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The energy ministers of Saudia Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, key members of OPEC+, said on Tuesday the producers’ group should not engage in politics as pressure mounted on them to take action against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Asked by the moderator at an industry event about whether OPEC+ has a moral responsibility to expel Russia from the group, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said “everybody leaves his politics at the door” when they hold meetings.

“If we don’t do that we would not have dealt with so many countries at different times. It could have been with Iraq at one point, it could have been with Iran at one point.”

OPEC+ has come under increasing pressure to pump more crude since Russia, the largest producer in the OPEC+ group, invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, and Western nations enacted sanctions in response that have curtailed Russian oil exports.

Both Prince Abdulaziz and UAE energy minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said the focus was on balancing crude oil markets and satisfying consumers.

“We have one mission and only one mission which is stabilizing the market. So we cannot be politicizing, or bringing politics to the organization having that debate … our aim is to calm the market,” said Mazrouei.

“If we are asking anyone to leave, then we are raising the prices, then we are doing something that is against what consumers want.”

The Gulf states, close U.S. allies, are members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries as well as OPEC+, which includes OPEC and other large oil producers such as Russia and Mexico.

Prince Abdulaziz said Russia produces enough oil every day equal to about 10% of the world’s consumption.

If the security of oil supplies is threatened the world economy will suffer. That security is a priority now and some countries are forgetting about the affordability of energy, he said.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have escalated attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities in recent weeks and ahead of a temporary truce for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The movement have also launched attacks on the UAE.

Houthis said they launched recent attacks on Saudi energy facilities and the Saudi-led coalition said oil giant Aramco’s petroleum products distribution station in Jeddah was hit, causing a fire in two storage tanks but no casualties.

Prince Abdulaziz drew attention to the politics at play inside OPEC that members have to accept.

“I ask you, who has been throwing these rockets and missiles at us and at Abu Dhabi? Who is financing? Who’s training?,” he said at the industry event, referring to Saudi Arabia’s rival Iran, also a key player in OPEC.

“Who’s supplying these weapons? It is a member of OPEC. I leave it for your imagination … A cynical mind sometimes helps.”

Source:https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/saudi-arabia/uae-saudi-say-opec-should-not-play-politics/articleshow/90517166.cms

The world’s top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, has cut February’s official selling price (OSP) for all grades of crude it is selling to Asia by at least $1 a barrel, three sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco set the February OSP for Arab Light crude at $2.20 a barrel above the average of Oman/Dubai quotes, down $1.10 from the previous month, they said.

The February OSP for the flagship crude is the lowest in three months.

Saudi Aramco had been expected to make deep price cuts for February after Middle East benchmarks and spot prices slumped last month.

However, the sources said the price cuts were still smaller than industry expectations.

For example, the OSP for Arab Light was expected to have fallen by at least $1.30 a barrel, a Reuters survey showed.

Source:https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/saudi-arabia/saudi-arabia-cuts-february-crude-prices-to-asia-sources/articleshow/88730458.cms

Ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the hospitality and tourism sector are expected to further stimulate economic activities and open new windows of opportunities to bolster the market, which is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12.1% between 2019 and 2022 to reach $1.4bn.
This was revealed on the occasion of Hospitality Qatar 2021, which was digitally inaugurated by Ministry of Commerce and Industry Undersecretary Sultan bin Rashid al-Khater in the presence of Qatar Tourism Chairman and Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive HE Akbar al-Baker; Italian ambassador Alessandro Prunas; Turkish ambassador Dr Mustafa Goksu; IFP Qatar general manager Haider Mshaimesh.
Held in strategic partnership with Qatar Tourism until November 11 at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre (DECC), the sixth edition of Hospitality Qatar gathered more than 170 HORECA (hotel, restaurant, café), tourism and F&B suppliers, and service providers from more than 30 countries, as well as investors and industry leaders in Qatar to explore potential investment opportunities in the Qatari hospitality and tourism market.
Mohamed al-Mahmeed, head of Tourism Investment Promotion Section at Qatar Tourism, officially opened the first day with a keynote speech addressing Qatar’s tourism and hospitality sector’s readiness to welcome fans for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and highlighted new products and services catering to visitors.
Denisa Spinkova, leading service excellence at Qatar Tourism, provided an overview of Qatar Tourism’s strategy from its approach to increasing visitor arrivals and spending, as well as infrastructure developments, particularly in hospitality. In addition, Spinkova provided an overview of the country’s new promotional campaign, and its execution across platforms.
Monday’s opening kicked off with the ‘Countdown Begins’ conference, a multi-themed conference that focuses on the tourism, hospitality, and F&B sectors, and serves as a platform for industry key players and policymakers to exchange new insights and discuss recent developments in the industry.
Further, the conference’s opening sessions featured presentations and discussions on significant industry topics including, ‘The Experience Starts from your Home Country: An Unforgettable Travel’ by Qatar Airways, ‘Hamad International Airport Strategy to Increase Customer Capacity’ by HIA, and ‘Integrating Brand Standards within the Local Context for Exceptional Design’ by Katara Hospitality.
The Certified Training Programme is back to provide industry professionals with the necessary training and knowledge for free. The first day also witnessed the start of the barista training sponsored and organised by Corona International Company. Café workers in Doha will enjoy free training in the first two days with an international barista competition to be held in the remaining days.
The ‘Destination Pavilion’ sponsored by Qatar Airways is also open to visitors and participants. Other activities during the four-day event include live cooking shows, Qatar Restaurant’s Choice Awards, Food Tech Talks by talabat, and the Food Safety and Qatar Clean trainings by Boecker.
Prunas said, “The hospitality market in Qatar is a major interest for Italian producers as reflected in the Italian pavilion, which is one of the biggest in the event.”
Christoph Hodapp from Qatar Tourism said, “Trade exhibitions like this support sector development by introducing international expertise and showcasing our business events ecosystem. As an important subsector of tourism, it helps drive awareness and investment; at Qatar Tourism, we are very glad to extend our support to MICE organisers and operators.”
Hospitality Qatar 2021 seeks to mirror the success of its previous edition, which has recorded a total of more than 11,000 visitors, said Mshaimesh.

Source:https://www.gulf-times.com/story/704090/MoCI-undersecretary-opens-Hospitality-Qatar-2021

Saudi Arabia could go carbon neutral before its 2060 target if technology evolves quickly enough, its energy minister said on Wednesday, days before the COP26 climate summit.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said new processes enabling the “circular carbon economy” — a concept where waste carbon is captured and repurposed — were key to the world’s top oil exporter achieving net zero.

The desert kingdom, also one of the world’s biggest polluters, is heavily promoting the virtues of the circular carbon economy (CCE) at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, an elite business gathering dubbed “Davos in the desert”.

“CCE first and foremost depends on the evolution of technology,” the minister told the conference, describing 2060 as a “dynamic baseline”.

“Actually, if technology evolves even faster, we may not have to wait until 2060. It could bring it earlier.”

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia pledged to go carbon neutral by 2060. Two days later it announced a billion-dollar contribution to initiatives to fund the circular carbon economy and provide “clean” fuel for the world’s poor.

The United Nations says more than 130 countries have set or are considering a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by mid-century, an objective it says is “imperative” to safeguard a liveable climate.

World leaders will gather in Glasgow from Sunday for the UN’s COP26, a historic summit billed as humanity’s “last best chance” to get devastating climate change under control.

“The most daunting challenge that we are all faced with is climate change,” the energy minister said, before adding that he did not expect any drop in demand for oil.

“I still argue it would not happen,” he said.

Oil production remains the fundamental plank of Saudi energy policy. This month, state-owned giant Saudi Aramco said it planned to raise production by a million barrels a day by 2027.

Source:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/saudi-arabia/saudi-arabia-could-go-carbon-neutral-before-2060-says-prince-abdulaziz-bin-salman/articleshow/87308029.cms

Oman’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) announced its approval of licensing crowdfunding platforms, which will allow a new financing option for SMEs in the Sultanate.

The CMA’s board of directors agreed on Sunday to amend the existing capital market legislation to allow for crowdfunding platforms to be established in the country.

In a statement released by the board, the CMA asserted that the approval of crowdfunding platforms is intended to create more jobs, encourage economic development and allow financial inclusion for SMEs.

This comes as a part of a larger push made by Oman’s government to provide financing facilities for SMEs and micro-projects.

The CMA’s launching and regulating of crowdfunding platforms will help to overcome what the CMA report identified as one of the key challenges facing these projects: “The banking sector’s reluctance to fund such projects due to the related risks and lack of proper guarantees to convince the banks to grant funding facilities beside the impact of the global financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic on the banking sector and the liquidity crunch.”

Crowdfunding will be available to all SMEs that are officially registered under the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion (MoCIIP).

“These types of financing options will be of great benefit to SMEs, as well as micro-enterprises,” an official from the CMA told Times of Oman. “Crowdfunding will not need guarantees, as is often the case with the banking sector.

The official continued: “Owners of companies of this nature often face challenges in securing finances, since banks often ask for guarantees, and are unwilling to risk committing funds to them.”

Currently, the drafted crowdfunding platforms regulations are undergoing the final stages of revision.

The CMA report said that the regulations will ensure that the crowdfunding platforms will not become conventional lending institutions. Additionally, the regulations will be posted for public feedback and consultation.

The first crowdfunding platform in Oman is set to be launched by the year’s end.

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/startup/466972-omans-capital-market-authority-approves-licensing-for-crowdfunding

Egypt was one of the few countries that recorded during the crisis an economic growth of about 3.57 percent during 2019/2020,” Minister of Trade and Industry, Nevine Gamea, said.

Gamea explained in a statement, Thursday, that the industrial sector is the locomotive of economic growth in Egypt and contributed about 17.1 percent to the GDP in 2019/2020, compared to about 16.4 percent in the previous year, and thus became the largest contributor to Egyptian economic growth, compared to other economic sectors.

She added that the manufacturing sector achieved a positive growth rate during 2019/2020 of about 1.4 percent, although it was less than what it achieved in the previous year, which recorded 2.8 percent, but remained positive in the year of the pandemic as a reflection of the measures taken to strengthen the industrial sector during the crisis.

Gamea explained that, thanks to the success of the first phase of the economic reform program, Egypt launched the second phase of the National Structural Reform Program in 2021, which focuses on raising the competitiveness of 3 main sectors, including manufacturing, agriculture, communications and information technology, to increase their contribution to the GDP.

She stressed that Egypt succeeded in achieving many positive economic indicators during the Corona crisis, thanks to the economic reform program that it pursued since 2016 and the measures it took to confront the pandemic, which amounted to about 541 measures from March 2019 to May 2021.

This came in the context of the Minister’s speech, during the virtual opening session of the high-level meeting to launch the report on the production and export transformation, which was organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in cooperation with the German Agency for International Cooperation, the African Bank for Import and Export, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization “UNIDO” and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

With regard to industry and trade, the minister pointed out that the second phase of the structural reforms program aims to raise investment rates in the manufacturing sector in a sustainable manner, increase its participation in the gross domestic product, localize and deepen industry, develop local supply chains, and integrate at higher stages in global and regional value chains, and increasing the international competitiveness of manufacturing industries and promoting industrial exports.

“The program targets the food industries, the pharmaceutical industries and medical supplies, the textile and ready-made garments industries, and the engineering industries that include cars and household appliances,” she continued.

Gamea pointed out that there are many opportunities that will enable Egypt to achieve its goals for the second phase of the structural reform program thanks to the political and security stability that Egypt is witnessing, in addition to the huge leap in infrastructure development, and the measures that have been taken and are constantly being taken to enable micro-enterprises and SMEs to take advantage of the industry’s growing potential.

She noted that the growth axes included focusing on increasing non-traditional exports, encouraging industries that can compete in global markets, and working to attract investments, in addition to deepening local industrialization due to Egypt’s large domestic market, as well as the numerous bilateral and multilateral trade agreements that contribute significantly to the growth of the Egyptian exports.

The minister indicated that work is underway on legislative, procedural and digital development axes in order to reduce the time and cost of export and import in order to strengthen the industrial and trade sectors.

She added that Egypt aims to achieve integration with global and regional production and value chains, especially African ones, especially in light of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, as Egypt’s priorities during the next stage include developing the Egyptian economy to be more innovative and benefiting from advanced technologies, not only as an end-use market.

source:https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/3/105839/Industrial-sector-is-largest-contributor-to-growth-of-the-Egyptian

Bahrain’s capital Manama has been rated number one in the world in the AIRINC Global 150 Cities Index in terms of financial attractiveness.

It is the third year in a row that the kingdom’s capital has topped the particular rankings, finishing ahead of George Town in the Cayman Islands and Swiss giants Geneva and Zurich.

More than 80 percent of Bahrain’s economic GDP comes from non-oil sectors, while the country has become known for its regional connectivity, regulatory innovation and position as a hub for the fintech industry.

The list revealed an overall impressive showing from Gulf cities, with Riyadh in fourth spot, Kuwait City (sixth), Abu Dhabi in seventh, Amman ninth, Doha 11th and Dubai in 12th spot.

In terms of overall attractiveness, Dubai was ranked in sixth position in the index, ahead of big-hitters such as New York (seventh), Singapore (11th), Paris (38th) and London (39th).

Last month Bahrain was named the best place in the Gulf region for expats to live and work despite the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the InterNations Expat Insider survey, which measured a variety of indicators, including quality of medical care, political stability, ease of settling in and job satisfaction.

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/politics-economics/464177-bahrain-tops-global-financial-attractiveness-rankings-for-third-consecutive-year