https://arab.news/4zzqt
TOKYO: Osaka Gov. Yoshimura Hirofumi congratulated Saudi Arabia after Riyadh was named the venue for Expo 2030.
“As Osaka, the host city of the 2025 Expo, we are going to realize a great Expo,” he said, adding that Osaka will hand over the Expo flag to the Kingdom. “Let’s do our best together,” he said.
The Osaka Expo will take place from April 13 to Oct. 13, 2025, under the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” So far, 159 countries have committed to taking part in the Osaka Expo.
RIYADH: Economic ties between Saudi Arabia and Malaysia are set to soar with the launch of a business council aimed at catalyzing growth and collaboration across various sectors.
The council was inaugurated during the visit of Saudi Minister of Commerce Majed bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, who led a delegation comprising 44 officials and leaders representing 20 government bodies and 24 private sector entities to the Southeast Asian country.
The minister announced the establishment of the business council, emphasizing its goal of enhancing economic relations between the two countries.
“We inaugurated today with the Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Tengku Zafrul Aziz the Saudi-Malaysian Business Council to contribute to strengthening economic and trade relations in the promising sectors in the two brotherly countries,” Al-Qasabi said in a post on his X account on May 6.
The Saudi minister further held a roundtable meeting with Aziz, attended by Sulaiman Mahbob, chairman of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority, and Dato Seri Reezal, chairman of the Malaysia External Trade Development Corp., along with Shaharul Sadri Alwi, director general of the Department of Standards Malaysia.
Al-Qasabi pointed out that the talks with Malaysian officials revolved around enhancing partnerships within the business sectors of both nations.
Concluding his visit to the Southeast Asian country, the commerce minister mentioned that he had also held meetings with Ewon Benedick, minister of entrepreneurship development; Mohamad Sabu, minister of agriculture and food industry; and Alexander Nanta Linggi, minister of works.
“We discussed cooperation in the areas of training, knowledge transfer, innovation, and sustainability, while also reviewing Malaysia’s experience in supporting small and medium-sized projects,” Al-Qasabi said.
During the meetings, efforts to encourage exports and enhance the capabilities of Saudi and Malaysian companies to access global markets were discussed, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
It added that collaboration in capacity building in innovation, emerging technologies, research programs, and e-commerce was emphasized.
Al-Qasabi affirmed that Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has brought about significant transformations in the Saudi economy since its announcement in 2016.
He noted the close trade relations between Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, highlighting significant opportunities for expansion and diversification. The minister emphasized Saudi Arabia’s efforts to become a global hub for trade and logistics services.
In conjunction with the Saudi delegation’s visit to Malaysia, representatives from the Federation of Saudi Chambers, led by Secretary-General Waleed Al-Orainan, participated in the meeting aimed at exploring investment opportunities in both countries.
The meeting concluded with the signing of significant partnership and investment agreements between the two sides.
Al-Orainan and the President of the National Chamber of Commerce of Malaysia, Tan Datu, signed an agreement to enhance economic cooperation.
Moreover, private sector companies from both countries held bilateral meetings and signed trade and investment partnership agreements in multiple sectors.
RIYADH: Egypt’s Social Impact Capital is set to receive a significant financial boost as it announced a conditional agreement with the Saudi Egyptian Investment Co.
Under the terms of the deal, SEIC will subscribe for new shares in SIC, the principal shareholder of CIRA Education, which is listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange.
This financial arrangement is designed to facilitate SIC’s acquisition of additional shares in CIRA, potentially increasing SIC’s total shareholding to between 75 percent and 100 percent at a price of 14 Egyptian pounds ($0.29) per share.
This move aims to delist CIRA from the Egyptian exchange and transform it into a major regional player in the education sector.
SEIC, wholly owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, will play a crucial role in enhancing CIRA’s market position. As one of the largest fully integrated education service providers in Egypt’s private sector, CIRA stands to benefit significantly from this partnership.
The completion of this conditional agreement is contingent upon successful due diligence, securing applicable regulatory approvals, and the execution of definitive agreements.
Following these steps, the SIC-SEIC consortium plans to extend a mandatory tender offer to CIRA’s other shareholders on the Egyptian stock exchange in line with existing laws and regulations.
CIRA’s initial public offering was in 2018 at a market value of 1.2 billion Egyptian pounds.
According to several reports, the company’s IPO saw selling shareholders SIC alongside other minority reserve holders offer of 207.26 million shares, or 37.8 percent of CIRA, to institutional and retail investors at a price of 6 Egyptian pounds per share.
Moreover, SEIC has been a major investor in Egyptian companies.
In 2023, the investment entity acquired a 25.01 percent stake in state-owned fintech giant e-Finance.
This comes as SEIC acquired an initial 25 percent stake in the fintech company in 2022, making it e-Finance’s largest shareholder.
Also in 2022, SEIC acquired minority stakes in three other Egyptian state-owned companies with a total investment of $1.3 billion.
The three other companies are Abu Qir Fertilisers and Chemical Industries, Misr Fertilisers Production Co., and Alexandria Container and Cargo Handling.
SINGAPORE: Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday after Israel struck Rafah in Gaza, while negotiations for a ceasefire with Hamas continued without resolution, according to Reuters.
Brent crude futures were up 9 cents, or 0.11 percent, at $83.42 per barrel at 9:35 a.m. Saudi time, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 7 cents, or 0.09 percent, to $78.55 a barrel.
“Oil prices opened up this morning, with some roadblocks in the ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas leading market participants to price for geopolitical tensions to potentially drag for longer,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG.
Market participants will be looking ahead to upcoming US crude inventories data releases, Yeap added.
US crude oil and product stockpiles were expected to have fallen last week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday. The crude inventories could have on average fallen by about 1.2 million barrels in the week to May 3, based on analyst forecasts.
During the session, a stronger dollar capped gains in oil futures as it makes crude more expensive for traders holding other currencies. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was last up at 105.25.
Oil prices had settled higher on Monday, partially reversing last week’s declines. Both contracts had posted the steepest weekly losses in three months as the market focused on weak US jobs data and the possible timing of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut.
Palestinian militant group Hamas on Monday agreed to a Gaza ceasefire proposal from mediators, but Israel said the terms did not meet its demands and pressed ahead with strikes in Rafah while planning to continue negotiations on a deal.
Israeli forces struck Rafah on Gaza’s southern edge from the air and ground and ordered residents to leave parts of the city, which has been a refuge for more than 1 million displaced Palestinians.
The absence of a settlement between the parties in the now seven-month long conflict has supported oil prices, as investors worry regional escalation of the war will disrupt Middle Eastern crude supplies.
Saudi Arabia’s move to raise the official selling prices for its crude sold to Asia, Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean in June also supported prices, signalling expectations of strong demand this summer.
The world’s top exporter hiked its flagship Arab Light crude oil price to Asia to $2.90 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average in June, the highest since January and at the upper end of traders’ expectations in a Reuters survey.
RIYADH: Energy giant Saudi Aramco reported a net profit of $27.27 billion in the first three months of this year, marking a 2.04 percent increase compared to the previous quarter.
According to the company’s statement, the state-owned oil firm’s total revenue for the the three months to the end of March stood at $107.21 billion, with the total operating income for the period reaching $58.88 billion.
Amin Nasser, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, said: “Our first quarter performance reflects the resilience and strength of Aramco, reinforcing our position as a leading supplier of energy to economies, to industries and to people worldwide.”
However, when compared with the first quarter of the previous year, the net profit of the Tadawul-listed firm declined by 14.44 percent by the end of March 2024.
Despite lower net income, Aramco declared a base dividend of $20.3 billion for the first three months of the year and anticipates distributing its fourth performance-linked dividend of $10.8 billion in the second quarter.
The statement added that the company expects total dividends of $124.3 billion to be declared in 2024, comprising a base dividend of $81.2 billion and a performance-linked dividend of $43.1 billion.
Nasser revealed that Saudi Aramco made significant progress in its gas business during the first quarter.
“We also continue to execute our long-term strategy, and in the first quarter made significant progress on expanding our gas business and growing our globally-integrated downstream value chain, while maintaining our focus on consistently delivering value for our shareholder,” he added.
In February, the energy giant discovered an additional 15 trillion standard cubic feet of gas and 2 billion barrels of condensate in the Kingdom’s Jafurah Field.
Additionally, the statement noted that Saudi Aramco awarded $7.7 billion worth of engineering, procurement, and construction contracts for the expansion of the Fadhili Gas Plant, aiming to increase its processing capacity by 1.5 billion standard cubic feet per day.
Moreover, Aramco completed the acquisition of a 100 percent equity stake in Chilean retailer Esmax in the third quarter of 2023, bolstering the company's downstream expansion efforts.
“Looking ahead, I expect our portfolio to continue to evolve as we aim to contribute to an energy transition that offers solutions to climate challenges, but at the same time recognizes the need for affordable, reliable, and flexible energy supplies,” added Nasser.
The statement further added that Saudi Aramco is well-positioned to help meet the world’s growing need for affordable and reliable energy, emphasizing that oil and gas will continue to play a significant role in the global energy mix.
Additionally, the company noted that it achieved a total hydrocarbon production of 12.4 million barrels of oil equivalent in the first quarter of this year.
Highlighting Aramco’s commitment to sustainability, the energy giant announced its intention to ramp up its utilization of renewable energy sources, aiming to invest in up to 12 gigawatts of solar photovoltaic and wind projects by 2030.
In January, the Sudair Solar PV Plant, one of the largest solar installations in the region boasting a capacity of 1.5 GW, achieved full-capacity operation. This project is a joint venture between Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, and utility developer ACWA Power.
RIYADH: Alat, a flagship company of the Public Investment Fund, unveiled two business units in electrification and AI infrastructure, to establish Saudi Arabia as a premier manufacturing hub globally.
The company unveiled its plans during the Milken Institute Conference held in Los Angeles.
According to a press release, the move comes as part of the PIF company’s strategic vision to spearhead a paradigm shift in industry sustainability while propelling Saudi Arabia on the global stage.
Alat Global CEO Amit Midha said: “I am pleased to announce these two exciting new divisions as they will make a significant contribution to Alat’s overall strategic goal of developing an advanced, sustainable future for the industry.”
The electrification arm will fortify grid technology, catering to the burgeoning demand for electricity driven by exponential growth in renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydrogen.
By harnessing Saudi Arabia’s solar energy and other clean resources, the firm seeks to manufacture innovative solutions that will catalyze the global energy transition and drive decarbonization in industry.
The electrification unit will specifically focus on enhancing transmission and distribution technologies, facilitating the integration of renewable energy into existing grids, and pioneering advancements in gas and hydrogen generation and compression technologies.
On the other front, the AI Infrastructure business unit will address the escalating global demand for AI capabilities across industries.
This entails the development of cutting-edge technologies encompassing network and communications equipment, servers, data center networking, storage, industrial edge servers, and Industry 4.0 computing.
“The global electrification market size reached $73.64 billion in 2022 and it is expected to hit around $172.9 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 8.91 percent between 2023 and 2032,” the press release added.
The global AI Infrastructure market is set to hit $460.5 billion by 2033, with a robust 28.3 percent compound annual growth rate, driven by widespread adoption across industries for innovation, decision-making enhancement, and task automation.
As a gold sponsor at the Milken Institute Conference, the firm now has nine business units focused on sustainable technology manufacturing.
“Alat will invest $100 billion by 2030 across these business units to develop key partnerships and build advanced manufacturing capabilities in Saudi Arabia to bring jobs and economic diversification to the Kingdom,” the press release said.
