LONDON: The Global Risks Report 2019 jointly compiled by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Harvard Global Heath Institute describes a world that is woefully ill-prepared to detect and respond to disease outbreaks.
In fact, the world is becoming more vulnerable to pandemics, despite advances in medicine and public health.
Global GDP will fall by an average of 0.7 percent or $570 billion because of pandemics — a threat that is “in the same order of magnitude” to the losses estimated to be caused by climate change in the coming decades.
“Outbreaks are a top global economic risk and — like the case for climate change — large companies can no longer afford to stay on the sidelines,” said Vanessa Candeias, who heads the committee on future health and health care at the WEF.
Potential catastrophic outbreaks of disease occur only every few decades but regional and local epidemics are becoming more common. There have been nearly 200 a year in recent times and outbreaks of diseases such as influenza, Ebola, zika, yellow fever, SARS, and MERS have become more frequent over the last 30 years.
At the same time antibiotics have become less effective against bacteria.
The impact of influenza pandemics is estimated at $60 billion, according to a report by the Commission on a Global Health Risk Framework for the Future — more than double previous estimates.
The trend is expected to get worse as populations increase and become more mobile due to travel, trade or displacement. Deforestation and climate change are also factors.
Businesses need to bone up on the risk of infectious diseases and how to manage them if the overall economy is to remain resilient.
Peter Sands, research fellow at the Harvard Global Health Institute and executive director of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said, “When business leaders are more aware of what’s at stake, maybe there will be a different dialogue about global health, from being a topic that rarely touches the radar screen of business leaders to being a subject worthy of attention, investment and advocacy.”
Predicting where and when the next outbreak will come is an evolving science but it is possible to identify certain factors that would leave companies vulnerable to financial losses, such as the nature of the business, geographical location of the workforce, the customer base and supply chain.
Disease is not the only threat. There is also fear uninformed panic. Past epidemics have shown that misinformation spreads as fast as the infection itself and can undermine and disrupt medical response.
The report advises planning for such emergencies by “trusted public-private partnerships” so that “businesses can help mitigate the potentially devastating human and economic impacts of epidemics while protecting the interests of their employees and commercial operations.”
It is estimated that the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa in 2014-2016 cost $53 billion in lost commercial income and the 2015 MERS outbreak in South Korea cost $8.5 billion. According to the World Bank, disease accounts for only 30 percent of economic losses. The rest is largely down to healthy people changing their behavior as they seek to avoid becoming infected themselves.
The authors of the report will make recommendations next week at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos.
Infectious diseases are set to become as great a risk for global business as climate change
Infectious diseases are set to become as great a risk for global business as climate change
Closing Bell: Saudi main index closes in green at 12,334
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index rebounded on Tuesday, as it gained 67.21 points, or 0.55 percent, to close at 12,333.67.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR5.78 billion ($1.54 billion), with 105 stocks advancing and 128 retracting.
Saudi Arabia’s parallel market Nomu, however, shed 265.24 points to close at 31,379.57.
The MSCI Tadawul Index gained 13.95 points to 1,535.59.
The best-performing stock on the main market was Al Hassan Ghazi Ibrahim Shaker Co. The firm’s share price increased by 5.80 percent to SR31.
The share price of Nice One Beauty Digital Marketing Co. also rose by 5.23 percent to SR68.40.
Mobile Telecommunication Co. Saudi Arabia, also known as Zain KSA, witnessed its share price increasing by 5.06 percent to SR10.80.
Conversely, Anaam International Holding Group’s share price dropped by 5.11 percent to SR23.42.
On the announcements front, First Milling Co. said that its net profit for 2024 reached SR250.9 million, representing a rise of 13.94 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
According to a Tadawul statement, the company’s revenue increased by 8.77 percent year on year to SR1.04 billion in 2024.
First Milling Co. added that its net profit for the fourth quarter of 2024 stood at SR66.4 million, marking a 15.47 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
Compared to the third quarter, the company’s net profit increased by 8.31 percent in the final three months of 2024.
The share price of First Milling Co. edged up by 1.46 percent to SR62.40.
Saudi Arabia’s debt capital market still has growth potential, investment minister says
- Khalid Al-Falih said the Kingdom maintains a balanced and diverse set of global relationships at the macro level
- He also highlighted the strong interest from Asian investors in capital flow into Saudi Arabia
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s debt capital market has growth potential, as it accounts for less than 4 percent of gross domestic product, compared to the G20 average of over 40 percent, the investment minister revealed.
During a panel discussion titled “Capital Crossroads: Connecting Global Investment Hubs” on the first day of the Capital Markets Forum 2025, held from Feb. 18-20 in Riyadh, Khalid Al-Falih explained that the Kingdom aims to expand its debt capital market significantly.
This falls in line with the fact that Saudi Arabia’s debt capital market is expected to hit $500 billion by the end of 2025, fueled by the Kingdom’s economic diversification efforts under Vision 2030, according to Fitch Ratings.
In February, Fitch’s latest report highlighted several factors driving this growth, including the government’s need for deficit funding, maturing obligations, and ongoing reforms.
“There is a call for action by our corporates, by our mid-markets to come forward and prepare for raising capital through bonds and sukuks and the debt capital market of Saudi Arabia. Many of them have been doing this in places like London and London has been accommodating and very open for Saudi entities,” Al-Falih said.
“We need to channel global capital into the opportunities not just in the Kingdom but in the region,” he added.
The minister said that King Abdullah Financial District Business Center has already attracted about 600 global companies and that many of them would require professional and financial services as well as raising capital for their regional growth.
“We don’t want them to go and raise that capital internationally. We want them to do it here in Riyadh, aided and enabled by the great Saudi enterprises but also by partnerships from around the world,” Al-Falih said.
He further said that capital markets are a reflection of the broader economy and that the Kingdom maintains a balanced and diverse set of global relationships at the macro level. As one of the world’s largest trading nations, Saudi Arabia has a varied trade balance, with India and China playing key roles in importing from and exporting to the country.
Al-Falih added: “But we continue to trade in a very strong way on goods and services with the Western nations as well as other developing countries in the South. If you look at the investment of the G20 investors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, six of the top 10 are from the East, and the other four are Western countries.”
He also highlighted the strong interest from Asian investors in capital flow into Saudi Arabia.
“The Kingdom in many ways is a connector, as I mentioned, of owners of capital from investors from East and West, and hopefully, we play a significant role in terms of bringing investors, bringing companies together, creating a platform for global cooperation and collaboration which is very much central to how we want to lead going forward to minimize the fragmentation and tension that seems to have emerged the last few years,” the minister said.
During the panel discussion, Al-Falih also tackled how Vision 2030 created a massive shift in the basic economy, with significant growth in non-oil sectors being recorded.
He added that over the past seven to eight years, there have been typical fluctuations in the oil markets, including price changes and variations in Saudi production, which directly impact government revenues and the balance of payments. However, the other sectors, particularly the non-oil economy, have experienced steady and consistent growth of 4 to 6 percent throughout this period.
The minister added: “Sectors that hardly existed are growing at double-digit year on year for the period since Vision 2030, despite COVID and despite micro volatility globally, as I mentioned. You look at tourism, you look at tech, you look at logistics and transportation, all of these are sectors that are drawing a lot of investments and that is reflected in the capital markets, which is the subject of our gathering today.”
The minister also said that over the last two to three years, between 40 and 50 initial public offerings for equity listings have taken place.
“There is still a significant need for this forum and for the capital markets governed by CMA (Capital Market Authority), but really the motor for it and the driver is Tadawul because that is the platform of which everybody works to continue to reflect what is happening in the basic economy, which is diversification and rebalancing of our capital markets,” he said.
Baroness Gustafsson of Chesterton of the Order of the British Empire and the UK’s Minister for Investment, who was also on the same panel, said that bold strategies are needed to drive investment success.
“You have to be quite clear about what it is that you want to accomplish and make that available to investors, and we have done that with our modern industrial strategy, laying out those sort of key sectors that we think are going to be really contributing to the growth of the UK so the investors can align alongside that to make sure they are supporting that,” Gustafsson said.
“The other aspect that you need is that capability. So, that exists in both terms of the sort of innovation capability. So, we have got some of the best academic institutions in the world with world-class expertise that are going out solving these really complicated world problems,” she added.
Organized by the Saudi Tadawul Group and held under the patronage of the Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Financial Sector Development Program Committee, Mohammed Al-Jadaan, the forum will convene top policymakers, business leaders, and industry experts to discuss key trends and developments shaping the nation’s capital markets.
With a strong focus on the evolving financial landscape, the event is held under the theme “Powering Connections,” and is set to unlock investment opportunities, foster strategic partnerships, and further position the Kingdom as a key player in the global capital markets ecosystem.
UK firms should consider dual listings in Saudi Arabia, says British minister
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia presents significant opportunities for UK businesses, including the potential for dual listings on the London and Riyadh stock exchanges, according to British Minister of Investment Poppy Gustafsson.
Speaking with Arab News at the Capital Markets Forum in Riyadh, Gustafsson emphasized the long-standing economic ties between the two nations and the shared ambition to strengthen investment and trade links.
Gustafsson underscored the importance of educating UK businesses about the advantages of accessing Saudi Arabia’s commercial and trading markets through dual listings.
This comes as Saudi Arabia and the UK reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening economic ties and boosting bilateral trade to £30 billion ($37.5 billion) by 2030 during UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to the Kingdom in December.
“There’s a huge opportunity for UK businesses to sell their products in Saudi Arabia and access that market more effectively,” she said.
“I’m here to articulate not just why governments want these partnerships, but what the benefits are for businesses.”
The UK and Saudi Arabia have already established a governance framework to facilitate economic cooperation, including a recently refreshed memorandum of understanding and the Strategic Oversight Board.
“The governance structure is in place, and the next phase is to translate these agreements into tangible outcomes, whether through increased investment, trade, or dual listings,” she said.
Fintech is one sector seeing strong bilateral engagement, with British companies actively exploring opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
Gustafsson cited the success of a British fintech firm that won a Saudi competition, as well as broader UK expertise in the sector.
“British fintech companies are recognizing the potential here and establishing offices in Saudi Arabia. That’s beneficial for both sides,” she said.
“My role in the UK is to support both investment into the UK and investment out of the UK into other regions, whether that’s Saudi Arabia or elsewhere,” Gustafsson said.
“We have a long historic relationship, and being here (in Saudi Arabia) feels like we are among friends. The goal is to build on that history to solve modern problems and drive growth across both of our nations.”
The UK and the Gulf Cooperation Council are negotiating a free trade agreement, which is expected to increase trade between the UK and Saudi Arabia by approximately 18 percent.
Gustafsson highlighted past efforts to deepen commercial ties, citing last year’s Great Futures Conference, where the largest UK trade delegation in a decade brought 450 British companies to Saudi Arabia.
“A lot of investments came off the back of that,” she said, adding that improved e-visa processes and new direct flights are further facilitating business exchanges.
A key focus of the forum was capital market collaboration, particularly in enabling British companies to pursue dual listings in Saudi Arabia and vice versa.
“The UK has a great heritage in financial institutions and a strong stock exchange, while Saudi Arabia has a rapidly growing domestic market,” Gustafsson noted.
“By sharing expertise, we can create opportunities for British companies to dual list or for Saudi companies to raise debt in the UK.”
Islamic finance is another key area of collaboration. “The UK has been innovative in capital markets, particularly in structuring Islamic finance products,” she said.
“London has traditionally been the main hub for raising debt financing, and fostering an innovation ecosystem requires businesses to access capital markets effectively,” the minister said.
“Saudi Arabia is working closely with the London Stock Exchange to expand its offering and deepen its market liquidity, ensuring best practices and knowledge-sharing between our two financial hubs,” she added.
Saudi Arabia’s stock market leads globally in growth: top official
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s capital market is experiencing rapid growth both regionally and globally, with the Kingdom seeing a surge in initial public offerings on both the main index and the parallel market, Nomu, according to an official.
During a panel discussion at the Capital Markets Forum in Riyadh on Feb. 18, Mohammed Al-Rumaih, CEO of Saudi Exchange, announced that liquidity on the Saudi Exchange has increased by 40 percent compared to 2023.
Al-Rumaih’s remarks came shortly after a report by professional services network EY, which forecasted a positive outlook for IPOs in the Middle East and North Africa region in 2025, with Saudi Arabia poised to lead the way.
“2024 was a great year for us. We did more than 55 listings; around 45 in the equity market, 13 on the main market, which doubled compared to 2023, and the rest in the parallel market. It put us as No.1 not just in the region, but globally as the fastest-growing exchange in the world,” said Al-Rumaih.
He added: “What was great about those listings is that they were well-diversified, different sizes, great stories and it even provided new opportunities for our investors, both local and international. Last year was great, and we expect 2025 to continue the momentum, much bigger and better.”
Al-Rumaih highlighted that Saudi Arabia celebrated the listing of 400 securities in 2024, in addition to the introduction of the capital management system, which he referred to as “one of the great tools we’ve developed.”
“The beauty of this tool is that it made it easier for investors to participate in any IPOs. So, instead of having three receiving banks, now we have 15 which are members of the exchange and that reflected in the subscriptions. For example, subscriptions on Nomu grew by 50 percent,” he added.
Al-Rumaih added that the capital management system also allows lead managers to consolidate listings quickly, and it has reduced the time from closing the book to listing by 50 percent.
“Now, you are more efficient in allocating capital. So, if you close an IPO, you can go to another IPO. You get listed immediately, you can exit and enter another listing. So, all these factors have fueled the growth in our listings,” said Al-Rumaih.
During the panel discussion, Abdulaziz Al-Emadi, acting CEO of the Qatar Stock Exchange, emphasized that developing the capital market is a key goal in the country’s Vision 2030 program.
Al-Emadi further noted that Qatar has established several key performance indicators for capital market growth and is on track to achieve these objectives by the end of the decade.
“The capital market itself has clear KPIs. We should achieve all those KPIs by 2030. Qatar aims to double liquidity, number of listings, and asset management business by 2030. In terms of what we have done in 2024, we did a lot of development in terms of infrastructure. The whole infrastructure has been renewed,” said Al-Emadi.
He added: “Now, we are talking with Tadawul in order to activate our MoU which was signed in the first quarter of 2022 for dual listing.”
Haitham Al-Salmi, CEO of Muscat Exchange said that Oman is trying to move its market toward the Emerging Market category, and it is implementing various initiatives to achieve this goal as a part of Vision 2040.
“We started a strategy of ticking the boxes of all the required market infrastructure to make our market accessible and attractive. In 2024, Oman’s exchange was very active in terms of liquidity boosters and market cap appreciation. We had two listings and one of them was the largest IPO in Oman, bringing $8 billion to the market,” said Al-Salmi.
Shaikh Khalifa Al-Khalifa, CEO of Bahrain Bourse, stated that the country’s capital market is developing steadily and is preparing to list several government-related entities in the near future.
Highlighting the progress of Bahrain’s non-energy private sector, Al-Khalifa also noted that the oil sector now contributes just 15 percent to the country’s GDP, a significant decline from 40 percent a decade ago.
“There is an IPO pipeline which is being led by the government to list some of the GREs in the exchanges, that will drive the private sector into utilizing the listing. So, we all work together to try to promote to increase the liquidity of the market and increase the number of investors,” said Al-Khalifa.
Al-Khalifa added that the GCC Exchanges Committee chaired by the Saudi Exchange is playing a crucial role in ensuring the attractiveness of the markets in the region.
“The GCC Exchanges Committee works in a way that there is less bureaucracy and more action. We meet on a quarterly basis and we entertain ideas. Some of the ideas do not go through, so we move on to other ideas and see what could be possibly be done. The GCC Exchanges Committee also has a short-term vision and a long-term vision,” added Al-Khalifa.
Talking about the vitality of cross-border investments to propel the growth of the capital markets in the region, Al-Salmi said that investment does not have passports, and what matters most is accessibility.
“Investors are looking for good opportunities. They can move across borders easily, and the best thing to do is to collaborate. We have almost signed with most of the GCC markets. We are ready in terms of enabling cross-listings, and it is now part of the issuers to decide to cross-list,” said Al-Salmi.
Al-Emadi said that countries in the GCC region should work further to facilitate the ease of doing business by implementing advanced technology, as well as ensuring market stability to attract investors.
Al-Rumaih said that the exchanges in the GCC are trying as much as possible to harmonize the regulations, adding that capital markets in the region provide huge opportunities for investors, both domestic and international.
“GCC countries have a lot of similarities. We have the political stability and the leadership, as well as the transformation and diversifying away from oil, and the young population,” said Al-Rumaih.
Saudi Tadawul eyes strong growth amid rising listings and foreign investment
- Tadawul’s growth has been bolstered by a rising influx of qualified foreign investors
- It is also expanding its footprint in data innovation and commodity markets
RIYADH: Saudi stock exchange operator Tadawul Group is poised to accelerate the growth of its fixed-income market in 2025, with a strong focus on sustainable finance, following a record year for the group.
Speaking at the 5th Capital Markets Forum in Riyadh, Tadawul chairperson Sarah Al-Suhaimi highlighted 2024 as a transformative year for the exchange, with more than 50 listings across its main and parallel Nomu markets, reflecting a surge in market activity.
Tadawul’s growth has been bolstered by a rising influx of qualified foreign investors, which now number nearly 4,200 and represent 25 percent of total equity capital market trades. This influx aligns with Saudi Arabia’s broader economic goals of diversifying its financial sector and attracting international capital.
“A strong capital market extends beyond equities,” Al-Suhaimi said. “We are making significant strides in our diversification strategy. With over 45,000 investors, our fixed-income market is poised to gain further momentum in 2025, especially in sustainable finance.”
Looking ahead, Al-Suhaimi forecasted continued momentum across multiple asset classes in 2025. “2024 was a milestone year for the group and its subsidiaries,” she said. “We saw greater interest from international investors than ever before, with nearly 4,200 QFIs, who account for 25 percent of our total ECM trades, and a more diverse range of sectors.”
Tadawul is also expanding its footprint in data innovation and commodity markets. Through its acquisition of Direct FN and a stake in the Gulf Mercantile Exchange, the group aims to broaden its market offerings and enhance its competitive edge.
“These strategic steps align with our diversification strategy, broadening opportunities and reinforcing our position across multiple financial segments,” Al-Suhaimi said.
The CMF, as the world’s largest capital market event, continues to serve as a premier platform where Saudi Arabia’s rapidly evolving capital market intersects with global finance.
Al-Suhaimi expressed confidence that the forum will spur new partnerships and innovations, paving the way for further collaboration and growth within the Kingdom’s financial ecosystem.
“CMF is an opportunity to forge meaningful partnerships and spotlight potential venues through which we can leverage synergies for a long-lasting impact,” she said.
With an eye on 2025, Tadawul is positioned to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the Middle East’s capital markets.
