arabian Cement slid more than 3% after its second-quarter profit fell short of estimates. 'A potential rebound hinges on continued positive earnings announcements and a recovery in oil prices', said George Pavel, general manager at Middle East. Dubai's benchmark index rose as much as 1.4%, before paring gains to end up 0.3% at its highest close in 17-1/2 years. That was the fourth straight day of gains, supported by strong second-quarter earnings and global trade optimism, led by a 2.3% gain in Emirates NBD Bank.


Business Recorder
7 hours ago
- Business Recorder
US, Israel boycott: UN meets to urge support for two-state solution
UNITED NATIONS: Dozens of ministers gathered at a United Nations conference on Monday to urge that the world work toward a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, but the US and Israel boycotted the event. The 193-member UN General Assembly decided in September last year that such a conference would be held in 2025. Hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, the conference was postponed in June after Israel attacked Iran. Addressing the conference, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud urged all countries support the conference goal of a roadmap laying out the parameters to a Palestinian state while ensuring Israel's security. 'We must ensure that it does not become another exercise in well-meaning rhetoric,' United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in opening remarks. 'It can and must serve as a decisive turning point - one that catalyzes irreversible progress towards ending the occupation and realizing our shared aspiration for a viable two-state solution.' French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the conference: 'We must work on the ways and means to go from the end of the war in Gaza to the end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, at a time when this war is jeopardizing the stability and security of the entire region.' Barrot told newspaper La Tribune Dimanche in an interview published on Sunday that he will use the conference this week to push other countries to join France in recognizing a Palestinian state. France intends to recognize a Palestinian state in September at the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly, President Emmanuel Macron said last week. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa - an official with the Palestinian Authority which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank under Israeli occupation - called on all countries to 'recognize the state of Palestine without delay,' adding: 'The path to peace starts with recognizing the state of Palestine and preserving it from destruction.' 'The rights of all peoples must be respected, the sovereignty of all states must be ensured. Palestine, and its people can no longer be the exception,' he told the conference. The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza still rages after nearly 22 months. The war was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas fighters killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's military campaign has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. The US will not attend the conference at the United Nations, said a State Department spokesperson, describing it as 'a gift to Hamas, which continues to reject ceasefire proposals accepted by Israel that would lead to the release of hostages and bring calm in Gaza.' The State Department spokesperson added that Washington voted against the General Assembly last year calling for the conference and would 'not support actions that jeopardize the prospect for a long-term, peaceful resolution to the conflict.' Israel is also not taking part in the conference. Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon said on Monday: 'This conference does not promote a solution, but rather deepens the illusion. Instead of demanding the release of the hostages and working to dismantle Hamas's reign of terror, the conference organizers are engaging in discussions and plenaries that are disconnected from reality.' The UN has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognized borders. Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war with neighbouring Arab states.


Express Tribune
10 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Trump warns of 'real starvation' in Gaza
The United Nations is warning that the world is facing its worst humanitarian crisis since the end of World War II, with more than 20 million people facing starvation and famine in four countries. PHOTO: AFP US President Donald Trump warned Monday that the people of Gaza are facing "real starvation", as aid agencies sought to take advantage of an Israeli "tactical pause" of some military operations to rush in food aid. Speaking in Scotland after meeting Britain's leader, Trump contradicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had earlier dismissed fears of famine in Gaza as Hamas propaganda. Trump said the United States and its partners would help set up food centres to feed the more than two million Palestinians in Gaza facing what UN aid agencies have warned is a deadly wave of starvation and malnutrition. "We're going to be getting some good strong food, we can save a lot of people. I mean, some of those kids -- that's real starvation stuff," he told reporters at a news conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. "We have to help on a humanitarian basis before we do anything. We have to get the kids fed," Trump said. Trump's remarks came after Netanyahu, during a reception on Sunday for Trump's spiritual adviser Paula White-Cain in Jerusalem, declared: "There is no starvation in Gaza, no policy of starvation in Gaza." The United States already backs food centres under the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), but the group's operations have come under repeated criticism, with the UN saying hundreds of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops while trying to access its sites. The Foundation has also been accused by aid groups of facilitating Israel's military goals. Trump said the UK and European Union would back new food centres that would be easier to access -- "where the people can walk in, and no boundaries". "It's crazy what's going on over there," he added. The war in Gaza has dragged on for almost 22 months, creating a dire humanitarian crisis exacerbated by an Israeli blockade on supplies imposed from March to late May. The easing of the blockade coincided with the beginning of the GHF's operations, which effectively sidelined Gaza's traditionally UN-led aid distribution system, and which have been criticised as grossly inadequate. In recent days, the UN and humanitarian agencies have begun delivering more truckloads of food after the Israeli military declared a daily "tactical pause" in the fighting and opened secure aid routes amid mounting international outrage over hunger in the territory. Jamil Safadi said he had been getting up before dawn for two weeks to search for food, and Monday was his first success. "For the first time, I received about five kilos of flour, which I shared with my neighbour," said the 37-year-old, who shelters with his wife, six children and a sick father in a tent in Tel al-Hawa. Other Gazans were less fortunate. Some complained aid trucks had been stolen or that guards had fired at them near US-backed distribution centres. "I saw injured and dead people. People have no choice but to try daily to get flour. What entered from Egypt was very limited," said 33-year-old Amir al-Rash. Israel's new tactical pauses apply only to certain areas, and Gaza's civil defence agency reported 54 people killed in Israeli attacks on Monday. The Israeli defence ministry's civil affairs agency COGAT said the UN and aid organisations had been able to pick up 120 truckloads of aid on Sunday and distribute it inside Gaza, with more on the way on Monday. Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have begun airdropping aid packages into Gaza, while Egypt has sent trucks through its Rafah border crossing to an Israeli post just inside the territory. Germany on Monday said it would work with Jordan to airlift aid for Gaza, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz saying it would coordinate with France and Britain. "We know that this can only be a very small help for the people in Gaza," Merz said. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, cautiously welcomed Israel's recent moves but warned Gaza needed at least 500 to 600 trucks of basic food, medicine and hygiene supplies daily. "Opening all the crossings and flooding Gaza with assistance is the only way to avert further deepening of starvation among the people of Gaza," UNRWA said. Netanyahu has denied Israel was deliberately starving civilians, but on Monday two local rights groups, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, accused the country of "genocide" -- a first for Israeli NGOs. The amount of aid entering the territory still falls far short of what is needed, say experts, who have called for a permanent ceasefire, the reopening of more border crossings and a long-term, large-scale humanitarian operation. "We're one-and-a-half days into these new measures. Saying whether or not it is making a difference on the ground will take time," Olga Cherevko, a spokeswoman for the UN's humanitarian agency, told AFP from Gaza. "We know it's not perfect but we want to stay positive and we're seeing positive steps, because, for example, even the fact that all the requests to go and collect cargo yesterday were approved is already a step in the right direction." The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed 59,921 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.