MANAMA: Economic developments in Saudi Arabia will have direct and indirect positive effects on the Gulf region, Bahrain’s Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Zayed Al-Zayani has told Asharq Al-Awsat.
“The bold decisions taken by the Saudi leadership will open up a new dimension in the diversification of the economy,” Al-Zayani said. He added that Saudi Arabia and its strong economy is the main pillar of Arab economies.
“Due to the strength of the Bahraini-Saudi relationship and rapprochement on a social and economic level, the Bahraini economy is considered to be a part of the Saudi economy, and any positive development in the Saudi economy will have positive implications for Bahrain,” he said.
The minister said that the size of the GCC common market was changing according to a number of factors, the most important of which was the price of oil as all GCC economies were linked mainly to oil as a raw material or a commodity.
He said that GCC countries were now focussing on establishing relations with global blocs and commercial markets because trade exchange increased the diversification of sources of income.
“The approach Saudi Arabia is taking is to diversify the industrial base of the Saudi economy, and it is hoped that many of the goods that Saudi Arabia currently imports will be manufactured domestically. Some of the output of these industries will then be exported and this will expand the size of the economy.”
Al-Zayani said that Bahrain would introduce VAT in mid-2018 but it would have a gradual impact as it was a small amount.
“It is 5%,” he said. “There may be an initial reaction to it but over time the consumer will adapt to it. Consumers may have to make different choices and change the products or companies that they use.”
Bahrain industry minister: Saudi diversification is good for the Gulf
Bahrain industry minister: Saudi diversification is good for the Gulf
Work suspended on Riyadh’s massive Mukaab megaproject: Reuters
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has suspended planned construction of a colossal cube-shaped skyscraper at the center of a downtown development in Riyadh while it reassesses the project's financing and feasibility, four people familiar with the matter said.
The Mukaab was planned as a 400-meter by 400-meter metal cube containing a dome with an AI-powered display, the largest on the planet, that visitors could observe from a more than 300-meter-tall ziggurat — or terraced structure —inside it.
Its future is now unclear, with work beyond soil excavation and pilings suspended, three of the people said. Development of the surrounding real estate is set to continue, five people familiar with the plans said.
The sources include people familiar with the project's development and people privy to internal deliberations at the PIF.
Officials from PIF, the Saudi government and the New Murabba project did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Real estate consultancy Knight Frank estimated the New Murabba district would cost about $50 billion — roughly equivalent to Jordan’s GDP — with projects commissioned so far valued at around $100 million.
Initial plans for the New Murabba district called for completion by 2030. It is now slated to be completed by 2040.
The development was intended to house 104,000 residential units and add SR180 billion to the Kingdom’s GDP, creating 334,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2030, the government had estimated previously.
(With Reuters)
