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$10 Bn Investment Deals Signed on Day 1 of Arab-China Business Conference

Workshops on the sidelines of the Arab-China Business Conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Workshops on the sidelines of the Arab-China Business Conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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$10 Bn Investment Deals Signed on Day 1 of Arab-China Business Conference

Workshops on the sidelines of the Arab-China Business Conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Workshops on the sidelines of the Arab-China Business Conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The 10th Arab-China Business Conference witnessed the signing of investment agreements worth more than $10 billion, including 30 deals in various sectors.

Held under the theme of "Collaborating for Prosperity," the conference will bring together more than 3,000 government officials and business leaders from China and several Arab nations to discuss mutually beneficial cooperation in economy, trade, and investment.

The conference is jointly organized with the Union of Arab Chambers, the League of Arab States, and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).

On the sidelines of the conference, several agreements were concluded between the private and public sectors, including government-to-business deals.

The Saudi Ministry of Investment signed a $5.6 billion agreement with the Chinese company Human Horizons, which specializes in developing

autonomous driving technologies and manufacturing of electric cars under the HiPhi brand to establish a joint venture for automotive research, development, manufacturing, and sales.

- Rail wagons

The Ministry of Investment also signed a $266 million agreement with Hepopi Technology Co., Ltd., an Android software developer in Hong Kong, to develop tourism applications.

With the facilitation of the Ministry of Investment, a $250 million deal was concluded between the

Saudi Railways Company (SAPTCO) and Chinese state-owned and publicly traded rolling stock manufacturer, CRRC, inked a $250 million deal to manufacture rail wagons and wheels in Saudi Arabia.

- Iron factory

Also among the agreements is a $150 million deal between the Ministries of Investment, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources (MIM), and Chinese industrial manufacturer Sunda to manufacture caustic soda, chlorine, and its derivatives, chlorinated paraffin, calcium chloride, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and conversion products in the Kingdom.

Also, on the sidelines of the event, a $533 million deal between the AMR al-Uwlaa Company and Hong Kong-based Zhonghuan International Group to establish a factory to reduce iron ore and manufacture iron pellets for smelting plants in Saudi Arabia.

- Copper mining

Saudi Arabia's ASK Group and the China National Geological & Mining Corporation signed a $500 million cooperation agreement for developing, financing, constructing, and operating an Arabian Shield copper mining project.

A $266 million framework agreement was signed between Mabani Al- Safwah Ltd, China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Co., Ltd., and Top International Engineering Corporation Arabia Ltd. for advanced building construction in the Kingdom.

- Thousands of participants

The conference's extensive agenda attracted thousands of participants, including panel discussions, workshops, special meetings, and side events that addressed selected vital topics, such as social and environmental responsibility, governance, and enhancing the supply chain's resilience.

Over 3,000 decision-makers, senior government officials, investors, business owners, and specialists joined the conference for the first-day number of participants on the first day.

- Oil and gas

Participants of the conference's sidelines reiterated the importance of cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China, benefiting from each other's strengths to achieve common goals and drive innovation.

The topics include supply chains for the oil and gas sectors, innovation and research partnerships, challenges and solutions for global commercial supply chains, mining, and food processing.

- Tourism sector

Saudi Minister of Tourism Ahmed al-Khateeb asserted the responsibility to expand the Kingdom's contribution to the global travel and tourism market, noting that Saudi Arabia is investing more than $800 billion in the sector over the next ten years.

At the conference, Khateeb encouraged Chinese tourists to visit Saudi Arabia and called on investors to seize unprecedented opportunities in the Kingdom.

He stated that since the launch of the government's initiatives, 49 countries had been allowed to obtain e-visa and that many Arab countries are working diligently to increase their contributions to the travel and tourism sector.

Egyptian businessman Samih Sawiris, founder of Orascom Development, stressed that cooperation between Saudi and Chinese entities is the first step that can combine the power of knowledge in the Saudi market with the centrality of Beijing.

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Business

Honda and Nissan Start Merger Talks in Historic Pivot

Makoto Uchida, Director, Representative Executive Officer, President and CEO of Nissan Motor Corporation, Toshihiro Mibe, Director, President and Representative Executive Officer of Honda and Takao Kato, Director, Representative Executive Officer, President & CEO of Mitsubishi Motors, attend a joint press conference on their merger talks, in Tokyo, Japan, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Makoto Uchida, Director, Representative Executive Officer, President and CEO of Nissan Motor Corporation, Toshihiro Mibe, Director, President and Representative Executive Officer of Honda and Takao Kato, Director, Representative Executive Officer, President & CEO of Mitsubishi Motors, attend a joint press conference on their merger talks, in Tokyo, Japan, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
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Honda and Nissan Start Merger Talks in Historic Pivot

Makoto Uchida, Director, Representative Executive Officer, President and CEO of Nissan Motor Corporation, Toshihiro Mibe, Director, President and Representative Executive Officer of Honda and Takao Kato, Director, Representative Executive Officer, President & CEO of Mitsubishi Motors, attend a joint press conference on their merger talks, in Tokyo, Japan, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Makoto Uchida, Director, Representative Executive Officer, President and CEO of Nissan Motor Corporation, Toshihiro Mibe, Director, President and Representative Executive Officer of Honda and Takao Kato, Director, Representative Executive Officer, President & CEO of Mitsubishi Motors, attend a joint press conference on their merger talks, in Tokyo, Japan, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Honda and Nissan have started talks toward a potential merger, they said on Monday, a historic pivot for Japan's auto industry that underlines the threat Chinese EV makers now pose to some of the world's best known car makers, Reuters said.
The integration would create the world's third-largest auto group by vehicle sales after Toyota and Volkswagen. It would also give the two companies scale and a chance to share resources in the face of intense competition from Tesla and more nimble Chinese rivals, such as BYD.
The merger of the two storied Japanese brands - Honda is Japan's second-largest automaker and Nissan its no. 3 - would mark the biggest reshaping in the global auto industry since Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA merged in 2021 to create Stellantis in a $52 billion deal.
Smaller Mitsubishi Motors, in which Nissan is top shareholder, was also considering joining, the companies said. The chief executives of all three companies held a joint press conference in Tokyo.
"The rise of Chinese automakers and new players has changed the car industry quite a lot," Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe told the press conference.
"We have to build up capabilities to fight with them by 2030, otherwise we'll be beaten," he said.
The two companies would aim for combined sales of 30 trillion yen ($191 billion) and operating profit of more than 3 trillion yen through the potential merger, they said.
They aimed to wrap up talks around June 2025 and then set up a holding company by August 2026, at which time both companies' shares would be delisted.
Honda has a market capitalisation of more than $40 billion, while Nissan is valued at about $10 billion.
Honda will appoint the majority of the holding company's board, it said.
Combining with Mitsubishi Motors would take the Japanese group's global sales to more than 8 million cars. The current No. 3 group is South Korea's Hyundai and Kia .
Honda and Nissan have been exploring ways to bolster their partnership, including a merger, Reuters reported last week.
The two companies said in March they were considering cooperation on electrification and software development. They agreed to conduct joint research and widened the collaboration to Mitsubishi Motors in August.
Last month, Nissan announced a plan to cut 9,000 jobs and 20% of its global production capacity after sales plunged in the key China and U.S. markets. Honda also reported worse-than-expected earnings due to declining sales in China.
Like other foreign carmakers, Honda and Nissan have lost ground in the world's biggest market China to BYD and other local brands that make electric and hybrid cars loaded with innovative software.
In a separate online press conference with the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan on Monday, former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn said he did not believe the Honda-Nissan alliance would be successful, saying the two automakers were not complementary.
Ghosn is wanted as a fugitive in Japan for jumping bail and fleeing to Lebanon. His 2018 arrest for financial wrongdoing pitched Nissan into a crisis.
French automaker Renault, Nissan's largest shareholder, is open in principle to a deal and would examine all the implications of a tie-up, sources have said.
Taiwan's Foxconn, seeking to expand its nascent EV contract manufacturing business, approached Nissan about a bid but the Japanese company rejected it, sources have told Reuters.
Foxconn decided to pause the approach after it sent a delegation to meet with Renault in France, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.
Shares in Honda ended the day up 3.8%, Nissan rose 1.6% and Mitsubishi Motors gained 5.3% after the news reports on the details of the planned merger, while the benchmark Nikkei closed up 1.2%.