Saudi Arabia Partners with Local, Global Firms to Market Investments

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Partners with Local, Global Firms to Market Investments

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi government has granted the new Investment Marketing Authority the authorization to enlist experts and specialists from both local and global companies and institutions.

This move aims to provide professional tools and products, leveraging their expertise in their respective fields. Additionally, it seeks to foster partnerships that align with development goals between local and foreign investors.

Last week, the Cabinet approved the regulation of the Saudi Investment Marketing Authority.

This decision is part of efforts to position the Kingdom as a world-class investment hub in line with the goals of Vision 2030, which seeks to diversify the economy, enhance its international competitiveness, and build a prosperous and sustainable economy in alignment with the National Investment Strategy’s plans and objectives.

According to sources, the Board of Directors of the Saudi Investment Marketing Authority will exercise its role in determining financial charges in coordination with the Ministry of Finance and the Non-Oil Revenue Development Center.

This will remain in effect until the issuance of governance regulations for imposing such fees for services and activities offered by entities authorized by law to levy them.

The authority will prepare general policies related to its activities, develop a strategy for investment marketing, and devise the necessary plans and programs for implementation. It will also raise issues requiring further procedural actions.

The authority will begin work on marketing investment opportunities both within the Kingdom and internationally, highlighting the advantages, opportunities, and incentives of local investments. The authority is empowered to delegate tasks related to investment marketing to the relevant entities.

Additionally, the authority will manage a unified national identity for investment marketing and attraction to Saudi Arabia, in coordination with the Ministry of Investment and other relevant bodies. This will ensure consistent messaging, marketing, and media efforts, and propose amendments to relevant regulations within its mandate, submitting them for legal processing.

Among its duties, the new authority will propose amendments to related regulations, support investment marketing activities carried out by ministries, relevant entities, and the private sector, and develop and implement media plans both domestically and internationally.

Minister of Investment Eng. Khalid Al-Falih said that the authority will contribute to stimulating foreign direct investment flows. He said it will work as an important tributary enhancing the national efforts made to support the investment environment.

“The authority will undertake the task of marketing investment opportunities inside and outside the Kingdom and in various sectors, in cooperation and partnership with all the leading entities in these sectors. The authority will adopt the latest technologies and strategies in the field of investment marketing,” he said.

Al-Falih stressed that the authority will contribute to stimulating foreign direct investment flows, as well as to enhance national investments, and support national investors.

“This will support economic growth, provide quality job opportunities, and enhance innovation and knowledge transfer, which will positively reflect on the sustainability of development in the Kingdom and the competitiveness of its economy,” he said.



Dollar Rises ahead of Fed; Turkish Lira Drop Reins in G10 Currencies

Banknotes of Japanese yen are seen in this illustration picture taken September 22, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo
Banknotes of Japanese yen are seen in this illustration picture taken September 22, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo
TT

Dollar Rises ahead of Fed; Turkish Lira Drop Reins in G10 Currencies

Banknotes of Japanese yen are seen in this illustration picture taken September 22, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo
Banknotes of Japanese yen are seen in this illustration picture taken September 22, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo

The dollar rallied on Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates, but retreated from the day's highs after markets stabilized from an early shock caused by the detention

of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's main rival.

Traders are also digesting the Bank of Japan's earlier decision to hold interest rates steady, while the Fed's policy decision later will be crucial for investors eager to know what the central bank makes of Trump's policies and their impact on the US economy, and how that affects the rate outlook.

Fed policymakers are widely expected to keep rates on hold, and will also release new economic projections at the conclusion of the meeting later in the day, Reuters reported.

Feeding into an earlier rally in the dollar was news out of Turkey which saw the lira briefly tumble by the most in a day on record, rippling through major currencies as investors shifted into safe-haven assets.

By 1226 GMT, the euro was down 0.3% versus the dollar to $1.091, having fallen as much as 0.6% earlier. Even so, it remains near a five-month high of $1.0955 scaled in the previous session.

"The news from Turkey is having an impact on G10 currency markets and risk appetite in general," said Jane Foley, head of FX strategy at Rabobank.

"But I would think some of the initial impact of what's happened will begin to filter out from some of the euro trade once the market has become a bit more accustomed to it."

The yen weakened against the dollar, which rose 0.3% to 149.805 in volatile trade as investors mulled the BOJ decision to hold rates steady and comments from Governor Kazuo Ueda .

The widely expected BOJ decision underscored policymakers' preference to spend more time gauging how mounting global economic risks from higher US tariffs could affect Japan's fragile recovery.

"The decision to leave monetary policy unchanged itself is not a surprise, so its impact on exchange rates is limited. However, the earlier-than-usual timing of the announcement seems to have led financial markets to initially interpret that the BOJ (did not consider) bringing forward a rate hike," said Hirofumi Suzuki, chief FX strategist at SMBC.

Adding to nervousness among investors, Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza overnight, while US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to reach an agreement on a Ukraine ceasefire.

The more risk-sensitive currencies edged lower, with sterling down 0.2% at $1.29795, not far from the previous session's four-month high of $1.3010, while the Australian and New Zealand dollars fell 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively.

Against a basket of currencies, the dollar ticked up 0.2% to 103.55, coming off a five-month low of 103.19 on Tuesday.

The dollar has fallen nearly 4% for the month, pressured by Trump's erratic approach to tariffs and as fears mount of a recession in the world's largest economy.

Traders are currently pricing in nearly 60 basis points of Fed rate cuts by the year end.

"The March FOMC meeting will likely be all about policy uncertainty. The Fed will almost certainly stay on hold, emphasising patience over panic," said analysts at Bank of America Securities.

"The (Summary of Economic Projections) forecasts and distribution of risks are both likely to reflect stagflation: weaker growth and higher inflation."