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Arab News
15-05-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Saudi Arabia aiming to foster innovation and global collaboration, says economy minister
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia aims to foster a dynamic private sector, create jobs for its citizens, and attract international talent as part of its Vision 2030 strategy, according to a top official. Speaking during an interview with Fox News on the sidelines of the Saudi-US Investment Forum, Economy and Planning Minister Faisal Al-Ibrahim said the Kingdom has embarked on a transformative path to unlock its potential and shift its growth narrative beyond oil. The forum was held on the occasion of US President Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, during which he was accompanied by a delegation of leading business figures. Al-Ibrahim said: 'We want a private sector that's dynamic. We're a young population, but in about 20, 25, 30 years, we'll start the aging process. What we should look like at that stage is a government and a private sector and a third sector, and academia that is leveraging fully generative AI and other technological tools toward productivity.' He added: 'But also that has created jobs for a lot of Saudis, and has been able to, in the process, attract a lot of talent to come to Saudi to make Saudi Arabia their home.' The minister emphasized that diversification has already begun to yield results, with sectors such as tourism, culture, and technology, as well as sports and artificial intelligence, contributing significantly to gross domestic product. 'We would love to be competitive in a large and vibrant consumer market, such as that in the US,' the minister said, highlighting the Kingdom's increasing connections with global markets, especially American capital markets. Al-Ibrahim noted that the non-oil gross domestic product has surpassed 50 percent for the first time, but cautioned against complacency. 'We're not over-celebrating that, but we're acknowledging this as a milestone. What we want to see is more non-oil exports growing. More non-oil exports of our manufacturing, GDP,' Al-Ibrahim said. The minister also emphasized the importance of service sector quality, adding: 'We want to see user experience in the services side, especially on the tourism side, second to none. Still have a lot of work to do.' He noted that both Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and President Donald Trump have spoken of 'peace and prosperity' as tools to address global challenges, reinforcing the Kingdom's alignment with international efforts toward stability. 'We've seen what dialogue has led to in terms of the US and UK deal, US and China deal, and what Saudi has led to also through dialogue in the region,' the minister added. On regional developments, he commented on the US decision to lift sanctions on Syria and its potential impact. 'Something as strong and meaningful and material as lifting sanctions could help a country such as Syria to invest more capital in building the institutions they need to be a more stable country, but also bring more stability to the region and be a force for good,' Al-Ibrahim said. Describing the relationship between the crown prince and President Trump, the minister added: 'I see common values between both leaders, regardless of age and background, and I think that's one of the things that really brings the mutual respect into the public eye.' Addressing skepticism about the Kingdom's evolution, the minister concluded: 'Saudi Arabia is a long-term reliable partner, if you ask anyone who has dealt with the Kingdom, government, people, anyone who has visited here ... Saudi Arabia has always been and always will be a force for good, for innovation.'
Reuters
14-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
FIFA targets $1 billion revenue from Women's World Cup
May 14 (Reuters) - FIFA is targeting $1 billion in revenue from the Women's World Cup, global soccer governing body's president Gianni Infantino said on Tuesday at the Saudi Arabia-U.S. Investment Forum 2025 in Riyadh. The 2023 Women's World Cup, hosted by Australia and New Zealand, broke even after generating more than $570 million in revenue. "Women's football and women in football are crucially important...," said Infantino. "It's growing as well, and exponentially, and we are targeting that as well to have $1 billion revenue just with the Women's World Cup to reinvest in the women's game." The next women's World Cup in 2027 will be hosted by Brazil, making it the first edition to be held in South America. The United States is poised to be named host of the 2031 edition, which will be expanded to 48 teams from 32. Infantino also said there was massive potential for football to generate more revenue outside Europe. "If the rest of the world, in particular Saudi Arabia or the United States of America, would do just 20% of what Europe does in soccer, we (could reach an amount of over) half a trillion (dollars) or more of GDP impact (with our sport)," he added. "Saudi Arabia, by the way, is doing exceptionally good, as well, by creating a women's league, a women's national team. Women's football is really the only team sport for women that has such a huge audience and impact as well."
CNN
13-05-2025
- Business
- CNN
Trump gets the royal-purple-carpet treatment in the Middle East, belying thorny geopolitical challenges
President Donald Trump arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday to a royal-purple-carpet rollout and a motorcade ride ensconced by a calvary of Arabian horses – a daylong kickoff to the first major international trip of his second term. Surrounded by top business leaders and Saudi officials, the president sought to project himself as a consummate dealmaker and diplomat on the world stage. He outlined a lofty vision for peace and prosperity in the region, announced investment deals and said the US would lift sanctions on Syria, a major change in foreign policy. He encouraged Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords, agreements inked with neighboring UAE and Bahrain during his first term that normalize relations with Israel. He put pressure on Iran to reach a nuclear deal with the US. The reality, though, is complicated: Trump is contending with an increasingly volatile and unresolved conflict in nearby Gaza that places serious limits on his ability to influence global affairs. Taken together, the president offered one of the most sweeping visions yet of an emerging foreign policy doctrine in four months back on the world stage that has captivated friend and foes alike. 'I'm different than a lot of people think,' Trump told the Saudi-US Investment Forum. 'I don't like permanent enemies, but sometimes, you need enemies to do the job and you have to do it right. Enemies get you motivated.' A former reality television star, Trump is acutely aware of the imagery that goes into a presidential visit, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman understood the assignment. Trump descended the steps of Air Force One to a 21-gun salute as the crown prince welcomed him. The two walked together through the Royal Court for bilateral meetings, a lunch with executives from some of the world's biggest tech companies, and a signing ceremony underscoring the ways the US and Saudi Arabia's governments plan to bolster collaboration on a range of defense and energy issues. The lunch, attended by leaders from Amazon, OpenAI, Uber, Northrop Grumman, Palantir, Coca-Cola, Nvidia and Boeing, among others, demonstrated the lengths that America's tech executives have gone to curry favor with the president during his second term. The White House touted what it described as 'transformative deals secured in Saudi Arabia,' pointing to a $20 billion investment by Saudi company DataVolt for AI data centers and energy infrastructure, as well as an $80 billion investment from Google, DataVolt, Oracle, Salesforce, AMD and Uber in 'cutting-edge transformative technologies in both countries.' Trump, meanwhile, lavished praise on his hosts during remarks to an investment forum, calling the graciousness of the Saudi people 'unsurpassed.' He reaffirmed bonds with the crown prince and announced plans to 'make our relationship closer, stronger and more powerful than ever before.' The memoranda of understanding and other agreements signed Tuesday reflected the close ties the crown prince has sought to establish with Trump. It was a significant departure from former President Joe Biden's vow to make the kingdom a 'pariah' after the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, whose 2018 killing went without mention Tuesday. A US intelligence report asserts that Prince bin Salman approved the operation to capture or kill the Saudi journalist. At the end of his hourlong remarks to the investment forum, Trump revealed his plan to lift punishing sanctions on Syria, marking the first step toward a normalization in relations after more than a decade. Trump said he was persuaded to do so after recent discussions with the crown prince, as well as with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 'The sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important – really an important function, nevertheless – at the time. But now it's their time to shine,' Trump said. 'So, I say, 'Good luck, Syria.' Show us something very special.' Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani told the country's state news agency that the 'development marks a pivotal turning point for the Syrian people.' The move – which comes after the December fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad's regime – is likely to face some criticism. New Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa previously founded a militant group known as Jabhat al-Nusra ('the Victory Front' in English), which pledged allegiance to al Qaeda. But in 2016, he broke away from the terror group, according to the US Center for Naval Analyses. Trump is expected to informally greet al-Sharaa in Riyadh on Wednesday, a White House official said earlier Tuesday. Ahead of Trump's departure for the trip, there were discussions with Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, about signing agreements to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel, Trump administration sources said. Trump said Tuesday it was still his 'fervent hope' that Saudi Arabia would eventually sign on, offering some public pressure as the crown prince looked on. 'Saudi Arabia — a place I have such respect for, especially over the last fairly short period of time, what you've been able to do — will soon be joining the Abraham Accords. I think it will be a tremendous tribute to your country, and will be something that's really going to be very important for the future of the Middle East,' the president said, though he soon added: 'But you'll do it in your own time. And that's what I want, and that's what you want, and that's the way it's going to be.' The crown prince, the country's de facto leader, has stated unequivocally that Riyadh won't normalize relations with Israel until there is a clear path for Palestinian statehood and a permanent end to the war in Gaza. Observers say neither is likely in the short term. Even as Trump spoke in Riyadh, he couldn't avoid the impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict in the region. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he is launching a new, more intensive phase of the war, though an Israeli official has said it would begin after Trump's visit. During Trump's remarks, it was reported that Israel targeted Hamas leader Mohammad Sinwar in a strike on a hospital in southern Gaza, according to a senior Israeli official and two sources familiar with the matter. In 2017, Trump made his first major international trip to Saudi Arabia – followed by a stop in Israel. Eight years later, there is no planned stop in the country. Trump reiterated his calls to end the war Tuesday. 'The people of Gaza deserve a much better future. But that will or cannot occur as long as their leaders choose to kidnap, torture, and target innocent men, women, and children for political ends. The way those people are treated in Gaza – there's not a place in the world where people are treated so badly.' Earlier this year, Trump laid out a plan for the US to 'take over' Gaza, relocate Palestinians, and turn the war-torn enclave into what he described as the 'Riviera of the Middle East.' CNN's Oren Liebermann, Alayna Treene, Kristen Holmes and Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.
Sky News
13-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News
US-Saudi relationship feels tighter than ever as Trump signs flurry of deals
Why you can trust Sky News In today's Saudi Arabia, convention centres resemble palaces. The King Abdul Aziz International Conference Centre was built in 1999 but inside it feels like Versailles. Some might call it kitsch, but it's a startling reflection of how far this country has come - the growth of a nation from desert bedouins to a vastly wealthy regional powerbroker in just one generation. 0:50 At a bar overnight, over mocktails and a shisha, I listened to one young Saudi man tell me how his family had watched this transformation. His father, now in his 60s, had lived the change - a child born in a desert tent, an upbringing in a dusty town, his 30s as a mujahideen fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan, his 40s in a deeply conservative Riyadh and now his 60s watching, wide-eyed, the change supercharged in recent years. The last few years' acceleration of change is best reflected in the social transformation. Women, unveiled, can now drive. Here, make no mistake, that's a profound leap forward. Through a 'western' lens, there's a way to go - homosexuality is illegal here. That, and the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, are no longer openly discussed here. Bluntly, political and economic expedience have moved world leaders and business leaders beyond all that. 2:27 The guest list of delegates at the convention centre for the Saudi-US Investment Forum reads like a who's who of America's best business brains. Signing a flurry of different deals worth about $600bn (£451bn) of inward investment from Saudi to the US - which actually only represent intentions or 'memorandums of understanding' at this stage - the White House said: "The deals... represent a new golden era of partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia. "From day one, President Trump 's America First Trade and Investment Policy has put the American economy, the American worker, and our national security first." That's the answer when curious voters in faraway America wonder what this is all about. With opulence and extravagance, this is about a two-way investment and opportunity. There are defence deals - the largest defence sales agreement in history, at nearly $142bn (£106bn) - tech deals, and energy deals. Underlying it all is the expectation of diplomatic cooperation, investment to further the geopolitical strategies for both countries on key global challenges. 1:12 In the convention centre's gold-clad corridors, outside the plenary hall, there are reminders of the history of this relationship. There is a 'gallery of memories' - the American presidents with the Saudi kings - stretching back to the historic 1945 meeting between Franklin D Roosevelt and King Saud on board the USS Quincy. That laid the foundation for the relationship we now see. Curiously, the only president missing is Barack Obama. Sources suggested to me that this was a 'mistake'. A convenient one, maybe. It's no secret that the US-Saudi relationship was at its most strained during his presidency. Obama's absence would give Trump a chuckle. 1:25 Today, the relationship feels tighter than ever. There is a mutual respect between the president and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - Trump chose Saudi Arabia as his first foreign trip in his last presidency, and he's done so again. But there are differences this time. Both men are more powerful, more self-assured, and of course the region has changed. There are huge challenges like Gaza, but the two men see big opportunities too. A deal with Iran, a new Syria, and Gulf countries that are global players. It's money, money, money here in Riyadh. Will that translate to a better, more prosperous and peaceful world? That's the question.
Trade Arabia
13-05-2025
- Business
- Trade Arabia
US President Trump arrives in Riyadh on 4-day Gulf tour
US President Donald Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday on a four-day state visit to the Gulf region. He is expected to focus on economic deals and regional security matters. Saudi Crown Prince HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud welcomed the US President upon arrival in Saudi Arabia. With a who's who of powerful American business leaders in tow, Trump is visiting Riyadh, site of a Saudi-US Investment Forum, before going to Qatar on Wednesday and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday. He has not scheduled a stop in Israel, a decision that has raised questions about where Israel stands in Washington's priorities, said a Reuters report. An agreement for Saudi Arabia to buy more than $100 billion of US arms and other military equipment is widely reported to be among the deals Trump is due to announce on this trip, said BBC. Missiles, radar systems and transport aircraft are reportedly part of the package.
