RIYADH: Saudi Arabia in recent years has staked a claim as the world’s latest creative powerhouse, attracting international interest in giga-projects such as The Line and NEOM, winning awards for art festivals such as Noor Riyadh, and developing a growing fan base for its annual Soundstorm music festival.
With innovation integrated in the heart of many industries, Saudi creativity has become its own brand.
Now the Athar Saudi Festival of Creativity, the largest gathering of creative marketing industries in the Kingdom, has brought together leading experts, creators, marketeers, influencers, musicians, and students, from Nov. 13-16 in Riyadh.
Mohammed Al-Ayed, vice chairman of the festival and CEO of Trans-Arabian Creative Communication Services, told Arab News: “It’s always known that a society that has lost touch with its creative side is an imprisoned society. What we’re trying to do today is three things: We are trying to celebrate the past, challenge the present, and co-create the future.”
Forming a community of creatives strengthens problem-solving skills, but no industry comes without challenges. Entrepreneurs may face difficulties with firm direction, adaptation, and proactivity, for example.
To combat this, Al-Ayed suggests that “focus, communication, and depth” are essential to successful creative branding and marketing.
“Creativity is a journey, and it doesn’t stop. Saudi Arabia is a big machine that is generating passion. It’s generating empowerment. It’s generating creativity. It’s generating positivity. And we just have to keep this engine going,” Al-Ayed added.
The festival aims to further the discourse between local creatives and international experts. The diverse panels explore all aspects of the industry, including unleashing creative thinking, making creative impact, navigating the metaverse, potentials in creative careers, influencer marketing, and leveraging the Saudi music industry.
Princess Loulwa bint Yazeed, founder and CEO of +966 and CEO of RiseUp Saudi, kicked off the festival with a talk titled “A New Saudi” in which she discussed the exciting times ahead for the local creative industry, opportunities for entrepreneurs and startups, and her experience as a woman in the field.
She shared advice for aspiring creatives, noting that key values for entrepreneurs include creating connections, harboring patience, and maintaining a clear vision.
“The bravery of taking the first step is what we lack here,” she said.
In line with the country’s vision, the festival is carving a space for students and younger generations to explore the offerings of creative industries. Through the Young Talent Academies program, six schools take part in three days of immersive learning and a 24-hour hack competition to further their drive toward the country’s future-forward economy.
The training program is focused on bridging knowledge and creativity to various fields, including PR, copywriting, innovation, branding and design, social communications, and planning.
Reema Saad Al-Saif and Haya Abu-Ghazaleh, both students from the International American School of Riyadh on the cusp of graduation, said that attending the festival offered a great opportunity to integrate creative aspects into their future fields.
Al-Saif, who is planning to pursue a finance degree, attended a panel titled “Influencers in Saudi Arabia, Best Practice for Brands,” which featured social media personality Ahmad Aljar. The student said that she was drawn to the session for its out-of-the-box account of people as marketable brands or businesses.
“There’s so much going into (influencing) that we don’t see,” she said.
Al-Saif told Arab News: “In our business management class, usually we’re looking into businesses and their products and how creative they are, and that’s also a field I want to go to — maybe open up my business in the future. You have to be creative for that and be different from other competitors.”
The future graduate has witnessed how broadly the country has opened up its horizons for immense economic growth — and more career choices for upcoming talents.
“We’re separating from just relying on oil. We’re seeing different avenues like tourism, new companies brought up. And all that creativity, with The Line for example. It’s such a creative idea and there’s more coming. I’m so excited for the future.”
Abu-Ghazaleh, who hopes to pursue international business with an interest in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, said about her experience at the festival: “You slowly realize that creativity is in everything.”
She told Arab News: “Saudi Arabia has always had that talent, but no one’s really discovered it or talked about it as much. But now everyone’s coming here. I know my country is here to support the coming generations for that, so I feel very hopeful.”
The students were met with a wide range of internship opportunities, alternative advertising avenues, and the incorporation of artificial intelligence and robots into some of the sessions.
Careers that were deemed restrictive in the region decades ago today charter a new age for creative pathways.
Athar festival unlocks door on Saudi Arabia’s creative potential
https://arab.news/8v7e2
Athar festival unlocks door on Saudi Arabia’s creative potential
- With innovation integrated in the heart of many industries, Saudi creativity has become its own brand
- Forming a community of creatives strengthens problem-solving skills, but no industry comes without challenges
Saudi Arabia’s NEOM gigaproject a ‘generational investment,’ minister says
“NEOM was not meant to be a two-year investable opportunity. If anybody expected NEOM to be foreign investment in two, three or five years, then they have gotten (it) wrong — it’s a generational investment,” Minister Khalid Al-Falih said on the sidelines of the World Investment Conference in Riyadh.
“The flywheel is starting and it will gain speed as we go forward, as some of the foundational assets come to the market,” he said.
The world’s top oil exporter has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into development projects through the kingdom’s $925 billion sovereign fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), as it undergoes an economic agenda dubbed Vision 2030 to cut dependence on fossil fuels.
NEOM, a Red Sea urban and industrial development nearly the size of Belgium that is meant to eventually house 9 million people, is central to Vision 2030. Saudi Arabia has scaled back some lofty ambitions to prioritize completing elements essential to hosting global sporting events over the next decade as rising costs weigh, sources told Reuters earlier this month. NEOM announced this month its long-time chief executive, Nadhmi Al-Nasr, had stepped down, without giving further details.
Asked what effect the departure would have on investors, the minister said the executive had done “a respectable job” but that “there is a time for everybody to pass on the baton.”
Asked if PIF will continue to do much of the spending on NEOM until more foreign funds come in, Al-Falih said it was not binary.
“I think foreign investors are starting to come to NEOM, they’re starting to channel capital. Some of the projects that the PIF will be doing will be financed through global capital pools, through some alternative and private capital. That’s taking place as we speak,” he said.
“So I urge you not to look at NEOM as being 100 percent PIF and then suddenly there will be a cliff and it will go private.”
Saudi Arabia, which is racing to attract $100 billion in annual foreign direct investment by the turn of the decade — reaching about a quarter of that in 2023 — has recently seen more co-investment deals between state entities and foreign investors.
“It’s always been the intent,” Al-Falih said of foreign inflows alongside state funds.
He noted that foreign investors were at times “still looking, still examining, still sometimes questioning,” but that now there was confidence in the profitability of investment opportunities and that “the risk-return trade-offs are very, very fair and positive to them.”
Saudi crown prince extends condolences to Kuwaiti counterpart on death of Sheikh Mohammed Abdulaziz Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah
RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sent a cable of condolences to Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah on the passing of Sheikh Mohammed Abdulaziz Hamoud Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah.
In the cable, the crown prince extended his deepest sympathy to Sheikh Sabah and the family of the deceased.
Saudi tech diplomat meets Iraqi PM to discuss digital cooperation
- Deemah Al-Yahya, head of the multilateral Digital Cooperation Organization, commended Iraq’s investment in human capital as driver for growth and expansion of digital economy
- Iraq has been working in recent years to develop a strategy for digital transformation to help support the private and public sectors and grow the economy
RIYADH: Saudi senior tech diplomat Deemah AlYahya, the secretary-general of the multilateral Digital Cooperation Organization, held talks on Monday with Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, about support for Baghdad’s plans to develop its digital business and artificial intelligence sectors.
They discussed Iraq’s strategy for digital transformation, and the need to create and develop a workforce with the tech skills required to help grow the Iraqi economy effectively, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Though Iraq is not a member of the DCO, an international body that focuses on the digital economy, Al-Sudani said his country is keen to work with the organization to meet the nation’s needs for a skilled workforce in the business sector.
AlYahya commended Iraq for the progress it has already made in terms of investment in the human capital needed to develop the digital skills that are essential to drive growth in a digitized economy.
Iraq has been working in recent years to develop a strategy for digital transformation to help support the private and public sectors and grow the economy. Authorities this month organized the first Digital Space Iraq Forum, which focused on the use of advanced technologies, including AI, to help build a comprehensive digital economy.
The DCO says that since it was founded in November 2020, it has been at the forefront of efforts to curate policies and initiatives to support the digital economy in several countries. Currently, 16 nations are members, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh and Oman. It also has 39 observer partner organizations.
DCO member states have a collective gross domestic product of $3.5 trillion and serve a combined market of nearly 800 million people, more than 70 percent of whom are under the age of 35.
Saudi FM pushes for regional stability at G7-Arab foreign ministers meeting
- In his address, Prince Faisal highlighted the ongoing crises in Gaza and Lebanon
RIYADH: Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan took part in an expanded session of the second meeting between G7 foreign ministers and their counterparts from Arab nations on Monday, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The meeting was hosted in Italy under the theme “Together for the Stability of the Middle East.”
The session, which addressed pressing regional and international challenges, was held with the participation of Saudi, Jordanian, Emirati, Qatari and Egyptian officials, as well as the secretary-general of the Arab League.
In his address, Prince Faisal emphasized the importance of strengthening partnerships to address these challenges effectively.
He highlighted the ongoing crises in Gaza and Lebanon, urging the international community to act immediately to secure a ceasefire, facilitate unrestricted humanitarian aid, and progress toward establishing an independent Palestinian state.
He also called for respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty, and renewed international efforts to resolve the crisis in Sudan and alleviate the resulting human suffering.
The meeting was also attended by Prince Faisal bin Sattam bin Abdul Aziz, Saudi ambassador to Italy, the SPA reported.
Scientists awarded for sustainable water innovation at Saudi conference
- Research aims to improve desalination efficiency
- Makkah’s deputy emir in attendance
JEDDAH: Scientists were awarded prizes for their work in researching desalination and wastewater treatment technologies during an event in Jeddah on Monday.
The third edition of the Innovation-Driven Water Sustainability Conference was attended by 480 experts, scientists, researchers, specialists and 40 leading organizations in the water sector, from 20 countries.
The grand prize — the Global Prize for Innovation in Desalination 2024 — went to Lee Nuang Sim from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University for his project “uncovering the power of centrifugal reverse osmosis,” and Sue Mecham, CEO of NALA Membranes, for her project “chlorine stable new membranes for sustainable desalination and wastewater treatment/reuse.”
Mecham, from North Carolina, US, spoke to Arab News after receiving her award, saying: “We are honored to be selected for the Global Prize for Innovation in Desalination 2024. Our mission is to bring new membranes to market and reduce the cost and complexity of water purification.”
Meanwhile, Saudi Ghadeer Al-Balawi from the University of Tabuk was another one of this year’s prizewinners with her project “novel heterogeneous catalysts for improving wastewater treatment plants in Saudi Arabia.”
Al-Balawi told Arab News: “I am incredibly honored to be one of the recipients of the Global Prize for Innovation in Desalination 2024. This recognition means so much to me. This project has been conducted at the University of Sheffield with hard work and dedication with the assistance of my supervisor, Dr. Marco Conte.”
The event’s opening ceremony was attended by Makkah Deputy Emir Prince Saud bin Mishal and Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley, as well as other senior officials.
Following the opening, Abdullah Al-Abdulkarim, chairman of the Saudi Water Authority, said that the event reflects the Kingdom’s commitment to promoting scientific and research innovation as a pillar for achieving water sustainability and security.
Through the conference, the SWA aims to share the impact of innovation in promoting the sustainable supply of water, according to SWA spokesperson Sultan Al-Rajhi.
“This conference discusses the latest global practices and innovative solutions in the water industry, with the participation of experts, scientists and specialists, who emphasize the pivotal role of innovation in accelerating the future prosperity of water and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals for water and the environment,” he said.
The two-day conference will continue to feature discussions on more than 180 research papers, as well as a water hackathon organized by the Saudi Water Innovation Center.
