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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).
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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).

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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ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
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ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde renewed her call for economic integration across Europe on Friday, arguing that intensifying global trade tensions and a growing technology gap with the United States create fresh urgency for action.
US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose tariffs on most if not all imports and said Europe would pay a heavy price for having run a large trade surplus with the US for decades.
"The geopolitical environment has also become less favorable, with growing threats to free trade from all corners of the world," Lagarde said in a speech, without directly referring to Trump.
"The urgency to integrate our capital markets has risen."
While Europe has made some progress, EU members tend to water down most proposals to protect vested national interests to the detriment of the bloc as a whole, Reuters quoted Lagarde as saying.
But this is taking hundreds of billions if not trillions of euros out of the economy as households are holding 11.5 trillion euros in cash and deposits, and much of this is not making its way to the firms that need the funding.
"If EU households were to align their deposit-to-financial assets ratio with that of US households, a stock of up to 8 trillion euros could be redirected into long-term, market-based investments – or a flow of around 350 billion euros annually," Lagarde said.
When the cash actually enters the capital market, it often stays within national borders or leaves for the US in hope of better returns, Lagarde added.
Europe therefore needs to reduce the cost of investing in capital markets and must make the regulatory regime easier for cash to flow to places where it is needed the most.
A solution might be to create an EU-wide regulatory regime on top of the 27 national rules and certain issuers could then opt into this framework.
"To bypass the cumbersome process of regulatory harmonization, we could envisage a 28th regime for issuers of securities," Lagarde said. "They would benefit from a unified corporate and securities law, facilitating cross-border placement, holding and settlement."
Still, that would not solve the problem that few innovative companies set up shop in Europe, partly due to the lack of funding. So Europe must make it easier for investment to flow into venture capital and for banks to fund startups, she said.