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Saudi Arabia Allocates Industrial Lands with Investments Exceeding $21 Bln

Jubail offers 100 investment opportunities with an estimated investment size of around $5.4 billion (SPA)
Jubail offers 100 investment opportunities with an estimated investment size of around $5.4 billion (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Allocates Industrial Lands with Investments Exceeding $21 Bln

Jubail offers 100 investment opportunities with an estimated investment size of around $5.4 billion (SPA)
Jubail offers 100 investment opportunities with an estimated investment size of around $5.4 billion (SPA)

As part of its efforts to attract more local and foreign investments, the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu in Saudi Arabia has allocated approximately 15.1 square kilometers of industrial land in its cities, with an investment volume exceeding SAR 80 billion Saudi riyals ($21.6 billion).

This initiative aims to double its investment size by 2040, currently estimated at around a trillion riyals.

It is anticipated that these investments in primary, mining, and transformational industries will generate over 16,000 direct job opportunities.

Eng. Khaled Al-Salem, the Chairman of the Commission, stated to Asharq Al-Awsat that these lands were designated at the beginning of 2023.

He explained that the Commission offers a multitude of investment opportunities, including those in the Jubail Industrial City, which presents over 100 investment prospects totaling more than SAR 20 billion ($5.4 billion), as well as in the Jazan Basic and Transformational Industries City, providing around 10 investment opportunities amounting to SAR 1.5 billion ($400 million) in both industrial and commercial sectors.

Al-Salem added that the available investment capacity in the Yanbu Industrial City is projected to exceed SAR 20 billion by 2025 and surpass SAR 100 billion ($26.6 billion) by 2040.

Furthermore, the investment opportunities estimated for Ras Al Khair Mining Industries City also exceed SAR 20 billion.

Regarding the pursuit of increasing the overall investment volume, Al-Salem emphasized that the Commission places significant emphasis on leveraging its success factors and the attractiveness of its cities for investments.

It aims to establish a seamless investment journey, with the total investment size in its cities already surpassing a trillion riyals by the end of 2022 and targeting to double that figure by 2040 according to its strategic plan.

Furthermore, the Commission aims to empower entrepreneurs, offering them training, technical consultations, and suitable investment options through its Industrial Development Centers, such as “ready-made factories” with low capital costs, enabling them to embark on their entrepreneurial journey.

Al-Salem revealed that the Commission has registered 16 projects led by 9 female entrepreneurs, with their investments estimated at around SAR 40 million ($10.6 million) in the cities of Jubail and Yanbu.

Addressing expansion efforts, Al-Salem explained that the Commission has a comprehensive plan for each of its cities, outlining the targeted industrial sectors and the planned development of lands over the coming years within its jurisdiction.

This approach aims to attract and foster industrial investments that contribute to enhancing Saudi Arabia’s position in various fundamental and transformative industrial sectors, aligning with the Kingdom’s national industrial strategy.

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Euro Zone Poised to Enter Trade Quagmire as Trump Wins

A container ship unloads its cargo in the German port of Hamburg (Reuters)
A container ship unloads its cargo in the German port of Hamburg (Reuters)
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Euro Zone Poised to Enter Trade Quagmire as Trump Wins

A container ship unloads its cargo in the German port of Hamburg (Reuters)
A container ship unloads its cargo in the German port of Hamburg (Reuters)

As Trump 2.0 becomes a reality, Europe is poised to enter a new geopolitical and trade quagmire with its biggest trading partner.

Donald Trump's victory may harm Europe's economy as proposed 10% US tariffs risk hitting European exports such as cars and chemicals, eroding Europe's GDP by up to 1.5% or about €260 billion.

Analysts warn of European Central Bank (ECB) rate cuts, euro weakness, and a recession risk.

According to several economic analyses, there is broad agreement that Trump's proposed 10% universal tariff on all US imports may significantly disrupt European growth, intensify monetary policy divergence, and strain key trade-dependent sectors such as autos and chemicals.

The long-term effects on Europe's economic resilience could prove even more significant if tariffs lead to protracted trade conflicts, prompting the European Central Bank (ECB) to respond with aggressive rate cuts to cushion the impact, according to Euronews.

Trump's proposed across-the-board tariff on imports, including those from Europe, could profoundly impact sectors such as cars and chemicals, which rely heavily on US exports.

Data from the European Commission shows that the European Union exported €502.3 billion in goods to the US in 2023, making up a fifth of all non-European Union exports.

European exports to the US are led by machinery and vehicles (€207.6 billion), chemicals (€137.4 billion), and other manufactured goods (€103.7 billion), which together comprise nearly 90% of the bloc's transatlantic exports.

ABN Amro analysts, including head of macro research Bill Diviney, warn that tariffs “would cause a collapse in exports to the US,” with trade-oriented economies such as Germany and the Netherlands likely to be hardest hit.

According to the Dutch bank, Trump's tariffs would shave approximately 1.5 percentage points off European growth, translating to a potential €260 bn economic loss based on Europe's estimated 2024 GDP of €17.4 tn.

Should Europe's growth falter under Trump's tariffs, the European Central Bank (ECB) may be compelled to respond aggressively, slashing rates to near zero by 2025.

In contrast, the US Federal Reserve may continue raising rates, leading to “one of the biggest and most sustained monetary policy divergences” between the ECB and the Fed since the euro's inception in 1999.

Dirk Schumacher, head of European macro research at Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking Germany, suggests that a 10% tariff increase could reduce GDP by approximately 0.5% in Germany, 0.3% in France, 0.4% in Italy, and 0.2% in Spain.

Schumacher warns that “the euro area could slide into recession in response to higher tariffs.”

According to Goldman Sachs' economists James Moberly and Sven Jari Stehn, the broad tariff would likely erode eurozone GDP by approximately 1%.

Goldman Sachs analysts project that a 1% GDP loss translates into a hit to earnings per share (EPS) for European firms by 6-7 percentage points, which would be sufficient to erase expected EPS growth for 2025.