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Red Sea Global and Kingdom Holding Company Sign SAR2 Billion Joint Venture 

Red Sea Global (RSG) announced the successful completion of an investment deal with Kingdom Holding Company (KHC).
Red Sea Global (RSG) announced the successful completion of an investment deal with Kingdom Holding Company (KHC).
TT
TT

Red Sea Global and Kingdom Holding Company Sign SAR2 Billion Joint Venture 

Red Sea Global (RSG) announced the successful completion of an investment deal with Kingdom Holding Company (KHC).
Red Sea Global (RSG) announced the successful completion of an investment deal with Kingdom Holding Company (KHC).

Red Sea Global (RSG) announced on Tuesday the successful completion of an investment deal with Kingdom Holding Company (KHC).

The SAR2 billion joint venture brings together RSG and KHC in a 50/50 partnership to develop and own the Four Seasons Resort Red Sea, Saudi Arabia, expected to open in early 2025.

The highly anticipated luxury resort is situated on Shura Island, the main hub for Red Sea destinations. It will offer 149 rooms and suites, plus 31 residential properties, as well as six restaurants and lounge outlets, meeting and events spaces, a marine discovery center, and a Kids For All Seasons space, according to an RSG press release.

"This partnership strengthens our unwavering commitment to transforming the tourism landscape in Saudi Arabia. We share a common vision of creating extraordinary destinations that not only drive economic growth and job creation, but also preserve precious ecosystems, aligning perfectly with the aspirations outlined in Vision 2030,” said RSG Group CEO John Pagano.

KHC CEO Eng. Talal Ibrahim Almaiman said: "We are proud to partner with RSG in the execution of one of the Kingdom’s most exciting projects and look forward to creating value for our respective shareholders. This investment will form part of our broader strategy for further investments in the Saudi Arabian high growth market."

Shura Island will be home to a total of 11 resorts, and will include residential properties, an 18-hole championship golf course, a 118-berth marina, and an "exceptional retail, dining, and entertainment experience".

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Chinese Officials Expect Bumpy Ride for Economy

A woman holding a Chinese flag walks along a street in Beijing, China, 19 July 2024. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES
A woman holding a Chinese flag walks along a street in Beijing, China, 19 July 2024. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES
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TT

Chinese Officials Expect Bumpy Ride for Economy

A woman holding a Chinese flag walks along a street in Beijing, China, 19 July 2024. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES
A woman holding a Chinese flag walks along a street in Beijing, China, 19 July 2024. EPA/ANDRES MARTINEZ CASARES

Chinese officials acknowledged on Friday the sweeping list of economic goals re-emphasised at the end of a key Communist Party meeting this week contained "many complex contradictions," pointing to a bumpy road ahead for policy implementation.
Pressure for deep changes in how the world's second-largest economy functions has risen this year, with consumer and business sentiment near record lows domestically, and global leaders increasingly concerned with China's export dominance, Reuters reported.
Following a four-day, closed-doors meeting led by President Xi Jinping, which takes place once in roughly five years, officials made a raft of seemingly contradictory pledges, from modernizing the industrial complex while also expanding domestic demand to stimulating growth and simultaneously curbing debt risks.
The initial summary of the meeting, known as plenum, did not contain details on how Beijing plans to resolve the tensions between policy goals, such as how to get consumers to spend more while resources flow primarily to producers and infrastructure.
Concerns are growing that without a structural shift that gives consumers a greater role in the economy, debt will continue to outpace growth in order to finance Beijing's industrial modernization and global prominence goals.
That raises the stakes. Some analysts warn the current path fuels risks of a prolonged period of near-stagnation and persistent deflation threats as seen in Japan since the 1990s.
"High debt levels plus increasing deflationary pressures eventually could result in a Japan-style ... low growth and very low inflation," said Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China economics at Capital Economics.
"That, I think, would force them to change course on their current policies. But that might not happen straight away. That might only happen in a few years’ time."
Contradictions in Chinese policy efforts have been present for decades, as were goals to increase manufacturing value added, enhance social security, liberalize land use and improve local government tax revenues.
But making tough choices is an increasingly urgent task. China grew at a slower than expected pace in the second quarter, leaning hard on industrial output and external demand, but showing persistent domestic weakness.
Speaking at a media briefing on Friday along with other Party officials, Tang Fangyu, deputy director of the central committee's policy research office, acknowledged the challenges.
"The deeper the reform goes, the more complex and acute the conflicts of interest it touches," Tang said.
"Pushing forward Chinese-style modernization faces many complex conflicts and problems, and we must overcome multiple difficulties and obstructions."
The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said it was "positive that China’s leadership has again acknowledged many of the headwinds facing the country’s economy," but noted the outcome was largely "a reiteration of points."
"There appears to be no deviation from (China's) immediate priority, which is to balance its economic recovery against national security concerns, while maintaining social stability."

China is expected to publish a document with more detailed policy plans in the coming days.
But the fact that the initial post-plenum announcement borrowed heavily from China's existing playbook disappointed some economists.
“Nothing new under the sun: the same industrial policies, the same sense of things," said Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief economist Asia-Pacific at Natixis.
"Really no change in direction, no consumption-led growth, nothing. No sentence on the power of market forces, nothing. So, it’s really disappointing.”
Chinese stocks, not far above the five-year lows hit at the start of 2024, were flat on Friday, suggesting the plenum did little to improve sentiment.