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Saudi Industry Minister Strengthens Strategic Partnership with Senior Chinese Officials 

The Saudi and Chinese delegations meet. (SPA)
The Saudi and Chinese delegations meet. (SPA)
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Saudi Industry Minister Strengthens Strategic Partnership with Senior Chinese Officials 

The Saudi and Chinese delegations meet. (SPA)
The Saudi and Chinese delegations meet. (SPA)

Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Alkhorayef held separate meetings in China with Minister of Natural Resources Guan Zhi’ou and Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission Zhou Haibing on expanding the strategic partnership between their countries in the industrial and mining sectors, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Tuesday.

The first meeting addressed developing cooperation in mining, mineral industries, and geological surveying, in addition to opportunities for exchanging expertise and knowledge and developing specialized human capacities in the mining sector.

Talks also covered expansion plans for Chinese investments in Saudi Arabia’s mining sector.

Alkhorayef invited Minister Guan to participate in the fifth annual Future Minerals Forum scheduled to be held in Riyadh in January.

Discussions between Alkhorayef and Vice Chairman Zhou focused on boosting cooperation in the industrial and mining sectors, investment opportunities in the automotive industry, and the transfer of advanced technologies and innovative solutions to the Kingdom, in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.

The meetings were attended by National Industrial Development Center Chief Executive Eng. Saleh Al-Solami, Saudi Ambassador to China Abdulrahman Al-Harbi, ACWA Power board chairman Mohammed Abunayyan, and leaders from the Kingdom’s industry and mining ecosystem.

Alkhorayef also held a series of meetings with leaders of major Chinese companies, including Tsinghua Unigroup, BOE Technology Group, and Kyland Technology, during his official visit to China.

The meetings focused on industrial cooperation and the localization of advanced manufacturing technologies in the Kingdom.

Discussions covered opportunities in developing the industrial digital infrastructure, intelligent industrial control technologies, and the semiconductor industry, in addition to highlighting the Kingdom’s enablers that attract quality industrial investments and facilitate the investor journey.

The officials reviewed the Kingdom’s strategic advantages, including its geographic position connecting three continents, abundant natural resources, competitive energy pricing, advanced infrastructure and industrial cities, and streamlined government procedures.

On the sidelines of the meetings, Alkhorayef witnessed the signing of three memoranda of understanding between the National Industrial Development Center and the Chinese companies: the first with BOE Technology Group in advanced display technologies, the second with Kyland Technology in intelligent industrial control technologies, and the third with Tsinghua Unigroup in the semiconductor industry, with the aim of localizing these advanced industrial technologies in the Kingdom.

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Iran Minister Says Oil Industry to Be Testing Ground for Any Final US-Iran Deal

Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad makes a statement following a signing ceremony attended by Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev in Moscow, Russia, April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Olesya Astakhova
Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad makes a statement following a signing ceremony attended by Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev in Moscow, Russia, April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Olesya Astakhova
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Iran Minister Says Oil Industry to Be Testing Ground for Any Final US-Iran Deal

Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad makes a statement following a signing ceremony attended by Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev in Moscow, Russia, April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Olesya Astakhova
Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad makes a statement following a signing ceremony attended by Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev in Moscow, Russia, April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Olesya Astakhova

Iran's oil industry will be a key testing ground for any final peace agreement with the ‌US ‌if Western parties ‌remain ⁠committed to its ⁠spirit, Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said on Sunday.

The ministry's news ⁠outlet, Shana, ‌quoted Paknejad ‌as saying that ‌in a ‌post-agreement era, Iran's oil sector would offer ‌the global economy major investment opportunities and ⁠has ⁠hundreds of investment projects, as well as technical and operational partnership contracts ready to be signed, according to Reuters.

A new round of negotiations over the Middle East war was set to kick off Sunday, with Iranian negotiators arriving in the Swiss host city hours ahead of US Vice President JD Vance, even as Tehran said it was closing the Strait of Hormuz again over Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

Follow-up talks had been planned in Switzerland on Friday but were postponed at the last minute after Israel launched deadly strikes in Lebanon following the deaths of four of its soldiers in combat.

Hormuz, a key conduit for oil and gas shipments, was blockaded by Iran for much of the war, sending shockwaves through global energy markets.

Business

Riyadh International Industry Week 2026 to Kick Off on Sunday

Riyadh International Industry Week 2026 to Kick Off on Sunday
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Riyadh International Industry Week 2026 to Kick Off on Sunday

Riyadh International Industry Week 2026 to Kick Off on Sunday

Riyadh International Industry Week 2026 will open Sunday at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center (RICEC), under the patronage of the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources.

The event will showcase the development of Saudi Arabia’s industrial capabilities and explore opportunities for international partnerships across several industrial sectors, bringing together more than 337 exhibitors from 17 countries, SPA reported.

It also serves as a key platform for showcasing the latest industrial technologies and products from leading local and international industrial companies. The event brings together three specialized exhibitions under one roof: Saudi Plastics and Petrochem and Saudi Print and Pack, both in their 21st editions, and the 4th edition of Saudi Smart Logistics.

The week, which runs until June 24, is organized through a strategic partnership between Riyadh Exhibitions Company Ltd. and Germany’s Messe Düsseldorf. The partnership marks an important step toward strengthening links between specialized Saudi exhibitions and their global counterparts, connecting the event with three of the leading international trade fairs in plastics, packaging, and printing: K, interpack, and drupa.

Several entities from the industry and mineral resources ecosystem will take part in the exhibition and its accompanying events. The week will feature several panel discussions and specialized workshops with senior officials and local and international experts.

Key topics include industrial transformation, innovation and localization, advanced packaging solutions for the food industry, industrial enablers and their role in promoting investment and strengthening competitiveness, the latest industrial practices in plastics, packaging and printing, and plastic recycling.

Riyadh International Industry Week contributes to strengthening international industrial partnerships and drawing on the experiences of leading countries. It comes as Saudi Arabia’s industrial sector continues to grow and develop under Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to position the Kingdom as a leading regional and global industrial power.

Business

Iraq Projects Oil Production to Return to Pre-war Levels Within Two Months

A handout picture released by Iraq's Prime Minister's Press Office on January 2, 2025, shows a partial view of the oil refinery of Baiji north of Baghdad, during the inauguration ceremony of the fourth and fifth units. (Iraq's Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP)
A handout picture released by Iraq's Prime Minister's Press Office on January 2, 2025, shows a partial view of the oil refinery of Baiji north of Baghdad, during the inauguration ceremony of the fourth and fifth units. (Iraq's Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP)
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Iraq Projects Oil Production to Return to Pre-war Levels Within Two Months

A handout picture released by Iraq's Prime Minister's Press Office on January 2, 2025, shows a partial view of the oil refinery of Baiji north of Baghdad, during the inauguration ceremony of the fourth and fifth units. (Iraq's Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP)
A handout picture released by Iraq's Prime Minister's Press Office on January 2, 2025, shows a partial view of the oil refinery of Baiji north of Baghdad, during the inauguration ceremony of the fourth and fifth units. (Iraq's Prime Minister's Press Office / AFP)

Iraqi authorities predict oil production will return to peacetime levels "within one to two months", state media reported, after the Middle East war caused exports to plummet.

The war and Iran's ensuing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz choked off shipments and prompted production cuts in key oil-producing countries including Iraq, shaking world energy markets.

But a deal agreed this week between Washington and Tehran to end the fighting has offered some relief, despite follow-up negotiations having stalled.

The spokesman for Iraq's oil ministry, Salim Farhoud, told the state-run Iraq News Agency (INA) late Friday that "we can return within one to two months to the previous production levels".

"The fields that reduced their production capacity have currently begun raising this capacity," he said.

Before the war broke out in late February, Iraq exported about 3.5 million barrels per day of oil, the majority of it via the Hormuz Strait.

But the OPEC founding member was forced to halt production in most of its oil fields as reservoirs filled up, limiting its exports to routes via neighbouring Türkiye and Syria.

The vital strait began reopening this week following the signing of the initial agreement between Iran and the United States.

Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Khodeir on Friday told INA that exports "will return gradually based on the smooth flow through the Strait of Hormuz".

In April, Iraqi crude exports via the waterway declined to 10 million barrels from an average of 93 million before the war, according to authorities.

Iraq is highly reliant on crude exports, which normally account for about 90 percent of its revenues.