RIYADH: Business and investment between Saudi Arabia and the UK are flourishing under the “amazing” Vision 2030 reform plan, with expectations for further collaborations on the horizon, the Lord Mayor of the City of London told Arab News in Riyadh.
Michael Mainelli said of the business and investment connections between Saudi Arabia and the City of London: “The Gulf is our fourth-largest trading partner with about £65 billion ($81.47 billion) in trade every year, and Saudi is the largest chunk of that to well over £17 billion, so trade is very good.”
Saudi investment in the City of London has always been “very, very strong, and British investment in Saudi has also been strong. I don’t think there’s anything other than growth, and with the amazing changes under Vision 2030, we’re anticipating yet more investment both ways,” he added.
“The great thing about Vision 2030 is that it’s almost like a pyramid, with the entire nation working together towards a whole series of goals.”
The UK is “the world’s premier professional financial services sector, so there will always be opportunities for us to collaborate with Saudi Arabia” in this field, Mainelli said. “I think less appreciated is our recognition of Saudi intellect.”
He said he is “trying to make connections” in Riyadh, adding that Saudi academia, science, technology and research “are growing very well.”
Mainelli outlined three main avenues of Saudi investment in the City of London: property development, operational businesses, and science and technology. He added that Saudis are also investing in areas such as media distribution and packaging.
“I’m looking forward to a tremendous amount of Saudi investment in science and technology, particularly in areas like hydrogen, where Saudi Arabia is very strong, as well as in desalination and biotech,” he said.
Emphasizing initiatives aimed at bolstering economic cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the UK, he said: “The British government is hosting a two-day conference here in Riyadh from May 14 to 15. We’re bringing over about 400 to 500 British firms to look at areas where they’re looking at technology.
“Equally, in June we have our Net Zero Delivery Summit, where Saudi Arabia will be present, and on June 24 the UK-Saudi infrastructure meeting, where we’ll discuss infrastructure projects both ways.”
Providing insight on how the UK can further strengthen economic relations with Saudi Arabia, especially after having left the EU, Mainelli said: “The Brexit vote was over eight years ago, and in the City of London we’ve grown from 525,000 workers to 615,000 workers — a net gain of 90,000.
“Also, assets under management globally have increased from just over 12 percent to about 15 percent of global assets. So the City of London has been doing very well post-Brexit.”
Mainelli highlighted the value of conferences such as the World Economic Forum in Riyadh, which he attended, as catalysts for business deals, often beginning with conversations between individuals.
“It’s great to have this event. It focuses very much on cooperation, particularly in the energy sphere, which is fundamental to economic growth,” he said.
“Britain is a petrostate in its own right, not as strong as Saudi Arabia. Both countries have to work on what’s their energy transition going to be in a net zero world.”
Besides geopolitical tensions, trade restrictions pose significant barriers to global collaboration, Mainelli said.
“These are present in both goods and services, particularly in professional services, and the way to address them … is through standards. These are ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standards, which I’m promoting for artificial intelligence and space sustainability, for example,” he added.
“These are mutual recognition standards for professionals working, so a Saudi accountant could work in Britain and vice versa, and similarly for lawyers etc.
“The third area concerns governance standards and how organizations are managed. So I believe probably the biggest thing to constantly work at is standards.”
Mainelli stressed the need to address geopolitical tensions, “but as a business community we’re not deeply involved in those negotiations, decisions or military actions, so it’s important for us to understand how we should be reacting to and how we can support peace through trade.”
Saudi-UK economic symphony hits high note with Vision 2030, Lord Mayor of City of London tells Arab News
https://arab.news/gu8xg
Saudi-UK economic symphony hits high note with Vision 2030, Lord Mayor of City of London tells Arab News
- Michael Mainelli: ‘With the amazing changes under Vision 2030, we’re anticipating yet more investment both ways’
Saudi Arabia looks to Swiss-led geospatial AI breakthroughs
- IBM’s Zurich lab is shaping tools policymakers could use to protect ecosystems
ZURICH: For Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, AI-powered Earth observation is quickly becoming indispensable for anticipating climate risks, modeling extreme weather and protecting critical national infrastructure.
That reality was on display inside IBM’s research lab in Zurich, where scientists are advancing geospatial AI and quantum technologies designed to help countries navigate a decade of accelerating environmental volatility.
The Zurich facility — one of IBM’s most sophisticated hubs for climate modeling, satellite analytics and quantum computing — provides a rare look into the scientific foundations shaping how nations interpret satellite imagery, track environmental change and construct long-term resilience strategies.
For Saudi Arabia, where climate adaptation, space technologies and data-driven policy align closely with Vision 2030 ambitions, the lessons emerging from this work resonate with growing urgency.
At the heart of the lab’s research is a shift in how satellite data is understood. While traditional space programs focused largely on engineering spacecraft and amassing imagery, researchers say the future lies in extracting meaning from those massive datasets.
As Juan Bernabe-Moreno, director of IBM Research Europe for Ireland and the UK, notes, satellites ultimately “are gathering data,” but real impact only emerges when institutions can “make sense of that data” using geospatial foundation models.
These open-source models allow government agencies, researchers and local innovators to fine-tune Earth-observation AI for their own geography and environmental pressures. Their applications, Bernabe-Moreno explained, have already produced unexpected insights — identifying illegal dumping sites, measuring how mangrove plantations cool cities, and generating flood-risk maps “for places that don’t usually get floods, like Riyadh.”
The relevance for Saudi Arabia is clear. Coastal developments require precise environmental modeling; mangrove restoration along the Red Sea is a national priority under the Saudi Green Initiative; and cities such as Riyadh and Jeddah have recently faced severe rainfall that strained existing drainage systems.
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The ability to simulate these events before they unfold could help authorities make better decisions about zoning, infrastructure and emergency planning. Today’s satellites, Bernabe-Moreno said, provide “an almost real-time picture of what is happening on Earth,” shifting the challenge from collecting data to interpreting it.
This push toward actionable intelligence also reflects a larger transformation in research culture. Major advances in Earth observation increasingly depend on open innovation — shared data, open-source tools and transparent models that allow global collaboration. “Open innovation in this field is key,” Bernabe-Moreno said, noting that NASA, ESA and IBM rely on openness to avoid the delays caused by lengthy IP negotiations.
Saudi Arabia has already embraced this direction. Through SDAIA, KAUST and national partnerships, the Kingdom is moving from consuming global research to actively contributing to it. Open geospatial AI models, researchers argue, give Saudi developers the ability to build highly localized applications adapted to the region’s climate realities and economic priorities.
Beyond Earth observation, IBM’s Zurich lab is pushing forward in another strategic frontier: quantum computing. Though still in its early stages, quantum technology could reshape sectors from logistics and materials science to advanced environmental modeling.
Alessandro Curioni, IBM Research VP for Europe and Africa and director of the Zurich lab, stressed that quantum’s value should not be judged by whether it produces artificial general intelligence. Rather, it should be viewed as a tool to expand human capability.
“The value of computing is not to create a second version of myself,” he said, “it’s to create an instrument that allows me to be super-human at the things I cannot do.”
Curioni sees quantum not as a replacement for classical computing but as an extension capable of solving problems too complex for traditional machines — from simulating fluid dynamics to optimizing vast, interdependent systems. But he cautioned that significant challenges remain, including the need for major advances in hardware stability and tight integration with classical systems. Once these layers mature, he said, “the sky is the limit.”
DID YOU KNOW?
• Modern satellites deliver near real-time views of Earth’s surface.
• Geospatial foundation models transform vast satellite datasets into clear, actionable insights.
• These tools can produce flood-risk maps for cities such as Riyadh, analyze how mangroves cool urban areas, and even detect illegal dumping sites.
Saudi Arabia’s investments in digital infrastructure, sovereign cloud systems and advanced research institutions position the Kingdom strongly for the quantum era when enterprise-ready systems begin to scale. Curioni noted that Saudi Arabia is already “moving in the right direction” on infrastructure, ecosystem development and talent — the three essentials he identifies for deep research collaboration.
His perspective underscores a broader shift underway: the Kingdom is building not only advanced AI applications but a scientific ecosystem capable of sustaining long-term innovation. National programs now include talent development, regulatory frameworks, high-performance computing, and strategic partnerships with global research centers. Researchers argue that this integrated approach distinguishes nations that merely adopt technology from those that ultimately lead it.
For individuals as much as institutions, the message from Zurich is clear. As Curioni put it, those who resist new tools risk being outpaced by those who embrace them. Generative AI already handles tasks — from literature reviews to data processing — that once required days of manual analysis. “If you don’t adopt new technologies, you will be overtaken by those who do adopt them,” he said, adding that the goal is to use these tools “to make yourself better,” not to fear them.
From geospatial AI to emerging quantum platforms, the work underway at IBM’s Zurich lab reflects technologies that will increasingly inform national planning and environmental resilience.
For a country like Saudi Arabia — balancing rapid development with climate uncertainty — such scientific insight may prove essential. As researchers in Switzerland design the tools of tomorrow, the Kingdom is already exploring how these breakthroughs can translate into sustainability, resilience and strategic advantage at home.
