Fahd Al-Turki: G20 Summit Raises Global Ranking of Saudi Research Centers

Vice President of the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC)Fahd Al-Turki, Asharq Al-Awsat
Vice President of the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC)Fahd Al-Turki, Asharq Al-Awsat
TT

Fahd Al-Turki: G20 Summit Raises Global Ranking of Saudi Research Centers

Vice President of the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC)Fahd Al-Turki, Asharq Al-Awsat
Vice President of the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC)Fahd Al-Turki, Asharq Al-Awsat

Fahd Al-Turki, Vice President of the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC), said that the G20 Riyadh summit 2020 will highlight Saudi Arabia globally, expand partnership networks, and enhance intellectual leadership, along with upgrading the global ranking of Saudi research centers.

A think tank conference bringing together a research and policy advice network for the G20 Saudi Presidency, dubbed Think20 (T20), will be held in Riyadh on Sunday and will discuss about 122 research tracks that represent the priorities of most think tanks and studies conducted.

Speaking to Asharq-Awsat, Turki said recommendations reached at the conference will be submitted to the leaders of the twenty countries next October, a few days before the G20 summit is held in Riyadh.

He also stated that KAPSARC and the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies were chosen to participate in the leadership of the T20, which is one of the communication groups in the G20 formed with the aim of providing information, research papers and supporting the outcomes of the summit to be held in Saudi Arabia this year.

The T20 group, according to Turki, aims to shape and influence the global dialogue through evidence-based research, to include national interests in the global agenda by holding dialogues and discussion sessions between different thought and opinion institutions, and to provide a platform for energy research centers and Saudi thought institutions to share their views and research.

Turki pointed out that Saudi Arabia seeks to achieve a future of economic prosperity, sustainability and inclusion, and therefore focused its goals on climate change and the environment by looking to set up a circular economy with low carbon emissions.

He also said that Saudi Arabia is focused on the empowerment of women and youth for a more inclusive society that observes pluralism, economic development and financial sustainability.



Tesla's China Sales Have Best Month of the Year in August

FILE PHOTO: A staff member attends to customers inside a Tesla Model Y car at a showroom of the US electric vehicle (EV) maker in Beijing, China, Feb. 4, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A staff member attends to customers inside a Tesla Model Y car at a showroom of the US electric vehicle (EV) maker in Beijing, China, Feb. 4, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo
TT

Tesla's China Sales Have Best Month of the Year in August

FILE PHOTO: A staff member attends to customers inside a Tesla Model Y car at a showroom of the US electric vehicle (EV) maker in Beijing, China, Feb. 4, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A staff member attends to customers inside a Tesla Model Y car at a showroom of the US electric vehicle (EV) maker in Beijing, China, Feb. 4, 2023. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo

Tesla's sales in China logged their best month for the year so far in August, with the US electric vehicle maker benefiting from brisk sales in smaller cities.
Tesla said it sold more than 63,000 cars in the world's biggest auto market last month, a hefty 37% jump from July, but probably still down from August last year when it sold 64,694.
While an encouraging improvement, its performance lags major Chinese rivals by a wide margin.
BYD, the world's biggest EV maker, said its China passenger vehicle sales surged 35% in August from a year earlier to a record monthly high of 370,854. Other local EV competitors including Leapmotor and Li Auto also reported higher sales.
Like many other automakers, Tesla has been badly bruised by a protracted price war in China where economic growth has also been sluggish and consumer confidence fragile. Its China sales declined 5% for the first half of the year.
Although Tesla has cut its local sales force as part of a global downsizing, a number of factors have helped recent sales momentum.
Tesla has since April offered zero-interest loans of up to five years for buyers, while several local governments have made its cars eligible for official car purchases in recent weeks.
It also received a key regulatory nod earlier this year, with the country's top auto industry association saying that data collection by Tesla vehicles was compliant with regulations, allowing Tesla cars to enter some government compounds that they used to be banned from.
An analysis by China Merchants Bank International of Tesla's China sales in July showed a 78% year-on-year increase in deliveries in so-called tier-three cities while its sales in second-tier cities such as Hangzhou and Nanjing rose 47%.
Separate data from the China Passenger Car Association for Tesla China-made vehicles which includes exports showed sales grew 3% in August from a year earlier to 86,697 units.
Deliveries of its China-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles rose 17% from July.
Tesla plans to produce a six-seat variant of its Model Y car in China from late 2025, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The move is aimed at increasing the appeal of its best-selling yet aging EV.