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Saudi Arabia to Develop Investment in Autonomous Vehicle Industry

The signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Rigel Capital Management and Clevon (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Rigel Capital Management and Clevon (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia to Develop Investment in Autonomous Vehicle Industry

The signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Rigel Capital Management and Clevon (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Rigel Capital Management and Clevon (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi government is moving towards developing investment in the automotive industry and autonomous vehicle technology.

The Saudi Ministry of Investment signed Tuesday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Rigel Capital Management and Clevon, setting the stage for investment development in automotive manufacturing and autonomous vehicle technology.

The government has taken accelerated steps towards adopting modern transportation systems, the latest of which was the announcement of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who launched Ceer last November, the first Saudi electric vehicle brand.

Ceer, launched by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), will design, manufacture, and sell electric vehicles with advanced technical systems, such as the autonomous feature in the Kingdom and the Middle East region, including sedans and four-wheel drives.

Ceer is a joint venture between PIF and Foxconn, which will license component technology from BMW for use in the vehicle development process.

Foxconn will develop the electrical architecture of the vehicles, resulting in a portfolio of products that will lead to infotainment, connectivity, and autonomous driving technologies.

Each vehicle will be tested to the highest global automotive quality control and safety standards. Ceer cars are scheduled to be available in 2025.

Saudi Arabia, represented by the Ministry of Transport and Logistics Services, is completing the program for preparing legislative frameworks and policies for autonomous vehicles and electric cars to consolidate and sustain green logistics services and operations.

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Türkiye's Central Bank Lowers Key Interest Rate to 47.5%

A girl sells plastic items to people in the Kadikoy district in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A girl sells plastic items to people in the Kadikoy district in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
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Türkiye's Central Bank Lowers Key Interest Rate to 47.5%

A girl sells plastic items to people in the Kadikoy district in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
A girl sells plastic items to people in the Kadikoy district in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Türkiye’s central bank lowered its key interest rate by 2.5 percentage points to 47.5% on Thursday, carrying out its first rate cut in nearly two years as it tries to control soaring inflation.
Citing slowing inflation, the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee said it was reducing its one-week repo rate to 47.5% from the current 50%.
The committee said in a statement that the overall inflation trend was “flat” in November and that indicators suggest it is likely to decline in December, The Associated Press reported.

Demand within the country was slowing, helping to reduce inflation, it said.
Inflation in Türkiye surged in recent years due to declining foreign reserves and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s unconventional economic policy of lowering rates as a way to tame inflation — which he later abandoned.
Inflation stood at 47% in November, after having peaked at 85% in late 2022, although independent economists say the real rate is much higher than the official figures.

Most economists argue that higher interest rates help control inflation, but the Turkish leader had fired central bank governors for failing to fall in line with his previous rate-cutting policies.

Following a return to more conventional policies under a new economic team, the central bank raised interest rates from 8.5% to 50% between May 2023 and March 2024. The bank had kept rates steady at 50% until Thursday's rate cut.
The high inflation has left many households struggling to afford basic goods, such as food and housing.