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Saudi Arabia Leads Efforts to Boost Mining Industry in Middle East

A workshop is held ahead of the Future Minerals Summit in cooperation with the Saudi Geological Survey. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A workshop is held ahead of the Future Minerals Summit in cooperation with the Saudi Geological Survey. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Leads Efforts to Boost Mining Industry in Middle East

A workshop is held ahead of the Future Minerals Summit in cooperation with the Saudi Geological Survey. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A workshop is held ahead of the Future Minerals Summit in cooperation with the Saudi Geological Survey. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia has been working to boost and develop the mining industry to attract foreign investments.

It will host the Future Minerals Summit (FMS) in Riyadh from January 11 to 13, 2022.

This is the first-ever event to offer a “one-stop-shop” for investors, miners and other industry stakeholders interested in learning more about the mining potential of the Middle East, Central Asia, and North and East Africa.

The summit is expected to serve as a global platform to attract foreign direct investment to the local market and the region by forging partnerships, exchanging technical knowledge and advanced technologies in the field of mining.

The event seeks to present the region as a global mining hub and raise the level of awareness of the importance of the mining industry in the Kingdom and the region.

Its organizers aim for the summit to be the pivotal starting point for charting the future of mining and its contribution to the development of societies.

Director of Communications at FMS Tariq al-Qwaifel told Asharq Al-Awsat that the mining field includes experts and investors who look for their investment opportunities through experts specializing in this industry.

They usually meet in various forums held in several world countries that bring together investors and experts in the sector and industry leaders to identify the opportunities that investors are looking for, he explained.

Qwaifel said January's summit is a precedent in the Middle East, Central Asia, and North and East Africa region.

Therefore, the idea to hold the summit under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and the support of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, arose to allow the Kingdom to become a pioneer in this industry.

“By announcing the event, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources aimed at turning the event into an international forum for investors in these regions to explore all the opportunities available in this sector.”

Saudi Arabia also is convening a Ministerial Roundtable in Riyadh a day before the summit kicks off to define the future of mining across the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.

Ministerial representatives of 25 governments will meet to address key questions and highlight the greatest opportunities across these regions.

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Libya Devalues Currency for First Time in Four Years 

People sit by at the newly refurbished Martyr's Square in the Libyan capital Tripoli on April 4, 2025. (AFP)
People sit by at the newly refurbished Martyr's Square in the Libyan capital Tripoli on April 4, 2025. (AFP)
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Libya Devalues Currency for First Time in Four Years 

People sit by at the newly refurbished Martyr's Square in the Libyan capital Tripoli on April 4, 2025. (AFP)
People sit by at the newly refurbished Martyr's Square in the Libyan capital Tripoli on April 4, 2025. (AFP)

Libya's central bank announced a 13.3% devaluation of the country's dinar currency on Sunday, setting the exchange rate at 5.5677 to the US dollar effective immediately.

This is the first official devaluation since the bank agreed to a devalued exchange rate of 4.48 dinars to the dollar in 2020.

The parallel market exchange rate is currently at 7.20 dinars to the dollar.

In September last year, the dinar slid against the US dollar in the black market due to a crisis over control of the central bank that slashed oil output and exports.

The crisis was resolved later in September following an agreement signed by representatives of Libya's rival eastern and western legislative bodies. The agreement, facilitated by the United Nations, paved the way for the appointment of a new central bank governor.

In November, the eastern-based parliament speaker reduced the tax on foreign currency purchases to 15% from 20%. The tax is added to the rate when people buy foreign currencies from commercial banks.

Libya has been plagued by instability since a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, leading to a split in 2014 between eastern and western factions, each governed by rival administrations.

The spending of the two governments in 2024 totaled 224 billion dinars ($46 billion), including 42 billion dinars for crude-for-fuel swaps, the central bank said in a statement on Sunday.

Public debt stood at 270 billion dinars, it said, projecting that it could exceed 330 billion dinars by the end of 2025 due to the lack of a unified budget.

In December, Stephanie Koury, deputy head of the UN mission to Libya, urged the country's decision-makers to "urgently agree on a framework for spending in 2025 with agreed limits and oversight".