Saudi Industry Minister Discusses Opportunities to Develop Aviation, Space Industry in the Kingdom

Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef visits the JetZero and SpaceX companies during his visit to the US. (SPA)
Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef visits the JetZero and SpaceX companies during his visit to the US. (SPA)
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Saudi Industry Minister Discusses Opportunities to Develop Aviation, Space Industry in the Kingdom

Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef visits the JetZero and SpaceX companies during his visit to the US. (SPA)
Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef visits the JetZero and SpaceX companies during his visit to the US. (SPA)

Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Alkhorayef visited JetZero, a company specializing in aviation, and SpaceX, the aerospace giant, in California, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Sunday.

He discussed boosting opportunities for cooperation in the aviation and space industries in the Kingdom.

Alkhorayef met with JetZero founder and CTO Mark Page to discuss potential partnerships in the aviation sector, the development of local supply chains for aviation components, and the utilization of Saudi Arabia's mineral resources.

These efforts aim to boost local manufacturing capabilities, particularly in the aviation sector, which is one of the key industries targeted by Saudi Arabia’s National Industrial Strategy.

JetZero, founded in 2018 in Long Beach, California, is a startup in the aviation industry. Its primary mission is to develop aircraft with an innovative "Blended Wing Body" design that aims to achieve high fuel efficiency and significantly reduce emissions.

The company focuses on becoming a leader in sustainable aviation by designing aircraft that consume up to 50% less fuel compared to conventional planes, thereby reducing aviation's carbon footprint.

Alkhorayef also met with SpaceX CFO Brett Johnson to discuss opportunities for developing the space industry and supporting efforts to bolster supply chain development. Discussions also emphasized the services and incentives offered by the Kingdom's industry and mineral resources ecosystem for such partnerships and strategic programs.

Founded by Elon Musk in 2002, SpaceX is a leading US company in the aviation and space sectors. The company's ambitious vision is to enable human exploration of Mars by developing groundbreaking rocket and spacecraft technologies.

The National Industrial Strategy outlines a promising future for the Kingdom's aviation and space sectors, aiming to launch the first Saudi satellite and focusing on the adoption of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and drones. This strategy will strengthen the competitiveness of the national industry and position Saudi Arabia among the world's leading countries in these fields.

Alkhorayef’s visit is part of ongoing efforts to foster industrial and mining cooperation, strengthen ties between Saudi Arabia and the US and attract high-quality investments to the Kingdom.



IMF Chief Sees Steady World Growth in 2025, Continuing Disinflation

 People visit the lantern festival at the Beijing's Wenyuhe Park in Beijing on January 4, 2025, to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year on January 29, marking the beginning of the Year of the Snake. (AFP)
People visit the lantern festival at the Beijing's Wenyuhe Park in Beijing on January 4, 2025, to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year on January 29, marking the beginning of the Year of the Snake. (AFP)
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IMF Chief Sees Steady World Growth in 2025, Continuing Disinflation

 People visit the lantern festival at the Beijing's Wenyuhe Park in Beijing on January 4, 2025, to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year on January 29, marking the beginning of the Year of the Snake. (AFP)
People visit the lantern festival at the Beijing's Wenyuhe Park in Beijing on January 4, 2025, to welcome the upcoming Chinese New Year on January 29, marking the beginning of the Year of the Snake. (AFP)

The International Monetary Fund will forecast steady global growth and continuing disinflation when it releases an updated World Economic Outlook on Jan. 17, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters on Friday.

Georgieva said the US economy was doing "quite a bit better" than expected, although there was high uncertainty around the trade policies of the administration of President-elect Donald Trump that was adding to headwinds facing the global economy and driving long-term interest rates higher.

With inflation moving closer to the US Federal Reserve's target, and data showing a stable labor market, the Fed could afford to wait for more data before undertaking further interest rate cuts, she said. Overall, interest rates were expected to stay "somewhat higher for quite some time," she said.

The IMF will release an update to its global outlook on Jan. 17, just days before Trump takes office. Georgieva's comments are the first indication this year of the IMF's evolving global outlook, but she gave no detailed projections.

In October, the IMF raised its 2024 economic growth forecasts for the US, Brazil and Britain but cut them for China, Japan and the euro zone, citing risks from potential new trade wars, armed conflicts and tight monetary policy.

At the time, it left its forecast for 2024 global growth unchanged at the 3.2% projected in July, and lowered its global forecast for 3.2% growth in 2025 by one-tenth of a percentage point, warning that global medium-term growth would fade to 3.1% in five years, well below its pre-pandemic trend.

"Not surprisingly, given the size and role of the US economy, there is keen interest globally in the policy directions of the incoming administration, in particular on tariffs, taxes, deregulation and government efficiency," Georgieva said.

"This uncertainty is particularly high around the path for trade policy going forward, adding to the headwinds facing the global economy, especially for countries and regions that are more integrated in global supply chains, medium-sized economies, (and) Asia as a region."

Georgieva said it was "very unusual" that this uncertainty was expressed in higher long-term interest rates even though short-term interest rates had gone down, a trend not seen in recent history.

The IMF saw divergent trends in different regions, with growth expected to stall somewhat in the European Union and to weaken "a little" in India, while Brazil was facing somewhat higher inflation, Georgieva said.

In China, the world's second-largest economy after the United States, the IMF was seeing deflationary pressure and ongoing challenges with domestic demand, she said.

Lower-income countries, despite reform efforts, were in a position where any new shocks would hit them "quite negatively," she said.

Georgieva said it was notable that higher interest rates needed to combat inflation had not pushed the global economy into recession, but headline inflation developments were divergent, which meant central bankers needed to carefully monitor local data.

The strong US dollar could potentially result in higher funding costs for emerging market economies and especially low-income countries, she said.

Most countries needed to cut fiscal spending after high outlays during the COVID pandemic and adopt reforms to boost growth in a durable way, she said, adding that in most cases this could be done while protecting their growth prospects.

"Countries cannot borrow their way out. They can only grow out of this problem," she said, noting that the medium-growth prospects for the world were the lowest seen in decades.