Latest news with #MajidAl-Qasabi
Saudi Gazette
5 days ago
- Business
- Saudi Gazette
Commerce and sports ministers participate in roundtable on Saudi-British sports cooperation
Saudi Gazette report LONDON — Saudi Minister of Commerce Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi has affirmed at the Saudi-UK Strategic Partnership Council that Saudi vision 2030 launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman transformed the Saudi economy and created promising opportunities in many vital sectors. He explained that the Saudi-British partnership is unique, and the UK is the second-largest exporter of services in the world. He added that the two countries can cooperate to establish a global integration system that covers many aspects of sports, tourism, culture, arts, and technology, all of which have become a global language that requires no translation. The meeting was also attended by Saudi Minister of Sports Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki, and Sir Chris Bryant, UK's Minister of State for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism. The roundtable, organized by the National Competitiveness Center in cooperation with the UK Department for Business and Trade, focused on introducing companies to the promising opportunities offered by the Kingdom's hosting of international sporting events, such as the 2034 World Cup. It also addressed opportunities for cooperation in areas supporting the sports sector, such as technology, infrastructure, construction, facility operations, and planning and execution of major events. In a meeting with Jonathan Reynolds, Minister of State for Business and Trade, which was attended by Prince Khalid bin Bandar, Saudi Ambassador to UK, and Neil Crompton, British Ambassador to the Kingdom, Al-Qasabi discussed enhancing cooperation in developing the sports sector in light of Saudi hosting major events such as the 2034 World Cup. They reviewed the progress of initiatives emerging from the economic and social committees of the Saudi-British Strategic Partnership Council, including developments in the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement between UK and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. During the meeting, the two sides highlighted the importance of the Saudi-British Future Skills Initiative and its impact on developing skills in sectors of mutual interest, in addition to the continuation of the Great Futures Initiative for 2025. The Saudi delegation's agenda on the first day included a field visit to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and its facilities. The delegation was briefed on the facilities' capabilities and experience in hosting entertainment and sporting events. The participating entities in the visit included the ministries of Commerce, Sports, Investment and Finance, the Supreme Committee for Hosting the 2034 World Cup, the Public Investment Fund, the National Competitiveness Center, the Saudi Business Center, the National Center for Privatization, and a number of major national companies specializing in sports events, infrastructure, and media. Al-Qasabi arrived in the British capital, London, on a working visit, accompanied by a delegation comprising officials from nine government agencies and 30 leaders from the business sector and major national companies. The visit aims to build economic partnerships in the sports sector between the two countries, strengthen relations across various priority sectors, and raise the level of commercial partnerships.
Arab News
14-04-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Al-Qasabi calls for Saudi-UK partnership to future-proof skills, jobs
RIYADH: A Saudi-UK Center of Excellence should be established to help secure the future skill sets needed, according to the Kingdom's minister of commerce. During a panel discussion titled 'Human Capital Reimagined – Launching the Saudi-UK Skills Initiative' on the second day of the Human Capability Initiative 2025 taking place in Riyadh, Majid Al-Qasabi explained that this initiative aligns with the UK's reputation as a global center of excellence in education, home to top universities, leading research institutions, and world-class vocational schools. Al-Qasabi speculated on future areas of collaboration: 'We need to collaborate and cooperate and coordinate in three areas. Track A, we create a Saudi-UK Center of Excellence for future skills, where we can bring democrats like me, policymakers, private sector opinion leaders, educators, all the stakeholders to co-design future skills.' He also shed light on additional areas where the two countries should collaborate, including vocational training and leveraging digital platforms. 'We know that the UK, they're the center of excellence for vocational training, and we desperately need vocational training in Saudi Arabia. So, second track, we create the center of excellence or vocational academies, jointly UK-Saudi Vocational Academy, where your software, your brain power, your experience can be transferred to our boys and girls because this will also be used in the health sector and the newly developed sectors,' the minister said. 'Last, how can we leverage digital platforms to accelerate learning and continuous life learning because things are going too fast, so we create maybe a joined platforms to have continuous education even in the service sector. You know, the UK is the second largest exporter of services globally,' Al-Qasabi added. He went on to note that the tourism, culture, sports, and creative industries are expected to create 1 million jobs by 2030. The creative economy alone already supports over 80,000 jobs, with strong growth anticipated in film and design, fashion, and digital arts. 'The digital economy is projected to grow from 4.4 percent of GDP in 2020 to over 19 percent by 2030. The health care sector is projected to reach SR250 billion ($66.6 billion) by 2030,' the minister said. Al-Qasabi added: 'The green economy expected over SR2 trillion worth of investments in the pipeline, like sustainable construction, renewable energy, circular economies, and so forth.' He also emphasized that with 65 percent of the population under the age of 35, investing in lifelong learning is not a choice but a necessity. Also speaking during the panel, the Kingdom's Vice Minister of Sport, Bader Al-Kadi, noted that the National Sports Strategy was developed by drawing on insights from other markets, particularly the UK, which has been closely studied as a model for sports development. 'With that learning taken, we have worked on building capabilities in Saudis to ensure that we have the right talents. Not only as athletes, but as a physiotherapist, as psychiatrists, as sports managers, as coaches, and everything around building the ecosystem,' Al-Kadi said. 'We learn also from the UK sustainability in the sports sector. The UK sports sector is 90 percent funded by the private sector. That's a great target, an ambitious to achieve. In Saudi Arabia today, 15 percent of the sports sector is funded by the private sector, so a big gap and a big ambition for us to work on toward achieving,' he added. The minister also emphasized that human capability is one of the key enablers underpinning the National Sports Strategy and plays a central role in its development. 'The sports sector will contribute to 13 percent of those jobs that are being created by sports entertainment and tourism sectors,' Al-Kadi said. 'Obviously, sports (sector) is expected to also contribute to the economy. We aim to have sports reaching up to 3 percent of GDP by 2030. This is an ambitious target that we have for ourselves,' he added. Also present in the same panel, UK's Minister of Early Education Stephen Morgan underlined that the country wants to start by sharing their work with the Kingdom and, in turn, learn from the Ministry of Education's initiatives to upskill and retain early-year staff. 'We could also share our experiences of introducing new modern teaching methods, and these include educational technology that tailors learning to individual children and produces data-led results to measure impact,' Morgan said. He added: 'And it's through the sharing of our practice and resources and knowledge that early education can become a key building block in our partnership on skills training for older students and I have absolutely no doubt that the UK-Saudi Skills Education Partnership will be accessed with a success and we've already had notable achievements in our work together on education, such as increasing the number of UK independent schools in the Kingdom and we're working really hard to deliver more important higher education partnerships for the future.' Steve Field, UK special healthcare representative to Saudi Arabia, said: 'You have a large number of nurses, majority of which are currently working very effectively in the hospital setup. You've got some brilliant hospitals, but to deliver the vision you will need to focus on prevention, on primary care and on mental health in addition to your hospital world and of course, if you can do that, you can move care out of hospitals, reduce the cost of healthcare, and also prevent illnesses before you have to treat them.' He added: 'So we're here to help you. Our universities are really keen to partner with you to develop more nursing schools to support you in your faculty development, in your leadership, and we want to be on this journey with you and finally just to reassure and assure you that the UK government are right behind this and are with you right till the end and beyond.' Mazen Fakeeh, president of Fakeeh Care Group, who also participated in the session, disclosed that the nursing shortage is a global issue, not just specific to Saudi Arabia. 'Nurses constitute 40 percent of the workforce required to provide care across the globe. Saudi Arabia, we have about. 6.2 nurses per 1,000 population. In Saudi Arabia, the current intake in nursing school is about 5,000 a year. For us to meet the gap, the existing gap and the future gap between 2030 to 2040, we need to increase that intake from the current 5,000 by 150 percent,' Fakeeh said. He added: 'So, there is a huge demand on nursing, nursing training and education. For that, the government had the initiative to reduce the number of years without compromising the quality of training from the current four years plus one year of internship to three years, which is the expedited nursing curriculum in the UK.'
Leaders
26-02-2025
- Business
- Leaders
Saudi Arabia, Greece Strengthen Trade Partnership at Roundtable Meeting
Saudi Arabia and Greece on Tuesday held the Saudi-Hellenic Roundtable Meeting in Riyadh, reported the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The meeting, co-chaired by the Saudi Minister of Commerce and Chairman of the General Authority of Foreign Trade (GAFT), Majid Al-Qasabi, and the Greek Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tasos Chatzivasileiou, saw the participation of several government and private entities. The Saudi-Hellenic Roundtable Meeting aimed to strengthen the trade and investment partnerships between Saudi Arabia and Greece, and explore investment opportunities in the Saudi construction sector. It also focused on discussing ways to address common challenges and enhance cooperation in trade and investment, to further bolster bilateral economic ties. #تغطية_مرئية لاجتماع الطاولة المستديرة السعودي اليوناني في العاصمة الرياض. 🇸🇦🇬🇷 The Saudi Hellenic Roundtable Meeting, which was held in Riyadh. 🇸🇦🇬🇷 — هيئة التجارة الخارجية (@gaft_sa) February 26, 2025 Several Saudi government entities took part in the meeting, such as the Saudi Investment Ministry, the Federation of Saudi Chambers, and the Public Investment Fund (PIF). Furthermore, major companies from both countries participated in the meeting, including NEOM, Qiddiya Investment Company, Red Sea Global, King Salman International Airport, Diriyah Company, New Murabba, AlUla Development Company, ROSHN Group, Soudah Development, and King Salman Park, in addition to many Greek companies. Trade exchange between Saudi Arabia and Greece reached about $2 billion, as of the third quarter of 2024. Moreover, the trade volume between the two countries recorded a growth rate of 18.3% in the period from 2019 to 2023. Short link : Post Views: 1
Arab News
24-02-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Saudi Arabia tightens corporate ownership rules to boost transparency
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has approved new beneficial ownership rules to enhance corporate transparency and align with global financial regulations. Set to take effect on April 3, the measures coincide with the enforcement of the updated Commercial Registry System and were developed in collaboration with experts to align with international best practices, according to the Commerce Ministry. The decision was issued by Minister of Commerce Majid Al-Qasabi as part of efforts to strengthen regulatory oversight. The regulations, developed in line with Financial Action Task Force guidelines, require companies to disclose individuals who ultimately control or benefit from their operations. The move is part of Saudi Arabia's broader efforts to modernize its business environment under Vision 2030. The rules aim to enhance transparency by establishing a dedicated database to register and store beneficial ownership data. The new rules also reinforce the Kingdom's adherence to international standards, particularly those set by FATF, which works to protect the global financial system from illicit activities through policy development and enforcement. Under the new rules, a beneficial owner is defined as anyone holding at least 25 percent of a company's capital, controlling 25 percent or more of its voting rights, appointing or dismissing leadership, or exerting significant influence over its decisions. If no individual meets these criteria, the company's director, board member, or chairman will be designated as the beneficial owner, the release added. The rules apply to all businesses operating in Saudi Arabia, including foreign entities, but exempt publicly listed firms, state-owned enterprises, and companies undergoing bankruptcy liquidation. The release said companies must disclose beneficial ownership details upon registration and confirm their accuracy annually. Existing firms have until their next annual data confirmation deadline to comply. Businesses are required to maintain a dedicated register of beneficial ownership data and provide updates to the Ministry of Commerce. Access to this information will be restricted to regulatory and competent authorities under strict confidentiality provisions. The ministry added that non-compliance could result in penalties of up to SR500,000 ($133,000) or other sanctions under the Companies Law. The move is part of Saudi Arabia's broader push to strengthen corporate governance and align with international anti-money laundering and financial crime prevention standards.
