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Amazon: Saudi Arabia, UAE Have Fastest Growing E-Commerce

Ronaldo Mouchawar, Vice President of Amazon for the Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye
Ronaldo Mouchawar, Vice President of Amazon for the Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye
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Amazon: Saudi Arabia, UAE Have Fastest Growing E-Commerce

Ronaldo Mouchawar, Vice President of Amazon for the Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye
Ronaldo Mouchawar, Vice President of Amazon for the Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye

Ronaldo Mouchawar, Vice President of Amazon for the Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye, noted that e-commerce in the region is evolving rapidly, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE as the fastest-growing markets, where the number of online shoppers has doubled over the past two years.

Speaking with Asharq Al-Awsat during Amazon’s participation in the eighth annual Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh, Mouchawar highlighted significant growth in regional e-commerce, which is projected to reach a market value of $260 billion by 2029, driven by accelerating digital transformation, according to Mordor Intelligence.

He explained that about 70% of the region’s population is under the age of 40, boosting the adoption of digital technologies. The region also has one of the world’s highest smartphone penetration rates, with internet access at 99%.

Features like “Buy Now, Pay Later” and digital wallets are making online shopping more convenient. Generative AI is particularly enhancing customer experience and driving business growth, with PwC forecasting that AI will contribute $320 billion to the Middle East economy by 2030, equating to around 11% of the region’s GDP.

Mouchawar emphasized that fintech is driving major shifts in digital commerce by enabling flexible, easy-to-use payment options that enhance customer convenience. He added that governments in the Middle East and North Africa are supporting digital growth with large-scale investments.

He also discussed initiatives like Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which is accelerating the adoption of smart technology and supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to increase their contribution to GDP to 35% by the decade’s end.

Mouchawar shared Amazon’s collaboration with Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monsha’at) to empower 40,000 SMEs by 2025. Last year, Amazon launched the Amazon Academy in Saudi Arabia, aligning with Vision 2030’s Human Capability Development Program.

He noted that around 43% of all startup funding in the region comes from Saudi Arabia, reflecting the promising opportunities for startups and tech entrepreneurs. By the end of 2023, the number of SMEs in Saudi Arabia surpassed 1.3 million, marking a 200% increase since the launch of Vision 2030. In 2022, Amazon partnered with Monsha’at to host 40,000 SMEs on its platform by 2025.

According to Mouchawar, Saudi Arabia is continuously investing in strengthening its digital infrastructure and embracing technologies like AI and big data analytics, which are improving customer experience, enhancing supply chains, and advancing logistics infrastructure. Additionally, the government announced plans this year for a $40 billion investment fund to support AI development.

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Business

HUMAIN, Mistral Collaborate to Advance Sovereign AI in Saudi Arabia and Regionally

Guests at the booth of Saudi AI company HUMAIN during the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh (Company photo)
Guests at the booth of Saudi AI company HUMAIN during the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh (Company photo)
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HUMAIN, Mistral Collaborate to Advance Sovereign AI in Saudi Arabia and Regionally

Guests at the booth of Saudi AI company HUMAIN during the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh (Company photo)
Guests at the booth of Saudi AI company HUMAIN during the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh (Company photo)

Saudi Arabia’s HUMAIN and French Artificial Intelligence company Mistral have announced a strategic collaboration spanning AI infrastructure, advanced model development, and the deployment of AI solutions in Saudi Arabia and across the region.

“Together, the companies will pursue the development and localization of advanced AI models, with initial areas of focus including cybersecurity and voice,” HUMAIN said in a statement on Monday.

“The companies also plan to develop frontier models that perform strongly in Arabic language to help support the broader region. This represents a collaboration in the hundreds of millions of Euros.”

“As part of the collaboration, Mistral will explore using HUMAIN's data center infrastructure to support growing local compute needs,” said the statement.

It added that the two companies also plan to develop a joint go-to-market strategy in the Kingdom focused on bringing advanced AI solutions to regulated industries.

CEO of HUMAIN Tareq Amin said on X that “the collaboration spans AI infrastructure, advanced model development and AI solutions, including plans to develop and localize frontier models with strong Arabic-language capabilities.”

According to the HUMAIN statement, “the collaboration is designed to meet growing demand for sovereign AI: AI that keeps data, intelligence, compute, and operations under the customer's control.”

“That means data can remain within customer-defined boundaries, models can be adapted and owned on open weights, training and inference can run on infrastructure and in jurisdictions the customer chooses, and AI systems can be deployed, governed, observed, and improved over time without ceding control of the learning loop to an external platform.”

The statement stressed its importance in financial services, manufacturing, telecommunications, cybersecurity, and the public sector.

Business

Oil Steadies as Investors Weigh Impact of Latest US Sanctions on Iran

Tankers anchor near Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA's Jose terminal while waiting to load and discharge, in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela August 9, 2026. (Reuters)
Tankers anchor near Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA's Jose terminal while waiting to load and discharge, in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela August 9, 2026. (Reuters)
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Oil Steadies as Investors Weigh Impact of Latest US Sanctions on Iran

Tankers anchor near Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA's Jose terminal while waiting to load and discharge, in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela August 9, 2026. (Reuters)
Tankers anchor near Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA's Jose terminal while waiting to load and discharge, in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela August 9, 2026. (Reuters)

Oil prices recovered ground on Tuesday after settling down more than 2% in the previous session, with investors assessing the impact of the latest US sanctions against Iran.

Brent crude futures rose 27 cents, or 0.3%, to $92.44 a barrel by 0330 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 37 cents, or 0.4%, at $85.38.

Both contracts settled lower on Monday, with US crude oil falling to a one-week low on profit taking after prices rallied over the previous two weeks.

"The market seems largely unfazed by Washington's push for tighter economic pressure ‌on Iran, with ‌traders treating the US effort to nudge partners away from Iranian ‌trade ⁠as marginal rather than ⁠market moving," said ING commodity strategists in a note on Tuesday.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday unveiled an expansion of sanctions to cut off Iran's economic lifeline, to force an end to the war between them, telling countries they would need to sever their business ties or risk being cut out of the dollar-based financial system.

However, he declined to identify the countries that would be targeted or reveal when those penalties would take effect, saying ⁠he would instead provide them time to comply with ‌the new directive.

While US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said ‌on Monday the US would not rule out using military force against Iran, the country is turning ‌towards more economic coercion, which analysts said removed concerns about threats to Middle ‌Eastern oil supply because of the war.

"Markets appear to be pricing economic pressure as a lower-risk path for physical supply than kinetic action, which is why the initial reaction was for oil to move lower rather than spike higher," said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM.

However, he warned, "Iran still ‌retains the ability to respond by disrupting shipping, which continues to keep a residual premium in the oil price."

Iran is still maintaining it should have control over the key Strait of Hormuz, which before the war started in February typically carried cargoes equal to about 20% of global oil use. On Monday, it named 45 tankers that had broken its rules on crossing the strait and threatened action against them, including confiscating their cargoes.

The supply disruptions as a result of the US-Israeli war on Iran that started on February 28 have caused countries to draw down their commercial and strategic reserves.

On Monday, the Department of Energy reported stocks of crude oil in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by about 3.7 million barrels to 289.7 million barrels last week, the lowest since November 1982.

Business

Gold Steadies after Hitting over 3-month Peak, US Inflation Data Looms

A saleswoman adjusts gold jewelry displayed for sale in a shop in Lianyungang City, eastern Jiangsu Province, China (AFP)
A saleswoman adjusts gold jewelry displayed for sale in a shop in Lianyungang City, eastern Jiangsu Province, China (AFP)
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Gold Steadies after Hitting over 3-month Peak, US Inflation Data Looms

A saleswoman adjusts gold jewelry displayed for sale in a shop in Lianyungang City, eastern Jiangsu Province, China (AFP)
A saleswoman adjusts gold jewelry displayed for sale in a shop in Lianyungang City, eastern Jiangsu Province, China (AFP)

Gold held steady after hitting its highest in more than three months on Tuesday, as investor focus shifted to upcoming US inflation data and a speech later this week by Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh.

Spot gold steadied at $4,645.67 per ounce by 0651 GMT, after scaling its highest since May 14 earlier. US gold futures rose 0.1% to $4,702.00.

"Looking ahead, we expect dips in gold to be well-supported from ⁠buyers looking for ⁠gold to make its way towards the next upside resistance at $4,900/$5,000," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.

Prices rose sharply last week after the US Treasury Department said it would double the size of liquidity support buyback operations for longer-dated notes and bonds. The announcement spurred currency debasement fears.

"These US ⁠dollar debasement fears should see gold be well-supported in the coming weeks, as the Fed has not been sending a clear signal it is ready to fight higher inflation," TD Securities said in a note.

"However, it's too early for the metal to surge to our $5,350/oz target, given the risk rates on the short term may eventually rise as crude grinds higher."

While gold is widely regarded as an inflation hedge, elevated rates can curb its appeal as it is a ⁠non-yielding asset.

Fed Chairman ⁠Warsh's debut speech at the annual Jackson Hole conference this week has taken on added weight as traders and analysts look for guidance about the recent jump in bond yields and for reassurance of his independence from the Trump administration.

The US Personal Consumption Expenditures report, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, is due on Wednesday.

On the geopolitical front, Iran promised to retaliate against expanded US economic sanctions that Washington said would cut off Tehran's economic lifeline.

Among other metals, spot silver fell 0.7% to $68.43 per ounce, platinum lost 1.1% to $1,854.67 and palladium slipped 1.4% to $1,338.15.