Saudi Arabia Participates in ‘Summer Davos,’ Launches an Innovative Challenge

The opening ceremony of the 14th annual meeting of the New Champions, known as Summer Davos, in northern China. (EPA)
The opening ceremony of the 14th annual meeting of the New Champions, known as Summer Davos, in northern China. (EPA)
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Saudi Arabia Participates in ‘Summer Davos,’ Launches an Innovative Challenge

The opening ceremony of the 14th annual meeting of the New Champions, known as Summer Davos, in northern China. (EPA)
The opening ceremony of the 14th annual meeting of the New Champions, known as Summer Davos, in northern China. (EPA)

Saudi Arabia intends to launch an innovative challenge for the participants of the 14th edition of the annual meeting of the New Champions of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Davos Summer.

Summer Davos opened in north China's Tianjin Municipality on Tuesday.

The Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning said it would officially announce ten winners of the creative challenge to enhance food security and improve the supply of healthy and nutritious foods in arid regions.

Last January, the Ministry launched the Food Ecosystems and Arid Climates Challenge in collaboration with UpLink, the WEF open innovation platform, to crowdsource transformative solutions to enhance food security in countries impacted by low rainfall, drought, and desertification.

The challenge is a global call for food entrepreneurs, start-ups, social ventures, and small-medium-sized enterprises to submit solutions incorporating low or high technologies.

The winning cohort will be eligible to access CHF100,000 to scale and implement their venture in regions with arid climates while enhancing their visibility and access to networking opportunities.

The Saudi delegation, which includes six ministers and six deputy ministers, is led by Minister for Economy and Planning Faisal al-Ibrahim, and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Abdullah al-Swaha.

About 1,500 Participants from business, government, international organizations, and academia confirmed their participation in the event themed "Entrepreneurship: The Driving Force of the Global Economy."

On the sidelines of the conference, Ibrahim will hold several high-level bilateral meetings with senior officials participating to discuss boosting economic ties, issues of common interest, and the latest economic developments at a global level.



Oil Slips as Strong Supply Counters Middle East, Hurricane Risk

FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
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Oil Slips as Strong Supply Counters Middle East, Hurricane Risk

FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)
FILE - Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

Oil prices erased early gains on Wednesday as weak demand fundamentals and rising supply countered elevated risk of supply disruption from conflict in the Middle East and Hurricane Milton in the United States.

Brent crude futures were down 36 cents, or 0.47%, at $76.82 a barrel by 1103 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures lost 43 cents, or 0.58%, to $73.14, Reuters reported.

Brent and WTI both gained more than 1% earlier in the session after prices had plunged on Tuesday by more than 4% on a possible Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire, though markets remain wary of a potential Israeli attack on Iranian oil infrastructure.

"Despite the current heightened tensions in the Middle East, it is easy to forget that the oil market is very much vulnerable to corrections due to the ongoing bearish macro narrative centred on China," said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of research at Onyx Capital Group.

China said on Tuesday it was "fully confident" of achieving its full-year growth target but refrained from introducing stronger fiscal steps, disappointing investors who had banked on more support for the economy.

Investors have been concerned about slow growth dampening fuel demand in China, the world's largest crude importer.

Weak demand continues to underpin the fundamental outlook. The US. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) on Tuesday downgraded its demand forecast for 2025 on weakening economic activity in China and North America.

US crude oil stocks rose by nearly 11 million barrels last week, much more than analysts polled by Reuters had expected, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday.

"Such a backdrop belies the war premium in oil prices at present, but it would be a brave soul indeed to dismiss what will happen to oil prices if Israel does the unthinkable and targets Iran's oil sector," said John Evans at oil broker PVM.

Investors are awaiting developments from expected talks between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over intensifying conflict in the Middle East.

The oil-producing region has been on high alert for any Israeli response to an Iranian missile attack last week in retaliation for Israel's war on Lebanon.