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.



US Starts Collecting Trump's New 10% Tariff

Cargo containers line a shipping terminal at the Port of Oakland on Friday, April 4, 2025, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Cargo containers line a shipping terminal at the Port of Oakland on Friday, April 4, 2025, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
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US Starts Collecting Trump's New 10% Tariff

Cargo containers line a shipping terminal at the Port of Oakland on Friday, April 4, 2025, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Cargo containers line a shipping terminal at the Port of Oakland on Friday, April 4, 2025, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

US customs agents began collecting President Donald Trump's unilateral 10% tariff on all imports from many countries on Saturday, with higher levies on goods from 57 larger trading partners due to start next week.
The initial 10% "baseline" tariff took effect at US seaports, airports and customs warehouses at 12:01 a.m. ET (0401 GMT), ushering in Trump's full rejection of the post-World War Two system of mutually agreed tariff rates, Reuters reported.
"This is the single biggest trade action of our lifetime," said Kelly Ann Shaw, a trade lawyer at Hogan Lovells and former White House trade adviser during Trump's first term.
Shaw told a Brookings Institution event on Thursday that she expected the tariffs to evolve over time as countries seek to negotiate lower rates. "But this is huge. This is a pretty seismic and significant shift in the way that we trade with every country on earth," she added.
Trump's Wednesday tariff announcement shook global stock markets to their core, wiping out $5 trillion in stock market value for S&P 500 companies by Friday's close, a record two-day decline. Prices for oil and commodities plunged, while investors fled to the safety of government bonds. A US Customs and Border Protection bulletin to shippers indicates no grace period for cargoes on the water at midnight on Saturday.
But a US Customs and Border Protection bulletin did provide a 51-day grace period for cargoes loaded onto vessels or planes and in transit to the US before 12:01 a.m. ET Saturday. These cargoes need arrive to by 12:01 a.m. ET on May 27 to avoid the 10% duty.
At the same hour on Wednesday, Trump's higher "reciprocal" tariff rates of 11% to 50% are due to take effect. European Union imports will be hit with a 20% tariff, while Chinese goods will be hit with a 34% tariff, bringing Trump's total new levies on China to 54%.
Vietnam, which benefited from the shift of US supply chains away from China after Trump's first-term trade war with Beijing, will be hit with a 46% tariff and agreed on Friday to discuss a deal with Trump.
Canada and Mexico were exempt from both Trump's latest duties because they are still subject to a 25% tariff related to the US fentanyl crisis for goods that do not comply with the US-Mexico-Canada rules of origin.
Trump is excluding goods subject to separate, 25% national security tariffs, including steel and aluminum, cars, trucks and auto parts.
His administration also released a list of more than 1,000 product categories exempted from the tariffs. Valued at $645 billion in 2024 imports, these include crude oil, petroleum products and other energy imports, pharmaceuticals, uranium, titanium, lumber and semiconductors and copper. Except for energy, the Trump administration is investigating several of these sectors for further national security tariffs.