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Saudi Arabia Hosts World Experts to Shape Cities' Future Using Smart Solutions

SDAIA achieved several accomplishments in data and artificial intelligence (Asharq Al-Awsat)
SDAIA achieved several accomplishments in data and artificial intelligence (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Hosts World Experts to Shape Cities' Future Using Smart Solutions

SDAIA achieved several accomplishments in data and artificial intelligence (Asharq Al-Awsat)
SDAIA achieved several accomplishments in data and artificial intelligence (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi capital will host Monday the first Global Smart Cities Forum, which brings together an elite group of world experts in building smart cities and artificial intelligence.

The Forum seeks to form an ambitious vision for the future of cities using smart solutions and drawing up basic rules that support city development plans to achieve sustainable urban development, consistent with one of the Vision 2030 goals, improving citizens' quality of life.

Mayors from global cities, data and artificial intelligence experts, digital solution specialists, smart city engineers, investors, and economic policymakers representing 40 countries will attend the two-day event organized by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) under "A Better Life."

The Forum will begin February 12 at The Arena Riyadh Venue.

Assistant Director for Advanced Recognition Technologies and Digital Identity (iDART) at the National Information Center (NIC) in SDAIA Hotham al-Twaijry said the Forum provides direct and significant support to the efforts of governments worldwide to adopt innovative models and smart solutions.

It contributes to raising services and public safety in smart cities.

Twaijry explained to Asharq Al-Awsat that the event promotes environmental sustainability as part of the Kingdom's efforts to combat global warming, consolidate the values of sustainability, and make them part of society's culture.

- Motivating entrepreneurs

The Forum also aims to motivate businessmen from various countries to invest in smart, innovative solutions to balance human requirements and cities' economic prosperity.

It also seeks to support the creation of safe and sustainable environments in which the elements of modern life are combined, including digital services that help bring about the well-being of citizens.

The Assistant Director noted that the event aims to improve safety, reduce energy consumption, create more job opportunities, develop education, and improve health care and transportation.

He pointed out that the Kingdom is intensifying its efforts to improve the reality of smart cities and develop them to achieve Vision 2030 goals, which aim to achieve quality of life by improving city services.

- International level

Twaijry revealed that Riyadh advanced to 30th place globally and maintained its position as the third Arab city in the IMD Smart City Index (SCI), which saw Makkah, Jeddah, and Madinah ranking 52nd, 56th, and 85threspectively.

He confirmed that these results were achieved due to adopting smart technologies to improve the standard of living and sustainability, demonstrating the Kingdom's forward-thinking approach to urban development and digitalization.

He revealed many positive initiatives undertaken by various competent authorities, such as the National Smart C Platform for smart cities, which shows a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to enhancing the level of services in cities.

The platform has advanced systems that ensure the improvement of the urban landscape in various cities of the Kingdom and contribute to building green cities based on data and innovation in artificial intelligence technologies.

- Sustainable practices

Twaijry added that the initiatives seek to have cities free of visual distortions and road congestion, supported by continuous efforts to develop residential areas with smart technology and sustainable practices.

They aim to balance the economic, technological, and human elements.

The Forum brings together more than 80 speakers from 40 countries and reviews the latest progress achieved by countries around the world, including the Kingdom, in terms of progress in smart city construction projects in light of Saudi Arabia's vision and in achieving the goals of the United Nations Sustainable Development 2030.

The event seeks to enrich the future of smart cities in all its aspects and create an attractive social, economic, and tourist environment.

It is the first global Forum for smart cities organized in the Kingdom and aims to form an ambitious vision for the future, using smart solutions and drawing basic rules that support city development plans to achieve sustainable urban development.

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Despite Trump Pause, Overall US Tariff Rate at Highest in a Century

Trucks drive to unload cargo shipping containers as cranes and the Vincent Thomas Bridge stand on the horizon at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California on April 10, 2025. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)
Trucks drive to unload cargo shipping containers as cranes and the Vincent Thomas Bridge stand on the horizon at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California on April 10, 2025. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)
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Despite Trump Pause, Overall US Tariff Rate at Highest in a Century

Trucks drive to unload cargo shipping containers as cranes and the Vincent Thomas Bridge stand on the horizon at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California on April 10, 2025. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)
Trucks drive to unload cargo shipping containers as cranes and the Vincent Thomas Bridge stand on the horizon at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California on April 10, 2025. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)

US President Donald Trump's delay of steeper tariffs may have won brief respite on Wall Street, but analysts say his actions -- which hit China especially hard -- already bring the average US effective tariff rate to its highest in over a century.

Besides imposing sweeping new 10 percent tariffs on goods from most US trading partners, Trump has also unleashed steep duties on imports of steel, aluminum and autos since his White House return.

But on Wednesday, he backed off even higher rates on dozens of economies, including the European Union and Asian manufacturing hub Vietnam, following a sharp sell-off in US government bond markets -- though he doubled down on action against China.

Many goods from the world's second biggest economy now face levies of at least 145 percent -- the total additional figure Trump has imposed this year.

"The newly imposed tariffs now affect $2.4 trillion of US imports, or nearly 75 percent," said Erica York of the Tax Foundation.

"Compared to Trump's first term, this is a massive escalation, as his first tariffs affected about $380 billion of US imports or 15 percent," she told AFP.

'Highest since 1903'

Researchers from the Budget Lab at Yale University estimate that "consumers face an overall average effective tariff rate of 27 percent, the highest since 1903."

"This is only slightly different from where the effective rate was before the late-April 9 announcement," they added.

Even after accounting for consumption shifts, the average tariff rate will be 18.5 percent, the Budget Lab anticipates. This would be the highest since 1933.

Thibault Denamiel, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), estimates that the US tariff rate was 2.4 percent in December 2024 -- a figure which now stands north of 20 percent.

"That's mostly due to the fact that we still have a 125 percent tariff rate on China," he said, referring to the latest duty Trump imposed on Chinese goods.

The 125 percent tariff, which took effect Thursday, coupled with an earlier 20 percent over China's alleged role in the fentanyl supply chain, putting Trump's new tariffs targeting China this year to 145 percent.

Even a much lower tariff would significantly impact the world's biggest economy, Denamiel said, noting that China is the United States' third most important trading partner.

Analysts have also pointed out that Trump's actions marked the biggest tariff increase since the Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930, which deepened the Great Depression.

Shrinking imports

Trump has claimed the United States was "taking in almost $2 billion a day" from tariffs.

He has referred to them as a means to raise government revenue, boost the country's industrial sectors and to pressure other governments on US priorities.

But experts warn that prohibitively high duties on China will likely cause US imports from the country to contract.

With Chinese tariffs reaching punitive levels, even conservative estimates suggest that China's share of imports "should shrink dramatically," said JPMorgan chief US economist Michael Feroli in a recent note.

If this were to happen, York of the Tax Foundation added that imports from China would end up generating "very little tariff revenue."

"Overall, we estimate the tariffs and announced retaliation will shrink US GDP by 1.0 percent," she said.

With Trump's latest actions, Feroli expects "the drag from trade policy is likely to be somewhat less than before, and thus the prospect of a recession is a closer call."

"However, we still think a contraction in real activity later this year is more likely than not," he added.