DUBAI: Saudi mall operator Arabian Centers has awarded a SR257.3 million ($70 million) contract to start construction of Madinah Walk.
Lynx Contracting Company was awarded the main contract, the mall operator said in a filing on Wednesday.
Only the second project of Arabian Centers in Madinah, the new destination will add 57,000 square meters of gross leasable area.
It is part of a wider push to tap retail opportunities from Madinah’s growing population, as well as capitalizing on the gradual return of pilgrim traffic in the province.
Arabian Centers said it was also part of its strategy of seizing opportunities and prime locations in areas where there is still an elevated demand for modern lifestyle destinations such as outdoor shopping centers.
Saudi Arabia has seen massive developments in its entertainment scene in recent months, as part of the Kingdom’s push to modernize the economy.
Saudi mall operator Arabian Centers awards $70m contract to build Madinah Walk
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Saudi mall operator Arabian Centers awards $70m contract to build Madinah Walk
- It is part of a wider push to tap retail opportunities from Madinah’s growing population
Saudi Arabia, Philippines ink first energy cooperation agreement
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and the Philippines have signed their first agreement on energy cooperation, marking a milestone in their bilateral relations and supporting the Kingdom’s sustainability drive.
The memorandum of understanding, signed by Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and the Southeast Asian country’s Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla in Riyadh, aims to establish a broad framework for collaboration across various energy sectors.
The agreement encompasses critical areas such as petroleum, natural gas, refining, and petrochemicals, as well as electricity, renewable energy, and energy storage solutions. Both nations are committed to enhancing energy efficiency initiatives as part of their joint vision for a sustainable future.
This comes as Saudi Arabia aims to generate 50 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.
In an interview with Arab News, Lotilla stated that this is the first time that such an agreement is being signed between the two governments.
“The MoU as a framework covers many areas; in fact, the entire scope of the energy transition. Our ambitions are not at the same levels; we are a bit behind because it’s 50 percent by 2040, so we have much to learn from Saudi Arabia,” he said.
The official added: “Our president was always impressed with the fact that even if Saudi Arabia is, right now, the leader in terms of fossil fuel production, it has a progressive outlook and is looking at the transition that would benefit not only itself but also the planet.”
Lotilla highlighted the Philippines’ demographic advantage, describing the nation as being in a “demographic sweet spot” due to its young and expanding workforce, projecting that it could become a trillion-dollar economy by 2030, alongside Indonesia and other regional leaders.
This energy partnership builds on robust existing ties, with Saudi Arabia hosting around 800,000 Filipinos and bilateral trade being valued at over $400 million annually. The MoU seeks to extend collaboration beyond fossil fuels, incorporating new technologies, climate solutions, and renewable energy initiatives.
“We are looking, for example, at the energy efficiency and conservation measures that Saudi Arabia has adopted,” Lotilla said, pointing to cooling systems as a vital area of focus.
Both countries experience high energy demands driven by extreme temperatures, with El Niño pushing electricity demand in the Philippines up by 14 percent last year.
The agreement emphasizes climate change mitigation technologies and endorses the Circular Carbon Economy framework promoted by Saudi Arabia, which aims to reduce toxic emissions through capture, reuse, storage, and transport technologies.
“Energy storage is also another area that we would like to explore with Saudi Arabia,” Lotilla said.
He continued: “We hope to discover more indigenous natural gas, and carbon capture, storage, and utilization are important as we develop those indigenous sources. These are just among the things that we are looking at.”
Additionally, Lotilla indicated that the agreement lays the groundwork for investments in renewable hydrogen projects. “The experience of Saudi Arabia when it comes to oil and gas exploration would be important because it uses essentially the same technology, except that it is renewable hydrogen that is going to be drilled for,” he said.
The potential for biofuels is significant, given Saudi Arabia’s refining capabilities and the Philippines’ agricultural resources. Lotilla noted the possibility of producing sustainable aviation fuel from nonstandard coconuts, as the Philippines produces 15 million metric tonnes of coconuts annually — second only to Indonesia.
The government is also exploring the use of banana biomass for biofuel production, opening up avenues for additional investments.
Lotilla stressed the critical need for infrastructure development, particularly in transmission networks, saying: “The Philippines is an archipelagic country, and we need to connect the different islands through submarine cables. One area of investment is in building that infrastructure, and that’s where the investor can also get fair returns.”
The MoU fosters private sector cooperation, encouraging partnerships with energy-focused companies and reflecting both nations’ intent to leverage business expertise to drive innovation and development.
The flexible nature of the agreement allows both countries to pursue additional collaboration areas, ensuring a responsive approach to emerging energy trends and challenges.
The Philippines is also seeking Saudi Arabia’s assistance in achieving 100 percent electrification in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao, which currently has less than 50 percent household access to electricity.
Lotilla emphasized the significance of this initiative for economic and human development, saying: “This would require some $200 million of investments, and we are trying to attract private investors as well as sovereign funds to help us attain that 100 percent electrification goal by 2028.”
He added that electrification would significantly impact student learning and workforce productivity, helping to uplift one of the country’s most impoverished regions.
In another interview with Arab News, Rommel Romato, charge d’affaires of the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, stated that the agreement creates numerous promising economic opportunities for Filipino businesses.
“With this MoU, we expect to achieve better outcomes, particularly an increase in exports from the Philippines to Saudi Arabia and for the Philippines to tap into the vast Saudi market. We also anticipate more joint ventures between Philippine businesses and their counterparts in the energy sector, among others.”
Beyond energy
Both countries are exploring collaborations in agriculture, technology and tourism, as well as healthcare and education.
Lotilla acknowledged that current bilateral trade between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia exceeds $400 million annually, though the trade balance currently favors the Kingdom, which exports more to the Asian country than it imports.
This trade imbalance stems from Saudi Arabia’s primary exports to the Philippines — including petroleum and related products — while the Philippines exports agricultural goods and services of lower monetary value in comparison.
Informatica spearheads Saudi digital transformation with cloud-powered solutions
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is set to elevate its tourism and services to a “world-class experience” through cloud-powered digital solutions by partnering with enterprise software developer Informatica Inc., said a senior executive.
In an interview with Arab News, the company’s CEO, Amit Walia, expressed admiration for the rapid growth of tourism and the significant attention the Kingdom has given to enhancing the journey for visitors.
Walia said: “I was very impressed and amazed by the amount of focus on the end customer, the tourist, and how to make that experience the best in the world. Making sure that the information is readily available so that the experience is great.”
He emphasized that the company wants to assist in achieving this goal and can contribute to developing tourism and infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
Walia highlighted the potential to enhance visitor experiences, both religious and non-religious, by leveraging data and technology in areas such as transportation, accommodation, and leisure facilities.
Informatica enables businesses to utilize their information and AI by connecting and managing data across any multi-cloud or hybrid system, facilitating modern business strategies.
The CEO spoke to Arab News on the sidelines of the first major data innovation summit, Informatica Summit Saudi Arabia 2024, in Riyadh.
The gathering was organized to outline a roadmap for how the nation can fast-track its vision of becoming a cloud-first, data-driven state ahead of the World Expo 2030.
He stressed the company’s ability to manage supply chains and ensure data security and governance, suggesting that these capabilities can enhance the Kingdom’s operational efficiency as a digital enterprise.
Walia also highlighted Informatica’s belief that its investment in Saudi Arabia will accelerate the nation’s AI and cloud-focused digital transformation, ultimately benefiting its advancement.
“All the big partners you have standardized on Informatica. We believe we can help the Kingdom not just meet its 2030 goal, but I think they can do it sooner, and we want to be a part of that story,” he said.
Emphasizing the critical role of cloud technology in driving digital transformation, particularly in the context of AI, Walia asserted that cloud infrastructure is essential for enabling these technological developments.
He highlighted the importance of data management, stating that high-quality data is crucial for achieving accurate results in AI applications.
The company is set to open its first-ever office in the Kingdom in the coming months, reinforcing its presence in the region.
The CEO expressed confidence that Informatica’s development in Saudi Arabia would surpass its growth in any other region, particularly compared to its European expansion.
“My belief is that our growth in the Kingdom will be far, far faster than in any other region on the European continent that we’ve had. My firm belief is that, and we’re investing accordingly,” Walia said.
During the interview, Walia noted that the company collaborated with Google Cloud to establish a regional data delivery infrastructure, ensuring security.
He further explained that partnerships with global system integrators and local agencies aim to standardize governance and privacy practices across the country.
“It’s a very deep partnership. We’ve been working with Google Cloud from its very early days. And our goal here in the Kingdom is to make sure that all of our cloud platforms for data management are available locally,” Walia said.
He continued: “Expect us to be talking about that a lot more in the coming months and weeks, to be the backbone of all things related to good and secure data management for the Kingdom.”
He concluded the interview by underscoring the importance of data management in the era of AI-driven advancements. Walia emphasized that while AI is powerful, it only generates value when paired with high-quality data.
“The AI does not deliver any value. AI only delivers value if it has good data paired with it. And data can only become good; data by itself is not good. It’s of poor quality and fragmented. Data becomes good when you manage it. That’s data management. That’s what we do,” he said.
Walia added, “Informatica has been doing data management for 30 years. We’ve been the number one company that does that at scale. Our platform runs 92 trillion transactions a month and grows 100 percent every year.”
In April, Informatica launched its AI-powered Intelligent Data Management Cloud platform in Saudi Arabia, representing a groundbreaking move for the Kingdom.
This initiative involved setting up a new point of delivery in Riyadh on Google Cloud, allowing the company to enhance support for local partners and organizations with its cloud data management platform in accordance with local regulations.
Saudi Manpower Solutions Co. eyes expansion following its public listing
RIYADH: Various sectors across different parts of Saudi Arabia will soon have greater and easy access to manpower as the country’s first service provider eyes expansion with its initial public offering.
Speaking to Arab News, Abdullah Al-Timyat, CEO of Saudi Manpower Solutions Co., known as SMASCO, said the IPO will help propel SMASCO within the Saudi market, drive growth initiatives, and fortify its presence and stakeholders’ trust.
Al-Timyat said the IPO proceeds will not be utilized for internal operations but will be earmarked for strategic growth initiatives to expand the company’s footprint across the Kingdom’s diverse market.
He added the company’s capital-light model, fortified by no debt and robust cash management, positions it for agile expansion. “We have zero debt and funding. We have strong cash management, and we have enough internal funds for our operations. So, the IPO will enable SMASCO in its future steps and strategic direction in expanding within the Saudi market, reaching new geographic cities and regions within Saudi Arabia.”
With an eye on deepening market penetration, Al-Timyat outlined SMASCO’s strategic direction, leveraging the IPO’s support to enhance brand awareness and stakeholders’ trust.
“We will even go deeper … within specific sectors, in business industry and professional manpower, depending on a more trusted bond that we have available because of the IPO and the support that we will have.”
The executive outlined the company’s current focus on the Kingdom’s market, emphasizing its vast potential and opportunities for manpower companies, including SMASCO.
He also underscored the entity’s mature model and expertise in technologies, which position it to potentially expand into new markets in the future. While there are no immediate plans to venture beyond Saudi Arabia, SMASCO remains prepared to seize opportunities should they arise, he said.
Looking ahead, the CEO highlighted artificial intelligence’s transformative potential emphasizing its role in enhancing efficiency and service delivery.
He said: “AI and advanced technology is an opportunity for manpower companies. This is how we see it in SMASCO, this will provide us more opportunities, a faster a road to (achieve) our objectives operationally, financially and even for our customers.”
Al-Timyat highlighted the pivotal role of Vision 2030 benchmarks in providing clarity and direction to SMASCO’s future endeavors.
“Since the government launched Vision 2030, we have a clarity where we are going and this makes it easier for any industry, for any investor. We see a persistence of execution by the government, which we have never witnessed before and this is actually aligned with what we are seeing.”
This synergy between technological innovation and national objectives supports industry advancement. The executive noted that it is set to drive economic growth and societal development in alignment with the Kingdom’s ambitious vision.
Al-Timyat also outlined the global demand for various industries, including medical, logistics, tourism, and entertainment, which are also prevalent in Saudi Arabia.
Each of these industries requires specific qualities for talents and specialized manpower services to address their unique needs, he noted.
The executive said SMASCO, specialized in manpower solutions, has created subsectors within its team to cater to diverse industries.
This focus on specialization enables SMASCO to provide high-quality services that align with the economy, market trends, and specific requirements of each industry.
Middle East leads recovery rates for international tourist arrivals
- WEF report finds Saudi Arabia showed the most improvement in its ranking score between 2019 and 2024 in the region
- The UAE, ranking No. 18 globally, is the top performer in the MENA region
DUBAI: International tourist arrivals and the travel and tourism sector’s contribution to global GDP are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels this year, according to the latest World Economic Forum travel and tourism study.
The WEF’s Travel & Tourism Development Index 2024, published once every two years in collaboration with the University of Surrey, analyzes the travel and tourism sectors of 119 countries. TTDI scores and rankings are based on a variety of factors and policies that contribute to the development of a country’s travel and tourism sector, such as sustainability, infrastructure and resources.
The global tourism industry is expected to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and even exceed the levels seen before the outbreak. This growth is driven by a marked increase in the demand for travel, which coincides with countries investing in tourism and cultural attractions as well as better flight availability.
“This year marks a turning point for the travel and tourism sector, which we know has the capacity to unlock growth and serve communities through economic and social transformation,” said Francisco Betti, head of the Global Industries team at the WEF.
However, not all countries will recover equally. Although 71 of the 119 ranked economies increased their scores since 2019, the average index score rose just 0.7 percent above pre-pandemic levels.
Despite a promising future, the travel and tourism sector is reeling from the after effects of the pandemic. Labor shortages continue, while other factors like air route capacity and capital investment struggle to keep up with demand. Combined with growing macroeconomic, geopolitical and environmental risks, and worsened by global inflation, these factors drive up prices, making recovery an uphill climb.
The top 10 countries in the TTDI’s 2024 edition are the US, Spain, Japan, France, Australia, Germany, the UK, China, Italy and Switzerland.
The Middle East leads in recovery rates for international tourist arrivals, exceeding 2019 levels by 20 percent, while Europe, Africa and the Americas all showed a strong recovery of around 90 percent in 2023.
In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia showed the most improvement in its ranking score between 2019 and 2024 rising from 50th place in 2019 to 41st this year.
The report shows “just how much progress Saudi Arabia has made in its travel and tourism sector,” with “significant investment in infrastructure, cultural and natural attractions, and a noticeable increase in welcoming visitors,” Betti told Arab News.
The UAE, ranking No. 18 globally, is the top performer across the Middle East and North Africa region, climbing seven spots from 25th in 2019, while Egypt (61st) is the top standalone nation in North Africa.
Home to high-income economies, including all the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Middle East is performing better than North Africa due to improved tourist and transport infrastructure, an advanced aviation sector, the presence of large corporations, and high levels of safety and security.
The North African economies, on the other hand, are still developing and tend to be more price competitive. The report found that economies such as Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria are often challenged due to issues such as gaps in transport and tourism infrastructure, safety and security concerns, and a less-than-ideal business environment.
The MENA region saw the second-greatest increase in Air Transport Infrastructure scores, up 8.4 percent, with average air route capacity and airport connectivity being among the greatest regional indicator improvements since the 2021 TTDI edition.
As the region looks to diversify beyond oil and gas, many of its economies have pumped substantial investment and resources into developing the travel and tourism sector. This is evident in the development of cultural and tourist attractions, visa policies, and increased government spending on the sector.
Saudi Arabia, for example, plans to spend around $800 billion on tourism over the next decade with the goal of attracting 150 million tourists a year by 2030, with about 70 million coming from abroad.
Moreover, the Kingdom has attracted $13 billion in private sector investments into the tourism industry and is targeting $85 billion in tourism revenue this year compared to $66 billion in 2023, Bloomberg reported.
Betti said that in order for Saudi Arabia “to further harness the sector for economic growth, it will need to continue improving its positioning as global tourism destination, and focus on building a sustainable, inclusive, and resilient tourism ecosystem,” which means “multiplying the number of visitors while protecting the environment, supporting both small and large businesses, and training its workforce.”
The effect of these efforts is reflected in the greatest regional average increase in travel and tourism socioeconomic impact scores, which have increased by 13.8 percent from 2019 to 2024.
Still, the region scores the lowest for socioeconomic impact.
Currently, the MENA region is grappling with issues such as lower female participation in the workforce and the resulting gender gap in the industry; below-average workers’ rights and social protections, which limits the talent pool from joining and flourishing in the industry.
The report suggests that, going forward, regional economies should focus on reducing the concentration of tourism at the most visited destinations and creating a competitive workforce in order to prosper.
Further easing travel and trade restrictions, and investing in environmental sustainability, would also help propel the sector in the region.
In the coming years, the industry will be challenged by “the impact of climate change, geopolitical tensions, macroeconomic uncertainty and the application of new digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI),” WEF’s Betti and Iis Tussyadiah, professor and head of the school of hospitality and tourism management at the University of Surrey, said in the report.
“Within this context, it has become critical for T&T (travel and tourism) decision-makers and stakeholders not just to focus on improving sector readiness for future risks and opportunities, but also to ensure that the sector accounts for its economic, social and environmental impact and is a driver of global prosperity,” they added.
‘Global fracture due to lack of trust between superpowers’: WEF panel discusses investing amid geopolitical shifts
- Participants emphasized the need for structural reforms to address socioeconomic disparities, and foster trust in global relations
RIYADH: Amid shifting geopolitics and declining foreign direct investment in emerging markets, Saudi businesswoman Lubna Olayan emphasized on Monday the crucial role of trust and transparency for investors, highlighting the need for robust foundations in a deeply interlinked global landscape.
During a panel discussion on “Investing amid Global Fracture” at the special two-day World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh, Olayan highlighted the pivotal role of trust in the reshaping of foreign investment strategies due to the emergence of new global players and escalating security concerns.
“The global fracture stems from a lack of trust between superpowers, which is now escalating to a lack of trust between everyone,” Olayan told the panel.
The prevailing trend evident in this global fracture, primarily seen in the rivalry between the US and China, is countries prioritizing their own interests without feeling obligated to align with any specific side, she said.
Emphasizing the critical significance of transparency in global relations, Olayan highlighted the need for the rule of law and the equitable application of laws as fundamental prerequisites for investors.
Salman Rahman, private industry and investment adviser to the prime minister of Bangladesh, discussed the urgent need for restructuring the global socioeconomic order.
He pointed to inequalities such as the lack of electricity for 50 per cent of Africa’s population and vaccine disparities exposed during the pandemic.
Rahman’s remarks highlighted the need to address socioeconomic disparities and foster a more equitable global landscape.
Laurence Fink, chairman and CEO at BlackRock Inc., stressed the importance of cooperation between governments and stakeholders to navigate the deepening divides between major powers.
He emphasized the critical role of collaborative efforts in addressing the multifaceted challenges of the modern world.
