Saudi Commerce Minister Leads Delegation to Boost Trade with South Korea

Saudi Commerce Minister Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi arrived in Seoul on Monday, leading a Saudi delegation on a three-day visit to bolster trade ties with South Korea. (SPA)
Saudi Commerce Minister Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi arrived in Seoul on Monday, leading a Saudi delegation on a three-day visit to bolster trade ties with South Korea. (SPA)
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Saudi Commerce Minister Leads Delegation to Boost Trade with South Korea

Saudi Commerce Minister Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi arrived in Seoul on Monday, leading a Saudi delegation on a three-day visit to bolster trade ties with South Korea. (SPA)
Saudi Commerce Minister Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi arrived in Seoul on Monday, leading a Saudi delegation on a three-day visit to bolster trade ties with South Korea. (SPA)

Saudi Commerce Minister Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi arrived in Seoul on Monday, leading a Saudi delegation on a three-day visit to bolster trade ties with South Korea.

The delegation, comprising officials from 10 government agencies and 55 business leaders from major national companies, aims to reinforce economic partnerships and participate in the Saudi-Korean Business Forum.

During a meeting with Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Al-Qasabi highlighted the importance of strengthening commercial ties between the two countries in line with the directives of Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

The discussions centered on the progress in free trade agreement talks between South Korea and the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as the impact of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 reform agenda on potential business opportunities for collaboration.

Saudi Ambassador to South Korea Sami bin Mohammed Al-Sadhan was present at the meeting.

Al-Qasabi also discussed with the Korean Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises and Startups, Oh Young-ju, to explore opportunities for knowledge sharing and talent exchange, drawing on Seoul’s experience in developing small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

He met with Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon to discuss the company's plans to enter the Saudi market and collaborate on expanding e-commerce in the Kingdom.



Gold Set for Weekly Drop; Traders Await US Inflation Data

Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
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Gold Set for Weekly Drop; Traders Await US Inflation Data

Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo

Gold prices rose on Friday, but were set for a weekly decline after the Federal Reserve signalled a slowdown in rate cuts next year, while focus shifted to a key US inflation print due later in the day.
Spot gold was up 0.5% at $2,606.19 per ounce, as of 0821 GMT, but has lost about 1.5% so far this week.
US gold futures was 0.5% higher at $2,620.60, Reuters said.
Gold is consolidating as "investors await Trump to resume office next year and the Fed will also go meeting by meeting, considering the data development and seeing what is part of Trump's trade policy," said Soni Kumari, a commodity strategist at ANZ.
Investors now await the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data, the Fed's preferred inflation measure, for further clues on the US economic outlook.
The Fed cut rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, but the cautious note struck in its economic projections and expected slowdown of rate cuts pushed gold to its lowest level since Nov. 18.
Data showed on Thursday that the US economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter, while jobless claims also slipped more than anticipated, reinforcing expectations that the central bank will take a cautious approach to policy easing.
A slightly more hawkish set of the Fed's regional bank presidents will become voters on its rate-setting panel in 2025, raising the chance that any further rate cuts next year could spur more dissents like the one seen from the head of the Cleveland Fed.
Higher rates dull the appeal of the non-yielding asset.
According to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao, spot gold may retest support at $2,582 per ounce.
Spot silver gained 0.1% to $29.06 per ounce but was headed for its worst week since April.
Platinum dropped 0.2% at $921.50 and palladium rose 0.5% to $910.63. Both the metals were poised for weekly losses.