JEDDAH: Four out of every five employees on the Diriyah Gate development are Saudis, its CEO revealed on Wednesday.
The Diriyah Gate project has made great strides in its efforts to hire citizens, especially women, said Jerry Inzerillo, CEO of the Diriyah Gate Development Authority.
“The thing that I’m most proud about is that 83 percent of our staff are Saudi, 36 percent of our staff Saudi women, 16 percent of our Saudi women are in management,” he told delegates at a seminar in Riyadh on Wednesday.
The executive also highlighted the youthful profile of the team.
“Sixty-five percent of the Kingdom’s population is under the age of 35. My staff, the average age is 31. If you take me out of probably drops to 24,” Inzerillo said.
Under the Vision 2030 goals, Saudi Arabia aims for female participation in the labor force to be at 30 percent by 2030, a target it has achieved ahead of schedule.
The CEO also attended the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai last week, where he gave details of the $20 billion project.
Diriyah Gate is being built primarily for Saudis who got their education abroad and are returning to the Kingdom, mostly settling in the capital, including professionals, Inzerillo told Bloomberg.
The project is being built on the outskirts of Riyadh, which Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wants to expand from its current population of 5 million to between 15 and 20 million by 2030 and become one of the 10 richest cities in the world.
The first phase of the project is estimated at $20 billion, the DGDA CEO said.
“At the end of this year and the first quarter of 2022, we will complete the construction of some assets in Diriyah,” Inzerillo said. “We will open the new Al-Bujairi District and 19 restaurants in addition to new hotels and gardens. We have also planted 22,000 trees.”
“We invested $1 billion in the infrastructure of these projects,” he said. “We also launched the Wadi Safar development project, where the first hotel and museum will soon open. We will show ready assets in the first quarter of 2022.”
Four out of every five Diriyah Gate staff are Saudis
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Four out of every five Diriyah Gate staff are Saudis
- The Diriyah Gate project has made great strides in its efforts to hire citizens, especially women
Silver crosses $77 mark while gold, platinum stretch record highs
- Spot silver touched an all-time high of $77.40 earlier today, marking a 167% year-to-date surge driven by supply deficits
- Spot platinum rose 9.8% to $2,437.72 per ounce, while palladium surged 14 percent to $1,927.81, its highest level in over 3 years
Silver breached the $77 mark for the first time on Friday, while gold and platinum hit record highs, buoyed by expectations of US Federal Reserve rate cuts and geopolitical tensions that fueled safe-haven demand.
Spot silver jumped 7.5% to $77.30 per ounce, as of 1:53 p.m. ET (1853 GMT), after touching an all-time high of $77.40 earlier today, marking a 167% year-to-date surge driven by supply deficits, its designation as a US critical mineral, and strong investment inflows.
Spot gold was up 1.2% at $4,531.41 per ounce, after hitting a record $4,549.71 earlier. US gold futures for February delivery settled 1.1% higher at $4,552.70.
“Expectations for further Fed easing in 2026, a weak dollar and heightened geopolitical tensions are driving volatility in thin markets. While there is some risk of profit-taking before the year-end, the trend remains strong,” said Peter Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals.
Markets are anticipating two rate cuts in 2026, with the first likely around mid-year amid speculation that US President Donald Trump could name a dovish Fed chair, reinforcing expectations for a more accommodative monetary stance.
The US dollar index was on track for a weekly decline, enhancing the appeal of dollar-priced gold for overseas buyers.
On the geopolitical front, the US carried out airstrikes against Daesh militants in northwest Nigeria, Trump said on Thursday.
“$80 in silver is within reach by year-end. For gold, the next objective is $4,686.61, with $5,000 likely in the first half of next year,” Grant added.
Gold remains poised for its strongest annual gain since 1979, underpinned by Fed policy easing, central bank purchases, ETF inflows, and ongoing de-dollarization trends.
On the physical demand side, gold discounts in India widened to their highest in more than six months this week as a relentless price rally curbed retail buying, while discounts in China narrowed sharply from last week’s five-year highs.
Elsewhere, spot platinum rose 9.8% to $2,437.72 per ounce, having earlier hit a record high of $2,454.12 while palladium surged 14% to $1,927.81, its highest level in more than three years.
All precious metals logged weekly gains, with platinum recording its strongest weekly rise on record.
