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Investment Strategy to Support Saudi Economy’s Competitiveness at Global Level

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman smiles during a televised interview in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 27, 2021. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman smiles during a televised interview in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 27, 2021. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS
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Investment Strategy to Support Saudi Economy’s Competitiveness at Global Level

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman smiles during a televised interview in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 27, 2021. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman smiles during a televised interview in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 27, 2021. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS

Saudi economic experts underlined the importance of the National Investment Strategy launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, saying that it would contribute to raising the competitiveness of the Saudi economy globally, and would translate the capabilities and opportunities available in the Kingdom into a practical investment reality.

Member of the Trade and Investment Committee in the Shura Council, Dr. Faisal Al Fadel, said that the strategy had fundamental economic dimensions that support Saudi Vision 2030.

He noted that Saudi Arabia’s economy enjoyed abundant natural resources and a strategic location in the heart of the main trade routes between the three continents, in addition to the major economic reforms that are currently underway.

This diversity of resources and particular location attracts local and foreign investors, according to Fadel.

He added that the strategy would enhance the strength and position of the private sector at the regional and global levels, which would encourage foreign companies to support the growth of the sector to become a positive contributor to the domestic product.

Dr. Osama Al-Obaidi, consultant and professor of economic and international law at the Institute of Public Administration in Riyadh, said that Saudi Arabia enjoyed huge investment capabilities, adding that the strategy announced by the Crown Prince on Monday would seek to translate this great potential into practical actions.

According to Al-Obaidi, the strategy would contribute to increasing Saudi economic growth and diversifying its sources, which would help achieve the goals of Vision 2030.

He also pointed to the development of the legislative environment and the increase in investment opportunities offered to local and foreign investors.

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US Treasury Targets Russia's Gazprombank with New Sanctions

FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
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US Treasury Targets Russia's Gazprombank with New Sanctions

FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the US Treasury building in Washington, US, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

The United States imposed new sanctions on Russia's Gazprombank on Thursday, the Treasury Department said, as President Joe Biden steps up actions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine before he leaves office in January.
The move, which wields the department's most powerful sanctions tool, effectively kicks Gazprombank out of the US banking system, bans its trade with Americans and freezes its US assets, Reuters reported.
Gazprombank is one of Russia's largest banks and is partially owned by Kremlin-owned gas company Gazprom. Since Russia's invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has been urging the US to impose more sanctions on the bank, which receives payments for natural gas from Gazprom's customers in Europe.
The fresh sanctions come days after the Biden administration allowed Kyiv to use US ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory. On Tuesday, Ukraine fired the weapons, the longest range missiles Washington has supplied for such attacks on Russia, on the war's 1,000th day.
The Treasury also imposed sanctions on 50 small-to-medium Russian banks to curtail the country's connections to the international financial system and prevent it from abusing it to pay for technology and equipment needed for the war. It warned that foreign financial institutions that maintain correspondent relationships with the targeted banks "entails significant sanctions risk."
"This sweeping action will make it harder for the Kremlin to evade US sanctions and fund and equip its military," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. "We will continue to take decisive steps against any financial channels Russia uses to support its illegal and unprovoked war in Ukraine."
Gazprombank said Washington's latest move would not affect its operations. The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Along with the sanctions, Treasury also issued two new general licenses authorizing US entities to wind down transactions involving Gazprombank, among other financial institutions, and to take steps to divest from debt or equity issued by Gazprombank.
Gazprombank is a conduit for Russia to purchase military materiel in its war against Ukraine, the Treasury said. The Russian government also uses the bank to pay its soldiers, including for combat bonuses, and to compensate the families of its soldiers killed in the war.
The administration believes the new sanctions improve Ukraine's position on the battlefield and ability to achieve a just peace, a source familiar with the matter said.
COLLATERAL IMPACT
While Gazprombank has been on the administration's radar for years, it has been seen as a last resort because of its focus on energy and the desire to avoid collateral impact on Europe, a Washington-based trade lawyer said.
"I think that the current administration is trying to put as much pressure and add as many sanctions as possible prior to January 20th to make it harder for the next administration to unwind," said the lawyer, Douglas Jacobson.
Officials in Slovakia and Hungary said they were studying the impacts of the new US sanctions.
Trump would have the power to remove the sanctions, which were imposed under an executive order by Biden, if he wants to take a different stance, Jacobson said.
After Russia's invasion in 2022, the Treasury placed debt and equity restrictions on 13 Russian firms, including Gazprombank, Sberbank and the Russian Agricultural Bank.
The US Treasury has also worked to provide Ukraine with funds from windfall proceeds of frozen Russian assets.