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.



GCC GDP Jumps to $2.3 Trillion

GCC countries continued to record GDP growth, supported by economic diversification programs and fiscal reforms (Oman News Agency).
GCC countries continued to record GDP growth, supported by economic diversification programs and fiscal reforms (Oman News Agency).
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GCC GDP Jumps to $2.3 Trillion

GCC countries continued to record GDP growth, supported by economic diversification programs and fiscal reforms (Oman News Agency).
GCC countries continued to record GDP growth, supported by economic diversification programs and fiscal reforms (Oman News Agency).

A statistical report published on Sunday showed that the economies of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries recorded growth in gross domestic product, supported by economic diversification programs and fiscal reforms. Combined GDP reached $2.3 trillion, ranking ninth globally, with a growth rate of 2.2 percent.

The report revealed that GCC countries achieved qualitative advances in 2024 across competitiveness, energy, trade, and digitization, driven by growth in non-oil sectors, improved quality of life, the development of digital infrastructure, and a stronger regional and international presence.

In the “GCC in Numbers” report issued by the Statistical Center for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf, it was emphasized that GCC states continue to record real GDP growth “thanks to economic diversification programs and fiscal reforms, with GDP reaching $2.3 trillion, ranking ninth globally, and posting growth of 2.2 percent.”

The report also showed improvement in global economic indicators, including competitiveness, resilience, and economic dynamism.

GCC countries ranked first globally in oil reserves at 511.9 billion barrels, third worldwide in natural gas production at 442 billion cubic metres, and second globally in natural gas reserves at 44.3 billion cubic metres.

GCC countries ranked 10th globally in total exports valued at $849.6 billion, 11th in imports at $739.0 billion, 10th in total trade at $1.5895 trillion, and sixth worldwide in trade balance surplus at $109.7 billion.


Algeria Tenders to Buy Nominal 50,000 Metric Tons Soft Milling Wheat

Mature spring wheat awaits harvest on a farm near Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada August 20, 2020. REUTERS/Shannon VanRaes/File Photo
Mature spring wheat awaits harvest on a farm near Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada August 20, 2020. REUTERS/Shannon VanRaes/File Photo
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Algeria Tenders to Buy Nominal 50,000 Metric Tons Soft Milling Wheat

Mature spring wheat awaits harvest on a farm near Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada August 20, 2020. REUTERS/Shannon VanRaes/File Photo
Mature spring wheat awaits harvest on a farm near Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada August 20, 2020. REUTERS/Shannon VanRaes/File Photo

Algeria's state grains agency OAIC has issued an international tender to buy soft milling wheat to be sourced from optional origins, European traders said on Sunday.

The tender sought a nominal 50,000 metric tons but Algeria often buys considerably more in its tenders than the nominal volume sought, Reuters reported.

The deadline for submission of price offers in the tender is Tuesday, February 24, with offers having to remain valid until Wednesday, February 25. The wheat is sought for shipment in three periods from the main supply regions including Europe: April 16-30, May 1-15 and May 16-31. If sourced from South America or Australia, shipment is one month earlier.

Algeria is a vital customer for wheat from the European Union, especially France, but Russian and other Black Sea region exporters have been expanding strongly in the Algerian market.


Brazil's Lula Urges Trump to Treat All Countries Equally

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gestures during a press conference in New Delhi, India, February 22, 2026. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gestures during a press conference in New Delhi, India, February 22, 2026. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
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Brazil's Lula Urges Trump to Treat All Countries Equally

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gestures during a press conference in New Delhi, India, February 22, 2026. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gestures during a press conference in New Delhi, India, February 22, 2026. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday urged Donald Trump to treat all countries equally after the US leader imposed a 15 percent tariff on imports following an adverse Supreme Court ruling.

"I want to tell the US President Donald Trump that we don't want a new Cold War. We don't want interference in any other country, we want all countries to be treated equally," Lula told reporters in New Delhi.

The conservative-majority Supreme Court on Friday ruled six to three that a 1977 law Trump has relied on to slap sudden levies on individual countries, upending global trade, "does not authorize the President to impose tariffs".

According to AFP, Lula said he would not like to react to Supreme Court decisions of another country, but hoped that Brazil's relations with the United States "will go back to normalcy" soon.

The veteran leftist Brazilian leader is expected to travel to Washington next month for a meeting with Trump.

"I am convinced that Brazil-US relation will go back to normalcy after our conversation," Lula, 80, said, adding Brazil only wanted to "live in peace, generate jobs, and improve lives of our people".

Ties between Brazil and the United States appear to be on the mend after months of animosity between Washington and Brasilia.

As a result, Trump's administration has exempted key Brazilian exports from 40 percent tariffs that had been imposed on the South American country last year.

"The world doesn't need more turbulence, it needs peace," said Lula who arrived in India on Wednesday to attend a summit on artificial intelligence.

On Saturday, India and Brazil agreed to boost cooperation on critical minerals and rare earths and signed a raft of other deals after a meeting between Lula and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.