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Saudi Arabia Allocates $4Bn for Tourism Development

People are seen at the Janadriyah Cultural Festival on the outskirts of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters file photo)
People are seen at the Janadriyah Cultural Festival on the outskirts of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters file photo)
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Saudi Arabia Allocates $4Bn for Tourism Development

People are seen at the Janadriyah Cultural Festival on the outskirts of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters file photo)
People are seen at the Janadriyah Cultural Festival on the outskirts of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters file photo)

Saudi Arabia announced plans to launch a tourism development fund with an initial $4 billion investment, as part of its plans to diversify its economic resources.

The Ministry of Tourism issued a statement saying the fund will launch equity and debt investment vehicles to develop the tourism sector in collaboration with private and investment banks.

Tourism Minister Ahmed al-Khateeb said that the fund is a testament to investor and private sector confidence in the long-term outlook for tourism in Saudi Arabia, especially since it comes at a time as tourism faces unprecedented global challenges in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saudi Arabia considers tourism as one of the main pillars of the economic reforms aimed at reducing the Kingdom’s dependence on oil revenue.

Last year, Saudi Arabia opened up to international tourists, launching a new visa system that appeals to foreign companies to invest in the sector. It hopes that this will contribute more than 10 percent of gross domestic product (gdp) by 2030, up from the current 3 percent.

Experts predict a severe economic contraction in Saudi Arabia this year, hit by the economic impact of measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic and by a sharp drop in oil revenues.

They believe that the fund, which was approved by the Shura Council last week, will contribute to providing government funding to investors and help complete development projects in this sector

It will also help in establishing important tourism sectors that will achieve remunerative revenues in addition to achieving tourism development, economic and service goals.

Economist Saleh al-Humaidan said the sector will depend on domestic tourism in the next stage, along with the local industry.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that domestic tourism will be a strong economic addition and will become a modern economic tributary capable of contributing to the consolidation of the policy of diversifying economic resources.

The tourism development fund will establish infrastructure for a broad future for domestic tourism, especially as there are large-scale domestic tourism investments, according to Humaidan.

He pointed out that the fund will certainly enhance the development of tourism and will be an important element in managing the retail sector, localizing national employment and creating job opportunities for Saudi youth.

Humaidan noted that domestic tourism along with religious, heritage and medical tourism have seen noticeable progress, adding that a lot can be achieved now that the Tourism Authority has been transformed into to the Ministry of Tourism.

The tourism development fund will be the major supporter to generate domestic tourism that attracts both foreign and local investment, he added.

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Business

Iraq’s Oil Minister Says Talks Ongoing with Chevron on West Qurna 2 Oilfield

A Chevron logo at the Chevron building in Houston, Texas, US August 19, 2025. (Reuters)
A Chevron logo at the Chevron building in Houston, Texas, US August 19, 2025. (Reuters)
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Iraq’s Oil Minister Says Talks Ongoing with Chevron on West Qurna 2 Oilfield

A Chevron logo at the Chevron building in Houston, Texas, US August 19, 2025. (Reuters)
A Chevron logo at the Chevron building in Houston, Texas, US August 19, 2025. (Reuters)

Iraq's oil minister said on Saturday that talks were ‌ongoing ‌with ‌US ⁠major Chevron regarding ‌the Lukoil-operated West Qurna-2 field, the Russian company's ⁠largest foreign ‌asset.

Chevron ‍and ‍Exxon Mobil ‍are among potential bidders for Lukoil's overseas assets following US ⁠sanctions on the Russian oil producer.

Business

China’s Consumer Inflation Scales 3-Year High but Deflation Battle Far from Over

Chinese girls dressed in Qing Dynasty attire take pictures outside the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP)
Chinese girls dressed in Qing Dynasty attire take pictures outside the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP)
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China’s Consumer Inflation Scales 3-Year High but Deflation Battle Far from Over

Chinese girls dressed in Qing Dynasty attire take pictures outside the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP)
Chinese girls dressed in Qing Dynasty attire take pictures outside the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP)

China's annual consumer price inflation accelerated to a 34-month high in December, but the full-year rate slumped to the lowest in 16 years while producer deflation persisted, backing market expectations for more stimulus to shore up soft demand.

Imbalances in the $19 trillion economy have worsened over the past year even as growth is on course to meet Beijing's target of "around 5%" for 2025, buoyed by policy support and resilient goods exports.

US President Donald Trump's global trade war has added to persistently soft consumer demand, which has remained a drag on confidence and growth for years amid a prolonged property crisis.

The December consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.8% from the same month in 2024, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed on Friday, matching expectations in a Reuters poll and perking up from the 0.7% increase in November.

The rise was mainly driven by food prices, especially those of fresh vegetables and beef, which expanded 18.2% ‌and 6.9% respectively, Dong ‌Lijuan, a statistician at NBS, said in a statement. Pre-New Year holiday shopping ‌and ⁠supportive policies also helped ‌boost consumer prices, Dong added.

Chinese policymakers have repeatedly pledged to support a rebound in prices with monetary policy and have cracked down on excessive competition. They have also vowed to boost people's income to unleash consumption potential and better align the country's supply and demand.

Yet, the underlying demand impulse in the economy remains weak.

"Despite expectations of a recovery, inflation remains relatively low and should not preclude further monetary easing this year," said Lynn Song, ING's chief economist for Greater China.

Zichun Huang, China economist at Capital Economics, said the elevated headline CPI was not due to the government campaign to curb so-called "involution", adding that overcapacity and deflationary pressures will persist in the coming ⁠years in the absence of stronger demand-side measures.

WHERE HAS INFLATION GONE?

Indeed, for the entire 2025, consumer price growth was flat, well below the "around 2%" goal policymakers were ‌aiming for, a sign that stimulus measures, such as a consumer goods trade-in scheme, ‍have yielded only modest results in lifting sentiment and containing ‍deflationary pressure.

Prices of gold jewellery surged 68.5%, NBS data showed.

Core inflation, ‍which excludes volatile prices of food and fuel, rose 1.2% year-on-year last month, unchanged from November.

Goldman Sachs economists estimate that core price gauge excluding gold prices edged down in December from the prior month.

Annual growth in China's consumer prices has for years failed to meet policymakers' targets as the economy struggled to recover from the pandemic.

A prolonged property market crisis and a weak job market have contributed to lackluster household demand as well as overcapacity and price competition among producers.

On a monthly basis, CPI climbed 0.2% in December, compared with a 0.1% dip the previous month and a forecast for a 0.1% rise.

The producer ⁠price index (PPI) fell 1.9% year-on-year in December, remaining in a deflationary funk for more than three years even as it eased from a 2.2% drop in November. The gauge was expected to have fallen 2% in the Reuters poll.

NBS's Dong attributed the moderation in factory-gate deflation to both global commodity prices, including rising prices of non-ferrous metals, and policies for controlling capacity in key industries.

Capital Economics' Huang, however, said there hasn't been "any fundamental improvement in overcapacity."

"Prices of consumer durables continued to fall at a faster pace than during the depths of the global financial crisis, highlighting that the issue of excess supply remains unresolved in much of the manufacturing sector," she said.

For the whole year, PPI fell 2.6%.

Given the slowdown in economic momentum in the second half of last year, the market is watching for signs of additional government support measures in 2026 as top leaders have committed to pursuing a more proactive macroeconomic policy framework.

The central government has allocated 62.5 billion yuan ($8.95 billion) from special treasury bond proceeds to local governments to ‌keep funding the consumer goods trade-in scheme in 2026.

The government has also pledged to flexibly use monetary policy tools, such as cuts to interest rates and banks' reserve requirement ratio, to keep liquidity ample and spur growth.

Business

Business-Friendly Climate Draws 123,000 New Commercial Registrations in Saudi Arabia

 Employees at the Saudi Business Center (SPA). 
 Employees at the Saudi Business Center (SPA). 
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Business-Friendly Climate Draws 123,000 New Commercial Registrations in Saudi Arabia

 Employees at the Saudi Business Center (SPA). 
 Employees at the Saudi Business Center (SPA). 

Saudi Arabia’s business environment attracted 123,000 new commercial registrations in the fourth quarter of 2025, pushing the total number of active registrations past 1.8 million by year-end. Foreign investment in the healthcare sector surged by nearly 560 percent over the past three years, highlighting strong international confidence in the Saudi market.

According to a recent report by the Ministry of Commerce, reviewed by Asharq Al-Awsat, the number of active sole proprietorship registrations reached 1.26 million by the end of 2025, reflecting 20 percent growth over the past five years.

Active limited liability companies (LLCs) totaled 571,000, with a sharp 183 percent increase over five years. Meanwhile, the number of joint-stock companies grew 50 percent over the same period to 4,733 active registrations.

Regional and Sectoral Performance

Riyadh led the Kingdom in new commercial registrations during the final quarter of 2025 with 45,600 records, followed by the Eastern Province with more than 20,000, and Makkah Region with 19,200.

The construction sector topped all industries, with more than 66,000 registrations issued during the quarter. It was followed by wholesale and retail trade with 24,900, and manufacturing industries with 23,700, while the remainder was spread across other activities.

The report also highlighted a strong rise in e-commerce sales conducted via Mada cards in October, which hit a record SAR 30.7 billion ($8.1 billion) - a 68 percent year-on-year increase, up SAR 12.4 billion ($3.3 billion) from October 2024, according to data from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA).

Healthcare Sector Momentum

The Ministry of Commerce said Saudi Arabia continues to roll out development projects aimed at improving healthcare quality and capacity by strengthening national talent, adopting innovative digital solutions, and upgrading medical facilities.

The Kingdom ranks first regionally in healthcare investment, with agreements signed at the recent Global Health Exhibition in Riyadh valued at about SAR 133 billion ($35.4 billion). Foreign investment in the sector has expanded by more than 560 percent in three years, with healthcare contributing 5 percent of GDP.

Healthcare-related activities saw strong growth in the fourth quarter, including medical laboratories (+33%), pharmaceutical manufacturing (+31%), physiotherapy centers (+31%), and telemedicine and remote care services (+30%).

E-Commerce and High-Growth Sectors

Active e-commerce registrations rose 9 percent year-on-year to 43,800 by the end of the fourth quarter, up from 40,000 in the same period of 2024. Strengthening the e-commerce ecosystem is a key objective of the National Transformation Program, with Saudi Arabia ranked among the world’s top 10 fastest-growing e-commerce markets.

Promising sectors highlighted by the report include artificial intelligence, gaming, cybersecurity, health software, and electric vehicle charging stations. AI-related registrations grew 34 percent to more than 19,000, while gaming rose 27 percent to 841 registrations. UI/UX design activities climbed 28 percent to 18,900.

Cybersecurity registrations increased 27 percent to 9,700, while health and medical software surged 85 percent to 4,300. Power generation and distribution activities grew 27 percent, and EV charging station operations expanded 26 percent to 4,300 registrations.

Investment Deals and Forums

The report cited the success of the Biban Forum, recently held in Riyadh, which generated agreements and launches exceeding SAR 38 billion ($10.1 billion). Investment deals worth SAR 22.2 million ($5.9 million) benefited 55 startups, with participation from 1,021 companies across 66 countries.

It also highlighted the Northern Borders Forum, which offered more than 240 investment opportunities valued at SAR 40 billion ($10.6 billion) across sectors including livestock, food, mining and energy, tourism, environment, and logistics.