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Saudi Arabia Partners with World Bank to Ensure No Nation Left Behind on AI

Saudi Arabia and the World Bank announce a long-term partnership to accelerate the use of AI in developing nations. (SPA)
Saudi Arabia and the World Bank announce a long-term partnership to accelerate the use of AI in developing nations. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Partners with World Bank to Ensure No Nation Left Behind on AI

Saudi Arabia and the World Bank announce a long-term partnership to accelerate the use of AI in developing nations. (SPA)
Saudi Arabia and the World Bank announce a long-term partnership to accelerate the use of AI in developing nations. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia and the World Bank announced on Wednesday a long-term partnership to accelerate the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in developing nations in support of economic and development goals.

Director of the National Information Center (NIC) Esam bin Abdullah Alwagait said: "Through this partnership with the World Bank, Saudi Arabia aims to help all countries of the world to unlock the value of Artificial Intelligence and to share the benefits of data-driven decision-making to support economic and social growth.

“Data and AI are at the heart of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, and through the development of our own AI agenda and policies, we have developed skills and resources that we want to share to ensure that all nations are equally prepared to harness the value of AI.”

World Bank Vice President of Infrastructure Makhtar Diop stated: "This initiative aims to help governments harness AI technologies while adopting the appropriate safeguards for ensuring privacy and protection as well as inclusivity and unbiased algorithms."

Saudi Arabia unveiled on Wednesday its new National Strategy for Data and Artificial Intelligence (NSDAI) which will make the Kingdom a global leader in AI by 2030.

The National Strategy, which will be led by the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA), was officially launched at the inaugural Global AI Summit in Riyadh. The two-day summit was launched under the auspices of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.

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China’s First Four-Month Steel Exports at Record High Despite Tariff Turmoil 

Workers install steel rods at a construction site in Miami, Florida, US, March 11, 2025. (Reuters)
Workers install steel rods at a construction site in Miami, Florida, US, March 11, 2025. (Reuters)
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China’s First Four-Month Steel Exports at Record High Despite Tariff Turmoil 

Workers install steel rods at a construction site in Miami, Florida, US, March 11, 2025. (Reuters)
Workers install steel rods at a construction site in Miami, Florida, US, March 11, 2025. (Reuters)

China's steel exports in April topped 10 million metric tons for a second straight month bringing the total in the first four months to a record high, underpinned by front-loaded shipments ahead of US President Donald Trump's hefty tariffs.

The world's largest steel producer and exporter shipped 10.46 million tons of steel last month, customs data showed on Friday. While largely unchanged from March, exports were 13.5% higher than the same month in 2024.

Exports from January to April jumped by 8.2% from the year before to an all-time high for the period of 37.89 million tons.

"Steel exports in April are a bit higher than our expectation, albeit maintaining positive annual growth, supported by sustained front-loading orders observed," said Jiang Mengtian, a Shanghai-based analyst at consultancy Horizon Insights.

Jiang forecast May shipments to slow as tariff and widening trade protectionism started to bite.

Washington's tariffs threaten the transshipment trade, where third countries resell Chinese steel to the US, while China's top steel customers like South Korea and Vietnam have also imposed duties to avoid steel being rerouted and dumped in their markets.

Second-quarter exports are set to fall by as much as a fifth from the first quarter as a result, eight analysts and traders told Reuters earlier this week.

China's April iron ore imports climbed by 9.8% from March to the highest since December, as improved margins encouraged mills to book more seaborne cargoes.

The world's largest iron ore consumer brought in 103.14 million tons of the key steelmaking ingredient last month, up from a 20-month low of 93.97 million tons in March.

The volume last month, which was largely in line with analysts' expectations, was also 1.3% higher than 101.82 million tons in April 2024.

"Since March imports missed expectations, it's not surprising to see higher iron ore imports in April, which could also be reflected in higher hot metal output last month and a pile-up in inventory in the last two weeks of April," said Pei Hao, an analyst at international brokerage Freight Investor Services (FIS).

In the first four months of this year, China's iron ore imports slid 5.5% from the year earlier to 388.36 million tons, the data showed.