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Report Highlights Saudi Incentives for New Technologies, 4th Industrial Revolution Solutions

Photo taken during the LEAP technological conference, which focused on the 4th Industrial Revolution among other files. (Photo: Bashir Saleh)
Photo taken during the LEAP technological conference, which focused on the 4th Industrial Revolution among other files. (Photo: Bashir Saleh)
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Report Highlights Saudi Incentives for New Technologies, 4th Industrial Revolution Solutions

Photo taken during the LEAP technological conference, which focused on the 4th Industrial Revolution among other files. (Photo: Bashir Saleh)
Photo taken during the LEAP technological conference, which focused on the 4th Industrial Revolution among other files. (Photo: Bashir Saleh)

A recent report revealed five advantages and incentives to enable Saudi Arabia to implement the technologies and solutions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including the presence of digital infrastructure equipped with 5G technology, and the Kingdom’s financial and investment capabilities.

The Kingdom inaugurated last year a dedicated center on the sidelines of the first Saudi Forum for the 4th Industrial Revolution, which was held in Riyadh, in a step that reflects the country’s determination to empower this sector.

According to a report issued by the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, Saudi Arabia’s advanced digital government is one of the country’s most important features that enables it to implement the techniques of the 4th Industrial Revolution, in addition to the presence of more than 40 specialized and integrated industrial cities and a motivated young population.

The report noted that the 4th Industrial Revolution contributed to supporting the localization of new and advanced industries within the Kingdom, expanding supply chains and enhancing their flexibility and reliability, in addition to increasing the competitive advantage of existing industries.

Saudi Arabia attaches great importance to this revolution through the development of the national industry and logistics services within Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to transform the Kingdom into a leading industrial power and a global logistics platform. This goal is attained by maximizing the value achieved from the mining and energy sectors and focusing on local content and the 4th Industrial Revolution to contribute significantly in enhancing and diversifying the economic impact of the targeted sectors, sustaining their growth, achieving leadership and creating an attractive investment environment.

The activities of the LEAP Conference, which was hosted in Riyadh on Tuesday, focused on future technologies, digital transformation and economic diversification in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution, in addition to the future of smart and digital sustainable cities.

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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.