Saudi Arabia Plans Promotion Campaign in Kuwait

The Saudi Export Development Authority’s pavilion at an exhibition (Export Development Authority website)
The Saudi Export Development Authority’s pavilion at an exhibition (Export Development Authority website)
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Saudi Arabia Plans Promotion Campaign in Kuwait

The Saudi Export Development Authority’s pavilion at an exhibition (Export Development Authority website)
The Saudi Export Development Authority’s pavilion at an exhibition (Export Development Authority website)

The Saudi Export Development Authority is scheduled to begin a promotion campaign in Kuwait from September 29 until October 1 as part of a broader strategy to enhance national service export opportunities through targeted market access tours.
According to the Authority, the tour will feature a series of visits for leading national companies across various sectors, including logistics services, communications and information technology, consulting, and medical services.
These companies will showcase their offerings to both government and private entities in Kuwait, fostering increased trade between the two nations.
The tour is also expected to bolster the presence of Saudi non-oil products and services in the Kuwaiti market, where Saudi exports exceeded 3.7 billion Saudi rial ($986.36 million) in the first half of 2024.
Saudi Exports spokesman Thamer Al-Meshrafi said that through the tour in the Kuwaiti market, the Authority aims to establish links between the Saudi exporters and the Kuwaiti importers and facilitate mechanisms of the non-oil exports to Kuwait.
Al-Meshrafi added that the overall Saudi service experts in 2023 hit 182 billion riyals ($479 million), rising by 40% as compared to the previous year.
Several prominent national companies from the services sector will participate in the tour alongside representatives from four government agencies: the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority; the Digital Government Authority; the Transport General Authority; and the Saudi Contractors Authority.

 



Gold Eyes Best Quarter in over Eight Years

A participant shows gold bars during the 21st edition of the international gold and jewelry exhibition at the Kuwait International Fairgrounds in Kuwait City on May 23, 2024. (Photo by Yasser AL ZAYYAT / AFP)
A participant shows gold bars during the 21st edition of the international gold and jewelry exhibition at the Kuwait International Fairgrounds in Kuwait City on May 23, 2024. (Photo by Yasser AL ZAYYAT / AFP)
TT

Gold Eyes Best Quarter in over Eight Years

A participant shows gold bars during the 21st edition of the international gold and jewelry exhibition at the Kuwait International Fairgrounds in Kuwait City on May 23, 2024. (Photo by Yasser AL ZAYYAT / AFP)
A participant shows gold bars during the 21st edition of the international gold and jewelry exhibition at the Kuwait International Fairgrounds in Kuwait City on May 23, 2024. (Photo by Yasser AL ZAYYAT / AFP)

Gold halted its record run on Friday but remained on track for its best quarter since 2016 after a rally catalysed by an outsized US Federal Reserve interest rate cut, while markets braced themselves for a crucial inflation report due later in the day.

Spot gold was down 0.1% at $2,666.50 per ounce as of 1115 GMT, below the all-time peak of $2,685.42 hit in the previous session. It is heading for its best quarter since the first three months of 2016.

US gold futures fell 0.2% to $2,688.90, Reuters reported.

"The market at this point in time has priced in all the good news and there's also some hesitancy from fresh buyers to get involved at these record high levels," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

Bullion has risen 29% so far this year, hitting successive record peaks after last week's half-percentage-point cut by the Federal Reserve and the stimulus measures announced by China earlier this week.

Silver prices surged, tracking bullion's strong performance, though some analysts warn that the rally may fade.

"Overall, industrial demand is still supportive for silver. But we need to have a stronger economic performance in China as well as in other developed countries," said ANZ commodity strategist Soni Kumari.

The surge in silver prices is more a spillover impact from gold, Kumari said.

Spot silver eased 0.1% to $31.98 per ounce, after hitting its highest since December 2012 at $32.71 on Thursday. It is set for a third straight week of gains.

"I do believe silver will continue to outperform gold. But as we all know, wherever gold goes, silver tends to go, but faster," Hansen added.

Both gold and silver serve as safe-haven investments, but the latter has more industrial applications, so tends to underperform during recessions and outperform when economies expand.

Inflows into gold exchange-traded funds, particularly from Western investors, are set to rise in coming months, adding yet more positive stimulus for already record high bullion prices. Some banks expect gold to rise towards $3,000.

In other metals, platinum was up 0.5% at $1,012.40 but palladium fell nearly 1.5% to $1,031.75.