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Lumi CEO: Tourism, Business Recovery Contributed to Saudi Car Rental Sector’s Success

Lumi signed an agreement with Saferoad to provide data-driven technical assistance to streamline its fleet services in Saudi Arabia. (Lumi)
Lumi signed an agreement with Saferoad to provide data-driven technical assistance to streamline its fleet services in Saudi Arabia. (Lumi)
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Lumi CEO: Tourism, Business Recovery Contributed to Saudi Car Rental Sector’s Success

Lumi signed an agreement with Saferoad to provide data-driven technical assistance to streamline its fleet services in Saudi Arabia. (Lumi)
Lumi signed an agreement with Saferoad to provide data-driven technical assistance to streamline its fleet services in Saudi Arabia. (Lumi)

Azfar Shakeel, CEO of Lumi Car Rental, highlighted the company’s efforts to revolutionize mobility for individuals and businesses within and outside Saudi Arabia by leveraging digital innovation in land transportation. He emphasized that Lumi’s strategic vision is focused on driving sustainable, long-term growth in the Kingdom’s rapidly evolving transportation sector.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Shakeel outlined key objectives such as digitizing rental processes to enhance efficiency, streamlining used car sales through digital platforms, utilizing data for informed decision-making, and optimizing fleet usage.

The CEO of Lumi explained that the company’s strategy is designed to ensure continuous revenue, regardless of market conditions.

Lumi’s success is built on maintaining and expanding current operations while seizing new opportunities, particularly through corporate and government partnerships and large-scale projects under Saudi Vision 2030, he stated.

“With this in mind, this year we signed an agreement with IoT solutions provider Saferoad to deliver data-driven technical assistance to streamline our fleet services in Saudi Arabia. This partnership is in line with Lumi’s strategy to lead the digitalization of the Kingdom’s land transportation sector. The newly signed agreement will enable Lumi to drive digital innovation in the land transportation sector by providing the latest services to our customers using enhanced technologies in the car rental sector,” he added.

Shakeel added that Lumi is enhancing its short-term rental business through a multi-channel infrastructure, including mobile apps, a website, a call center, and WhatsApp services, all aimed at improving operational efficiency and profitability.

Lumi, which operates 41 branches in 18 Saudi cities, integrates digital services aligned with global best practices. Shakeel emphasized the importance of collaborating with companies that share similar approaches to offer innovative services. He noted that the growth of Saudi Arabia’s economy and tourism sector, fueled by Vision 2030, positions the car rental industry to play a key role in this dynamic environment.

The CEO of Lumi attributed the car rental market’s future growth to the expansion of Saudi tourism and the government’s initiatives to position the country as a global logistics hub.

He revealed that Lumi’s profits reached SAR 160 million ($42.6 million) in 2023, an increase of SAR 17 million ($4.5 million). He credited the company’s focus on its core sectors—corporate and government rentals, daily rentals, and used car sales—as key to its profitability.

Shakeel also highlighted Lumi’s commitment to keeping pace with technological advancements and ensuring a seamless customer experience.

“Our goal is to be the first choice for customers seeking a smooth, digital experience when renting or purchasing used vehicles,” he said.

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Business

Asia Has Limited Options to Diversify from Middle East Energy Reliance

Tankers are seen off the coast of the Fujairah, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 3, 2026. (Reuters)
Tankers are seen off the coast of the Fujairah, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 3, 2026. (Reuters)
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Asia Has Limited Options to Diversify from Middle East Energy Reliance

Tankers are seen off the coast of the Fujairah, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 3, 2026. (Reuters)
Tankers are seen off the coast of the Fujairah, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 3, 2026. (Reuters)

Asian energy buyers are scrambling to find alternatives as the Iran war creates unprecedented supply disruption, but the region has limited longer-term options to reduce its heavy reliance on Middle Eastern oil.

The world's top crude importing region buys 60% of its oil and petrochemical feedstock from the Middle East, where the war that started with Israeli and US attacks on Iran nearly a week ago has pushed up global energy prices and threatens to drive inflation and hurt economic growth.

Unable to receive Middle Eastern crude, refiners from China to Southeast Asia are looking for expensive alternatives that will take weeks or months to arrive, while some are cutting output.

This week, China and Thailand suspended exports of oil products while Vietnam halted crude exports, which typically go to Australia.

However, alternative sources have drawbacks including distance, refinery configurations, long-term contracts and cost.

For example, oil shipped from West Africa and the Americas takes 1-1/2 to 2 months to reach China, meaning orders need to be placed three months in ‌advance.

By comparison, it ‌takes roughly 25 days for oil to reach China via the Strait of Hormuz.

Also, switching ‌crude ⁠grades changes product ⁠yields at refineries, which must adjust their operations.

"If you put a new crude into the refinery, you have to change the cutoff points (boundaries separating crude into different products). You have to change gasoline blending. There's a lot of things you need to change. It's hard work," said Adi Imsirovic, director of consultancy Surrey Clean Energy.

"This is why diversification has been so poor in a lot of countries," he said. Energy Aspects analyst Richard Jones said some governments may seek diversification at the margins, but many Asian refiners are tied to Middle East term contracts.

"Simply put, even replacing a modest share of the roughly 16 million barrels a day of Middle Eastern crude that ⁠arrives to Asia with Atlantic basin supply is not feasible," he said.

BIG ASIAN BUYERS

In Japan, ‌which has sourced 95% of its oil from the Middle East since halting ‌nearly all Russian oil imports after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, refiners run ageing plants optimized for Middle Eastern crude.

With gasoline demand declining, refiners have ‌been wary of investing in upgrades needed to take on new sources such as Canada's heavy TMX.

Muyu Xu, senior analyst ‌at Kpler, said Japanese refiners could seek to blend lighter WTI or West African crude with heavier grades from the Americas to approximate the characteristics of Middle Eastern medium-sour.

"The caveat, however, is the logistical complexity and refinery operational risks," she said.

For the nearer term, Japan can tap a stockpile of roughly 250 days.

Top importer China has smaller reserves - roughly 78 days' worth - but a more diverse supplier profile, sourcing roughly ‌half of its oil from the Middle East including Iran, where it has been the top buyer.

China also buys from Russia despite western sanctions, as well as from mainstream producers. India, ⁠with just 25 days of ⁠reserves and reliance on the nearby Middle East for 55% of its oil, is scrambling to find alternatives, with Washington this week giving it a one-month reprieve to buy Russian oil after US President Donald Trump pressured it with punitive tariffs to curb its purchases from Moscow.

'GET SOME SOLAR PANELS'

The market for liquefied natural gas is much smaller and tighter. No.2 producer Qatar's move to halt production due to the war has had a swift impact, with India rationing gas to industrial customers.

Michal Meidan, head of China energy research at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, said the situation could lead to fuel switching and demand destruction.

"Long term, South Asian countries could look to limit the share of gas in their energy mix and follow China's model of reliance on coal and renewables," she said.

Tim Zhang, founder of Singapore-based Edge Research, said Asia could increase the share of non-fossil fuel such as renewables and nuclear in its energy mix or diversify its conventional fuel supply.

Surrey's Imsirovic said a prolonged disruption could prompt governments to reconsider their reliance on Middle East energy entirely.

"It's going to be like the Asian Currency Crisis or something. Definitely, people will seriously have to rethink," he said.

"In sunny Asia, get some solar panels and buy an EV. End of story."

Business

Fitch: Saudi Banks Well-Buffered Against Regional Tensions

The King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh. (SPA)
The King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh. (SPA)
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Fitch: Saudi Banks Well-Buffered Against Regional Tensions

The King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh. (SPA)
The King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh. (SPA)

Rating agency Fitch affirmed that Saudi banks have solid capital and liquidity buffers, making them less vulnerable to the impact of the recent regional conflict that has followed attacks launched by Israel and the US on Iran on February 28.

“The effect (of the regional conflict) on Saudi banks’ credit profiles is not likely to be significant, given their solid capital and liquidity buffers,” the rating agency said in a report published on Tuesday.

“The conflict could make it more challenging for GCC-based entities to issue debt in overseas capital markets,” it said, adding that this could particularly increase Saudi banks’ reliance on more expensive domestic markets, raising funding costs or leading to a slightly sharper slowing of loan growth than we had previously expected.

Fitch also said Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) banking systems face few immediate credit risks from the regional conflict and that bank ratings in the GCC are mostly driven by our expectations of sovereign support.

“GCC sovereign ratings generally have sufficient headroom to withstand a short regional conflict that does not escalate significantly further, including in most cases substantial assets that provide a buffer against short-term hydrocarbon revenue disruption,” the rating agency noted.

However, Fitch warned that lasting damage to key energy infrastructure or protracted hostilities could pose risks to these ratings.

“The longer-term orientation and stability of Iran’s government, and the associated implications for regional security, are unclear and could have negative or positive sovereign rating implications,” it said.

Geopolitical risk has long been an important credit consideration for GCC issuers, including banks, although the regional breadth and scale of the ongoing attacks is unprecedented, the rating agency added.

Fitch also said it believes a key area to watch will be the strength of operating conditions, particularly non-oil growth and general confidence in the region, as these are important for banks’ credit profiles.

Business

Lagarde: ECB Has No Pre-set Response to Mideast Tensions

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde delivers the 2026 Annual Global Risk Lecture in honor of Robert Mundell, at Johns Hopkins University, in Bologna, Italy, March 5, 2026. REUTERS/Michele Lapini
European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde delivers the 2026 Annual Global Risk Lecture in honor of Robert Mundell, at Johns Hopkins University, in Bologna, Italy, March 5, 2026. REUTERS/Michele Lapini
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Lagarde: ECB Has No Pre-set Response to Mideast Tensions

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde delivers the 2026 Annual Global Risk Lecture in honor of Robert Mundell, at Johns Hopkins University, in Bologna, Italy, March 5, 2026. REUTERS/Michele Lapini
European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde delivers the 2026 Annual Global Risk Lecture in honor of Robert Mundell, at Johns Hopkins University, in Bologna, Italy, March 5, 2026. REUTERS/Michele Lapini

The European Central Bank has no pre-set stance as regards to geopolitical tensions from the conflict in the Middle East and will decide monetary policy on a "meeting-by-meeting" basis, President Christine Lagarde said on Thursday.

The ECB will take its decisions "in view of all the ⁠data that we can ⁠harness, and that we can analyze, and that we can scrutinize with sufficient confidence," Lagarde said in a Q&A session at the Johns Hopkins ⁠University in Bologna, Italy.

There is no "preset pace for our monetary policy stance. And I think that if you bring these two elements together, it places the ECB and the euro system in a good position to monitor very carefully and to try to understand ⁠what ⁠the consequences of the current shocks will be in the future," she added.

The US-Israeli war on Iran, which has spread to other countries in the Gulf, is threatening to drive up inflation and hit sluggish euro zone growth by making energy more expensive and disrupting supply chains.