Riyadh Hosts Inaugural Saudi Proptech Summit  

The inaugural Saudi Proptech Summit will kick off in Riyadh on Monday. (Saudi Proptech Summit)
The inaugural Saudi Proptech Summit will kick off in Riyadh on Monday. (Saudi Proptech Summit)
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Riyadh Hosts Inaugural Saudi Proptech Summit  

The inaugural Saudi Proptech Summit will kick off in Riyadh on Monday. (Saudi Proptech Summit)
The inaugural Saudi Proptech Summit will kick off in Riyadh on Monday. (Saudi Proptech Summit)

The inaugural Saudi Proptech Summit will begin in Riyadh on Monday to review the most prominent technical developments and beneficiaries’ experiences.

The two-day conference includes dialogue sessions and workshops with more than 25 speakers representing 20 countries and will be accompanied by a real estate technology exhibition.

Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Real Estate General Authority Majid bin Abdullah al-Hogail will inaugurate the conference.

Hogail said on his X account that he looks forward to meeting the creative and innovative people at Saudi Proptech, hoping it would develop the sector.

The Minister also expected the conference to enhance innovation and open investment horizons for entrepreneurs and emerging companies in real estate technologies to help achieve Vision 2030.

Real estate technology is an integrated system of emerging and rapidly growing companies that provide various innovative products or services in commercial and residential real estate.

It consists of four main areas: smart real estate, building technology, financial technology within real estate, and consumer-facing technology.

The summit will bring together a diverse array of participants, including specialists and experts in proptech, investors, and real estate service providers, with the participation of startups in the real estate and technology sectors.

It will also attract the latest international technical practices and experiences in the real estate field and showcase them within the Saudi market through partnership agreements among stakeholders.

Proptech brings together key activities, namely the technological ecosystem of real estate, government entities responsible for regulating the real estate sector, support for startups, real estate developers, proptech platforms, pioneering investment companies, and business accelerators.

It will also address the technological solutions sector in property and facilities management, artificial intelligence, data analysis, virtual and augmented reality, financing, mortgage, and construction technologies.

The conference will review several global technologies in real estate in the European market and the real estate technology in Hong Kong, China Sea region.

The Authority explained that the conference will discuss several topics through plenary sessions and workshops.

It would address important themes such as the role of technology in shaping public policies, the digital transformation of the Saudi real estate sector, the digital infrastructure of the Kingdom, and the future outlook for the real estate sector.

Moreover, the conference will explore urban environment innovations, the influence of smart city development on the real estate sector through information and decision-making mechanisms, and real estate technology solutions and their need in building the cities of the future.

Proptech connects technology and real estate and refers to various digital technologies used in the real estate sector and asset management.

It also contributes to managing various aspects of the real estate industry, including sales and delivery, facilities management, maintenance operations, and contract management utilizing computer technologies and software and mobile phone applications along with related devices, such as sensors, cameras, VR, and augmented reality technologies.



Saudi-GCC Non-Oil Trade Surplus Achieves 203% Annual Growth

An oil tanker is being loaded at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. (Reuters)
An oil tanker is being loaded at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. (Reuters)
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Saudi-GCC Non-Oil Trade Surplus Achieves 203% Annual Growth

An oil tanker is being loaded at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. (Reuters)
An oil tanker is being loaded at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. (Reuters)

The non-oil trade surplus of Saudi Arabia with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries recorded an annual growth rate of 203.2% to more than SAR2 billion in April, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Friday. It soared to around SAR3,511 million from SAR1,158 million in the same month last year.

According to preliminary data from the International Trade Bulletin for April, published by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), the total volume of non-oil trade, including re-exports, between Saudi Arabia and GCC countries amounted to around SAR18,028 million. This reflects a year-on-year growth of 41.3%, with an increase of SAR5,271 million from SAR12,757 million in April 2024.

Non-oil commodity exports, including re-exports, rose by 55%, totaling SAR10,770 million, up from SAR6,958 million in April of the previous year, an increase of over SAR3,812 million.

Meanwhile, the value of national non-oil commodity exports reached around SAR3,031 million, compared to SAR2,675 million in April 2024, achieving a year-on-year growth rate of 13.3%, with an increase estimated at SAR356 million.

Additionally, the value of re-exports surged by 81%, reaching SAR7,738 million compared to SAR4,282 million, an increase of SAR3,456 million.

Saudi Arabia’s imports from GCC countries stood at SAR7,258 million in April 2025, compared to SAR5,799 million last year, achieving a year-on-year growth of 25.2%, with an increase of SAR1,459 million.

The data indicated that the United Arab Emirates ranked first in terms of non-oil trade volume with Saudi Arabia, amounting to SAR13,533 million, representing about 75.1% of the total.

Bahrain followed in second place with a trade value of SAR1,798 million (10%), while Oman ranked third with SAR1,454 million (8.1%). Kuwait was fourth with SAR819.9 million (4.5%), and Qatar came next with a value of SAR422.1 million (2.3%).