News Archives - Page 30 of 101

April 23, 2023

Saudi Arabia plans to become leader in additive manufacturing

Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Al-Khorayef addressed a panel session titled: “Dealing with the Unpredictable Economic Consequences of 4IR Technological Progress” in the second edition of the LEAP Tech Conference held in Riyadh between the 6-9 February under the theme Into New Worlds.

Al-Khorayef confirmed that the ministry is targeting to become a global leader in additive manufacturing (3D printing) through producing additive manufacturing raw material, developing engineering design capabilities, and localizing additive manufacturing services.

“This conference is a clear demonstration of the Kingdom’s appetite for attracting new and major players in the field of IT, which work to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s position as a regional and international hub for business”, Al-Khorayef said.

“Technologies related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, in particular, support Vision 2030 objectives by increasing productivity while reducing costs, waste and carbon emissions, thereby advancing sustainability goals while improving the quality of goods and products. This makes investing in innovation, developing scientific research, and encouraging the adoption of emerging technologies in the industrial sector a core strategic priority for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he added.

To support these objectives, Saudi Arabia’s leadership has prioritized the creation of an attractive investment environment in line with the National Industrial Strategy and Vision 2030 to enhance the sector, drive innovation and support its growth. In doing so, the strategy will drive economic diversification, create meaningful employment opportunities for citizens, and encourage skills and training development among the youth to advance a sustainable industrial sector.

“Distinguished by its geographical location, enormous resources, and large young and talented workforce, if leveraged correctly, Saudi Arabia has the opportunity to become one of the greatest success stories in the 21st century as we emerge an innovation driven, industrial global powerhouse,” Al-Khorayef concluded.

Source:https://www.zawya.com/en/business/manufacturing/saudi-arabia-plans-to-become-leader-in-additive-manufacturing-minister-upfdxpu7

April 10, 2023

UAE’s e& takes $400m majority stake in ride-hailer Careem’s Super App

Emirates Telecommunications Group Co. has agreed to take a 50.3 percent stake in a super app managed by Careem, Uber Technologies’ Middle East subsidiary, in a transaction valued at $400 million, e& said in a filing on Monday.

The Super App will be managed by Careem founders Mudassir Sheikha and Magnus Olsson, said the company, formerly known as Etisalat Group and now called e&.

The ride-hailing business will be separated from the Careem Super App business and will be fully owned by Uber, but will still be available on the Super App.

The deal will be financed from e&’s existing cash balance, and subject to regulatory approvals, customary closing conditions and administrative procedures, e& said in the filing.

Reuters reported last month that talks with e& were at an advanced stage and a deal could be announced soon.

Careem began seeking outside investors last year to help finance its Super App, which offers services outside its core ride-hailing business such as food delivery, bike rentals, digital payments and courier services.

Etisalat rebranded to e& in June last year as the majority state-owned telco company embarked on a new strategy to position itself as a global technology and investment conglomerate.

E& said the transaction fits into its own ambitions to scale up consumer digital offerings and would allow the company to take advantage of the app to boost the growth of its consumer digital services.

Uber and Careem’s co-founders Sheikha, Olsson and Abdullah Elyas have the remaining stakes in the super app, a Careem spokesperson said.

Source:https://www.arabnews.com/node/2284326/business-economy

April 10, 2023

Egypt’s headline inflation rate increased to 32.7% in March

Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation rate in March climbed to 32.7 percent year-on-year, just shy of an all-time record, from 31.9 percent in February, data from the country’s statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Monday.

The surging inflation rate follows a series of currency devaluations starting in March 2022, a prolonged shortage of foreign currency and continuing delays in getting imports into the country.

Egypt, which secured a $3 billion financial support package from the International Monetary Fund in December, has devalued its currency by half since March 2022 after fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exposed vulnerabilities in Egypt’s economy.

The median forecast of 13 analysts polled showed annual urban consumer inflation rising to 33.6 percent in March.

Egypt’s highest inflation rate ever was 32.952 percent, reached in July 2017, eight months after Egypt devalued its currency by half as part of a previous $12 billion IMF support package.

The core inflation rate, which excludes fuel and some volatile food items, is expected to be released later on Monday. The median of the analysts’ forecasts expect that to climb to a record 42.25 percent from February’s 40.26 percent, the current record.

Treasury bills sales climb

Meanwhile, sales of 273- and 91-day Egyptian treasury bills at an auction on Sunday climbed from last week’s low after the finance ministry paid record high yields to partly reflect a 200-basis-point hike in central bank overnight interest rates on March 30.

Investors have sought higher yields to match the increased central bank rates and on the expectation the currency will continue to weaken after having lost half its value against the dollar over the last year, analysts say.

The finance ministry has struggled to keep its budget deficit from widening as it was forced to pay increasingly high interest rates on its large stock of debt.

The average yield on 273-day bills edged up to 23.341 percent from 23.059 percent last week, with both figures exceeding a record 22.444 percent reached on July 11, 2017.

The central bank only accepted 76 bids worth 5.58 billion Egyptian pounds ($181 million) for the 273-day bills out of the 203 bids worth 32.66 billion pounds it received. Last week it accepted bids worth a mere 79.38 million pounds.

The average yield on 91-day bills climbed to 21.297 percent from 20.924 percent last week. This was still shy of a record 22.523 percent average yield paid on July 11, 2017.

The central bank only accepted 239 bids worth 4.47 billion Egyptian pounds for the 91-day bills out of the 519 bids worth 58.55 billion pounds it received. Last week it only accepted bids worth 324.1 million pounds.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2284336/business-economy

April 10, 2023

Crude steadies; Bahrain’s Oil and Gas Holding partners with Oracle

Oil steadied on Monday, after rising for three straight weeks, as looming supply cuts from Saudi Arabia and other producers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, balanced concern about weakening global growth that may dampen fuel demand.

Crude last week jumped more than 6 percent, a third weekly gain, after OPEC+ surprised the market with a new round of production cuts starting in May.

Brent crude was up 9 cents or 0.11 percent to $85.21 a barrel at 11.00 a.m. Saudi time, while US West Texas Intermediate crude gained 15 cents to $80.85.

Oil and Gas Holding Co. inks deal with Oracle

In an attempt to accelerate its digital transformation journey, Bahrain’s Oil and Gas Holding Co. has signed an agreement with Oracle to use Fusion Cloud applications to automate the company’s core business processes and improve its operations.
The agreement was signed between Mark Thomas, group CEO of Oil and Gas Holding Co. and Rahul Misra, vice president of Cloud applications at Oracle.

“Oracle Fusion applications will accelerate the company’s overall performance and enhance efforts related to the sustainability of the sector’s productivity in accordance with Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030,” said Thomas.
Misra added: “We are proud to partner with the Oil and Gas Holding Co., which is the main driver of the oil and gas business in Bahrain, and responsible for securing and developing the future of the sector.”

Source:https://www.arabnews.com/node/2284366/business-economy

April 10, 2023

UAE passport is now the most powerful in the world

Top Italian firms want in on Kuwait’s development, establish partnerships within its private sector and offer expertise to businesses, an industry chief from Italy says.
Carlo Bonomi, President of Italian business confederation Confidustria, lauded its efforts to diversify its economy under the Kuwait Vision 2035 development strategy, reported the state’s official news agency (KUNA) on Friday.
Bonomi praised the approach “to create an effective government administration, develop a diversified economy, an integrated infrastructure, increase contribution of the private sector and lure international entrepreneurs.”
He said there were already Italian business agents and distributors, particularly for clothes and entertainment, working in Kuwait.
Italian companies in 2019 won contracts worth $672 million but only a single one was awarded the next year valued at $87.5m, he said, indicating that investments shrank due to COVID-19.
Bonomi said the Italian exports to Kuwait rose to $1.52 billion, which was double the 2021 figure.
Italian exports include aircraft, aerial devices, computer chips, medical equipment, watches and food products.

Source:https://www.arabnews.com/node/2236061/business-economy

April 10, 2023

New downtown projects progressing as planned in Muscat

Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran) has affirmed that work on several projects is progressing at a steady pace and is in various stages of implementation.

Speaking to the Observer, Ammar al Kharusi, Director of Development, said: “We are currently working on the Masterplan for the Sustainable City Yiti project of the flagship ‘The Nikki Beach Resort’ that will be ready for guests early next year.”

This property will have 140 hotel rooms and 30 villas and an array of facilities, including the beach club, restaurants and swimming pools with unique panoramic views.

The Sustainable City Yiti will be developed within the Phase 1 of the Yiti Integrated Tourism Development Masterplan.

The project will be developed in three phases on an area of 3.5 million square metres comprising of residential units of medium-sized villas, townhouses and low-rise apartments.

“The Four Seasons Resort at the Marina Bandar Al Rowdha is a long-term development and is currently in the design stage. Apart from bringing the Four Seasons brand to the Sultanate, the project will add 200 rooms to the market and also upgrade facilities at the marina. The project will be ready by the end of 2026,” Al Kharusi said.

He said Madinat al Irfan would be developed as a premium downtown hub, which will bring more footfall to the area.

A three-star Ibis hotel project is under the implementation stage by the investor while for the Business Park, one building is under construction and three others are in the design stage.

Omran is also working with the local other authorities in other governorates to develop tourism facilities and one of the eagerly-awaited ones is the World Class theme park in Barka developed by the ASAAS, in which Omran is the stakeholder.

“All our future tourism projects will be just hospitality centric but also a pure leisure lifestyle.”

Hayy al Sharq will be spread over a multi-cluster 1.5 million square metre entertainment and leisure theme park, which will boast an integrated theme park, wildlife and water parks, an equestrian centre, and an edutainment centre, as well as retail areas that will offer a range of retail, leisure and dining options. It will also feature hotels, with a residential zone and retail areas.

Zipline in Musandam is part of the Oman Adventure and will be replicated in other parts of the Sultanate of Oman.

https://www.zawya.com/en/projects/construction/new-downtown-projects-progressing-as-planned-in-muscat-c7ty8b5u

April 10, 2023

Chips industry goes all-in on AI

It’s been a wild few years for the microchip industry, recovering from a long-term supply squeeze only to be thrust into the centre of a US-China battle to control supply lines of the valuable technology.

But an industry long associated with volatility is quietly getting excited that artificial intelligence (AI) could be the key to some longer-term stability.

US firm Nvidia dominates the market in specialised chips known as GPUs, which happen to be ideal for training AI programmes like the wildly popular chatbot ChatGPT.

“Technology trends are working in Nvidia’s direction,” the firm’s vice president Ronnie Vasishta told AFP this week at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.

This has helped make Nvidia the biggest company in the sector — and one of the biggest firms of any kind in the United States — with a valuation of $580 billion.

Traditional rivals like Intel and Qualcomm are now on manoeuvres, desperate to make sure they do not miss out.

The tiny components, also known as semiconductors, are essential in everything from smartphones, PCs and electric cars to sophisticated weaponry, robotics and all other high-tech machinery.

AI already features heavily in all of these fields, and the advent of chatbots is only pushing it further into the public imagination.

Even in a sector where low-key engineers do the talking, the enthusiasm is palpable.

– ‘Scratching the surface’ –

“The most exciting thing right now is AI,” Cristiano Amon, boss of rival firm Qualcomm, told a Wall Street Journal event at the MWC.

He wants the world’s phones to be tooled up with chips able to handle even the most tricky AI-related tasks, largely because Qualcomm leads the field in phone chips.

Vasishta is equally enthused.

“Where and how does AI get used? It’s probably going to be easier to answer where is it not getting used,” he said.

Another chip firm, the British-based Arm, is even further back in the production chain than Nvidia — it provides the designs used by chip suppliers.

The firm’s Chris Bergey told AFP there was massive potential with AI.

The kind of chips Nvidia produces are great for training AI models in data centres, he said, but smartphones need chips that can act based on those models.

“It’s a huge opportunity and it’s ubiquitous,” he said.

He compares the AI revolution to the onset of apps, which appeared about 15 years ago and rapidly changed the way we used technology.

“Definitely AI is something that has a lot of interesting applications and we’re still scratching the surface of where we’ll go.”

Yet, with chips, nothing is straightforward.

The supply chain is fiendishly complex — consulting firm Accenture reckons a chip crosses borders 70 times before it ends up in a phone, camera or car.

Countries like China and the United States would prefer to have greater control.

And there is an added problem: the factories that make most of the world’s chips are in Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China claims.

This could bring China and the United States into direct conflict.

Mild-mannered as ever, semiconductor executives will not be drawn into discussions on these issues.

“We don’t have really a position on the geopolitics, we comply with all the US regulations that are required as a US company,” said Vasishta.

Bergey, who has spent 25 years in the industry, said he had seen chips lurch from being “very cool” to “very boring”.

“They’re cool right now, perhaps too cool with too much attention,” he said.

“It’s a dynamic thing the industry is dealing with and we’ll have to see how these things play out.”

Source:https://www.zawya.com/en/world/americas/chips-industry-goes-all-in-on-ai-ydqgiv6s

April 10, 2023

Saudi’s Al-Ahsa airport’s capacity to jump by 250% as expansion project launched

The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) President Abdulaziz Al-Duailej announced on Wednesday the launch of the Al-Ahsa International Airport development and expansion project.

The airport’s capacity will be jumped by 250 percent to accommodate one million passengers annually once the project is completed.

Al-Duailej made the announcement while addressing the Al-Ahsa Forum 2030. Prince Saud Bin Naif, emir of the Eastern Province, inaugurated the forum in the presence of Governor of Al-Ahsa Prince Saud bin Talal bin Badr.

The 6th edition of the forum, with the theme of “Al-Ahsa … the Economy of the Future,” was organized by Al-Ahsa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with Saudi Aramco, the strategic partner.

Addressing the forum, Al-Duailej said Al-Ahsa governorate is characterized by its strategic location and integrated infrastructure.

“The presence of a developed international airport will facilitate access to it and connect it with the world. Al-Ahsa International Airport achieved an estimated growth rate of 30 percent in the number of passengers and an increase in the number of flights by 6.6 percent during the year 2022 compared to 2021,” he said.

The GACA chief said that November 2022 witnessed the resumption of the first direct international flight service to Dubai with operation of Flydubai.

The Dammam Airports Company is working on offering a number of investment opportunities, considering Al-Ahsa International Airport as a strategic partner in the renaissance of development and the economy of the province and the region, due to its association with a number of important sectors such as tourism, trade and industry.

This is in addition to attracting national and foreign airlines to operate more new destinations.

Al-Duailej stated that the airport development and expansion project includes raising the capacity by 250 percent to reach one million passengers per year; building two international terminals with a total area of 3,400 square meters, and developing and improving the current domestic terminals in a way compatible with the two new international terminals in order to unify the identity of the airport.

This is in addition to increasing the operating capacity of travel check-in platforms and developing the conveyor belt and technical infrastructure systems.

source:https://www.zawya.com/en/projects/construction/saudis-al-ahsa-airports-capacity-to-jump-by-250-as-expansion-project-launched-xp3v266m

April 4, 2023

NorthLadder launches second-hand marketplace in Saudi Arabia, just in time for Ramadan

NorthLadder, the leading second-hand marketplace in the Middle East, has expanded its services to Saudi Arabia, with residents in Riyadh and Jeddah now able to sell their old laptops, mobile phones, tablets, and smartwatches for instant cash at their doorstep. The company has already gained a lot of interest from the Saudi market and aims to replicate the success it has seen in the UAE.

NorthLadder’s expansion into Saudi Arabia comes just in time for Ramadan when many people look to declutter their homes and sell unwanted items. The company’s free home pickup service makes it easy for customers to sell their old devices and earn cash without having to leave their homes during the busy Ramadan season. Devices that are sold also help promote sustainability and a circular economy.

NorthLadder’s expansion into Saudi Arabia comes after the company conducted research, which found that over 80% of people in Saudi Arabia do not sell their old devices due to data privacy concerns. To address this, NorthLadder offers internationally approved, military-grade certified data wipe services, ensuring that all data is deleted when customers sell their phones and tablets with NorthLadder. Data deletion takes less than 2 minutes and is done in the presence of the customer, and a digital certificate confirming the same is emailed to the customer.

“We are thrilled to bring our services to the Saudi market,” said Sandeep Shetty, CEO of NorthLadder. “Our expansion into Saudi Arabia is a testament to the success we have seen in the UAE and our commitment to addressing the concerns of our customers. Our data wipe service ensures that customers can sell their devices with confidence.”

NorthLadder has already served over 150,000 customers and helped over 35,000 customers sell their old devices for cash, with a 4.8 rating on Google. The company has partnered with major retailers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with customers likely using NorthLadder’s software to evaluate prices if they go to any retailer to trade their phone.

https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/companies-news/northladder-launches-second-hand-marketplace-in-saudi-arabia-just-in-time-for-ramadan-lfmhaqth

April 4, 2023

Modern Electronics Company inaugurates state-of-the-art service centre in Riyadh

Modern Electronics Company (MEC) has announced the official inauguration of its newly revamped service centre in Riyadh. MEC, a company known as a leader in Saudi Arabia’s consumer electronics industry, was recently appointed by Panasonic as its official distributor for major appliances across the Kingdom.

The redesigned facility, comprises of 975 sqm of service centre space, is manned by expertly trained technicians as well as fully-equipped to deliver efficient maintenance and repairs services. Raising the bar high in the industry, it features an unconventional design and layout like no other in order to provide the highest level of after-sales services, for exceptional customer satisfaction.

The inauguration ceremony was graced by Mr. Wajih Beiruti – Chief Executive Officer, Modern Electronics Company (MEC) and Mr. Hiroyuki Shibutani – Managing Director, Panasonic Marketing Middle East & Africa (PMMAF).

Mr. Asem Abdullah Alhumaid – Service Director, Modern Electronics Company (MEC), said: “We are extremely proud to unveil this state-of-the-art service centre for our customers. This redesigned facility is vital to our goal of realizing our value proposition of listening, responding, and delivering solutions to the customers. Now more than ever, we are committed to building stronger ties with them and this service centre will, no doubt, help us be more responsive in meeting their needs, therefore taking MEC a step further in exceeding our customers’ expectations.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Anthony Peter – Director, Customer Service, Panasonic Marketing Middle East & Africa (PMMAF), spoke about the significance of MEC’s service centre. “Congratulations to Modern Electronic Company on the successful opening of this remodelled service centre. Our motto is to help customers lead the best life and we strongly believe that providing seamless and convenient after-sales service is vital for enhancing customer experience. We are extremely proud to have a partner like MEC that is committed to deliver best-in-class service solutions to the customers.”

Souce :https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/companies-news/modern-electronics-company-inaugurates-state-of-the-art-service-centre-in-riyadh-crpcw0ly