عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

$8 Billion in Saudi E-commerce Market

CITC
CITC
TT
TT

$8 Billion in Saudi E-commerce Market

CITC
CITC

Saudi Arabia's Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) estimated the volume of e-commerce transactions between consumers and companies at 30 billion riyals ($8 billion), which reflects an increase in the Kingdom's e-commerce, which is now one of the largest e-commerce markets in the Middle East and North Africa.

According to the e-commerce market report issued by CITC, the average online spending of the Saudi shopper in 2016 was 4 thousand riyals (1.06 thousand dollars). The report pointed out that 42% online shoppers last year purchased through social networking sites and applications.

The reported stated that services accounted for two-thirds of total e-commerce spending in the Kingdom, with those related to travel taking the largest share of the service categories.

Saudi e-commerce market is undergoing a major growth boom, the report added, noting that the development of the Saudi e-commerce sector is linked to the implementation of a number of initiatives and strategies that will contribute to the diversification of the economy, supporting GDP, creating jobs, attracting investments, supporting entrepreneurship and innovation, and strengthening local industry.

The report emphasized that attaining the maximum benefits of the emerging e-commerce system in Saudi Arabia is also linked to supporting consumers' awareness and their trust in e-commerce, logistics and payment systems and telecommunications infrastructure.

CITC recently announced the number of mobile subscriptions in the country has reached 43.6 million, according to the latest statistics.

It also reported that the number of internet users in Saudi Arabia reached 24 million users.

Most Viewed

 
 
Business

US Mulls Plan to Disrupt Iran's Oil by Halting Vessels at Sea

The Liberian-flagged oil tanker Ice Energy transfers crude oil from the Iranian-flagged oil tanker Lana (former Pegas), off the shore of Karystos, on the Island of Evia, Greece, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo
The Liberian-flagged oil tanker Ice Energy transfers crude oil from the Iranian-flagged oil tanker Lana (former Pegas), off the shore of Karystos, on the Island of Evia, Greece, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo
TT
TT

US Mulls Plan to Disrupt Iran's Oil by Halting Vessels at Sea

The Liberian-flagged oil tanker Ice Energy transfers crude oil from the Iranian-flagged oil tanker Lana (former Pegas), off the shore of Karystos, on the Island of Evia, Greece, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo
The Liberian-flagged oil tanker Ice Energy transfers crude oil from the Iranian-flagged oil tanker Lana (former Pegas), off the shore of Karystos, on the Island of Evia, Greece, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo

US President Donald Trump's administration is considering a plan to stop and inspect Iranian oil tankers at sea under an international accord aimed at countering the spread of weapons of mass destruction, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Trump has vowed to restore a "maximum pressure" campaign to isolate Iran from the global economy and drive its oil exports to zero, in order to stop the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Trump hit Iran with two waves of fresh sanctions in the first weeks of his second-term, targeting companies and the so-called shadow fleet of ageing oil tankers that sail without Western insurance and transport crude from sanctioned countries.

Those moves have largely been in line with the limited measures implemented during former President Joe Biden's administration, during which Iran succeeded in ramping up oil exports through complex smuggling networks.

Trump officials are now looking at ways for allied countries to stop and inspect ships sailing through critical chokepoints such as the Malacca Strait in Asia and other sea lanes, according to six sources who asked not to be named due to the sensitive subject.

That would delay delivery of crude to refiners. It could also expose parties involved in facilitating the trade to reputational damage and sanctions, the sources said.

"You don’t have to sink ships or arrest people to have that chilling effect that this is just not worth the risk," one of the sources said.

"The delay in delivery ... instills uncertainty in that illicit trade network."

The administration was examining whether inspections at sea could be conducted under the auspices of the Proliferation Security Initiative launched in 2003, which aims to prevent the trafficking of weapons of mass destruction.

The US drove that initiative, which has been signed by over 100 governments.

This mechanism could enable foreign governments to target Iran's oil shipments at Washington's request, one of the sources said, effectively delaying deliveries and hitting supply chains Tehran relies upon for revenue.

The National Security Council, which formulates policy in the White House, was looking into possible inspections at sea, two of the sources said.

It was unclear if Washington had yet approached any signatories to the Proliferation Security Initiative to test their willingness to cooperate with the proposal.

John Bolton, who was the US lead negotiator for the initiative when it was formed, told Reuters: "it would be fully justified" to use the initiative to slow down Iran oil exports. He noted that selling oil was "obviously critical to raise revenue for the government of Iran to conduct both its proliferation activities and support for terrorism."

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Iran's parliament on March 2 that Trump "has once again signed an order sanctioning many of our ships at sea, leaving them uncertain about how to unload their oil and gas cargo". He was referring to Trump's latest round of sanctions.