Electric Vehicles … A Saudi Step Towards Establishing Sustainable Transportation

Saudi Arabia consolidates sustainability in the transportation sector by investing in electric vehicle manufacturing. Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi Arabia consolidates sustainability in the transportation sector by investing in electric vehicle manufacturing. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Electric Vehicles … A Saudi Step Towards Establishing Sustainable Transportation

Saudi Arabia consolidates sustainability in the transportation sector by investing in electric vehicle manufacturing. Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi Arabia consolidates sustainability in the transportation sector by investing in electric vehicle manufacturing. Asharq Al-Awsat

The announcement made by Lucid Group, an American electric vehicle manufacturer, on signing several agreements with Saudi government agencies, paving way for laying the groundwork for a full production factory in Saudi Arabia, is an important step that shows the competitiveness of the Kingdom in becoming a perfect investment destination and a top industrial force.

Lucid expects to manufacture up to 150,000 vehicles per year at the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) facility.

The move between the US firm and Saudi Arabia comes as a continuation of the relationship between the Public Investment Fund and Lucid since 2018, which has contributed to supporting the Kingdom’s efforts in manufacturing electric vehicles as part of the Saudi Vision 2030.

This would help the Saudi leadership in localizing the manufacturing of electric vehicles, creating job opportunities and diversifying economic resources by allowing the transportation sector to adopt sustainable energy.

CEO and CTO of Lucid Group Peter Rawlinson said the company’s partnership with the Saudi government agencies gives the firm unique insight into the demand for luxury cars and SUVs in Saudi Arabia and beyond. “We are thrilled to introduce the world’s most advanced electric vehicles to more global markets.”

Lucid anticipates that Saudi Arabia’s efforts to foster an automotive ecosystem through its Saudi Vision 2030 should yield cost savings for Lucid as well as environmental benefits, with reduced transportation of product to the customer.

Lucid expects to employ several thousand people at its KAEC facility once full production capacity is established, the majority of which are expected to be Saudi Arabian citizens.

Lucid has established an internship program with the PIF to provide educational opportunities and training for Saudi Arabian citizens at Lucid’s facilities in California and Arizona to develop talent for operations in Saudi Arabia. The company, in addition, will build and run dedicated training centers in KAEC to support skills development for the workforce.

The commitment of PIF’s strategy towards diversifying the economy and increasing revenues has contributed effectively to backing the efforts to transform the Kingdom to an industrial force, in addition to adopting environment friendly techniques that would limit carbon emissions and fight climate change.



Venezuela Depreciation Risks Reversing Years of Inflation Gains

People walk through a market in the low-income Petare neighborhood, in Caracas, Venezuela November 16, 2024. (Reuters)
People walk through a market in the low-income Petare neighborhood, in Caracas, Venezuela November 16, 2024. (Reuters)
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Venezuela Depreciation Risks Reversing Years of Inflation Gains

People walk through a market in the low-income Petare neighborhood, in Caracas, Venezuela November 16, 2024. (Reuters)
People walk through a market in the low-income Petare neighborhood, in Caracas, Venezuela November 16, 2024. (Reuters)

Currency depreciation is set to reverse years of declining inflation in economically beleaguered Venezuela, public and private sector sources say, as foreign currency sales fall short of demand and the socialist government keeps tight-lipped about its strategy.

After years of hyperinflation and amid broad US sanctions, in 2022 the administration of President Nicolas Maduro began using orthodox policies including credit restrictions, lower public spending, a fixed dollar-bolivar rate and central bank sales of billions of dollars in foreign currency to tamp down consumer prices.

Maduro, who will begin his third term in January after a disputed election that the opposition and international observers say he lost, has said his government defeated inflation of more than 100,000% and prices in 2024 are similar to those in 2014.

But the administration's policy has now changed.

After more than nine months of the exchange rate being held at 36.5 bolivars to the dollar, the government in mid-October allowed the currency to float, beginning a depreciation that has seen the bolivar slide to about 45 versus the dollar, according to central bank figures.

Analysts say the over-valued currency made imports cheaper than locally-produced goods, impacting Venezuela's private sector and helping push prices up by 12% in nine months.

The untethering of the exchange rate will also put upward pressure on prices in the final quarter of 2024, financial and business sources said, with analysts predicting in a LatinFocus survey the rate will end the year at 50 bolivars to the dollar.

Year-on-year inflation was 25% through September. Official figures for October have not yet been released.

"For nine months the depreciation of the currency was zero while inflation was rising, which exposed problems in the exchange scheme," said economics professor and consultant Daniel Cadenas, who added the market depends on oil income. "For the system to function, there needs to be a growing source of exchange and that's not possible."

The government had predicted internally that inflation would close the year at 30%, two sources with knowledge of the projection said, but depreciation could increase the figure and local analysts have estimated inflation between 35% and 40%.

"There has been a necessary adjustment in the exchange rate that will have an impact on inflation," said Asdrubal Oliveros, head of local think tank Ecoanalitica. "The government has understood it needs to devaluate."

REDUCED CENTRAL BANK SALES

Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who until recently also served as finance minister, told an event with business people last month that there must be "reflection" about the use of foreign exchange.

"We should all be concerned with how foreign exchange is used in imports. It is a subject the Finance Ministry is reviewing," she said. "We need to take care of foreign exchange because this is a blockaded country and there cannot be cheap exchange for hair dye."

Rodriguez's comments are the only ones made on the subject by the government since devaluation began. Neither the central bank nor the communications or finance ministries responded to requests for comment.

Private sector demand for cheap foreign exchange increased during the nine months the rate was held, even as the quantity of dollars being injected into the market by the central bank was reduced, sources said.

In July the bank was offering some $800 million, but by October that figure had fallen to $400 million, according to calculations by local consultancy Sintesis Financiera.

The central bank did not respond to a question about the reduction.

"The strategy in exchange policy is not going ahead," a government source said, without giving further details.

Food and medicine companies in Venezuela are allowed to pay for some of their goods with foreign currency, while other companies are given central bank promissory notes indexed to a specific exchange rate.

Two private sector sources said many businesses are eating through their inventories in the face of import difficulties.