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Saudi Ministerial Delegation Meets with Major US Tech Companies

Saudi Arabia promotes entrepreneurship and digital economy in the communications and information sector (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia promotes entrepreneurship and digital economy in the communications and information sector (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Ministerial Delegation Meets with Major US Tech Companies

Saudi Arabia promotes entrepreneurship and digital economy in the communications and information sector (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia promotes entrepreneurship and digital economy in the communications and information sector (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) is holding meetings with major US technology companies and innovation and space centers.

Minister Abdullah al-Swaha and the accompanying delegation will launch Thursday a series of meetings with the US companies to boost the Kingdom's leading role as a regional center in the Middle East and North Africa.

The meetings aim to consolidate Saudi Arabia's leading position as a technology and innovation hub and attract investments to the Kingdom by establishing strategic partnerships that promote and develop the digital economy, innovation, and space economy, in line with Vision 2030.

Saudi Arabia has ranked second globally among the G20 countries in the Digital Competitiveness Report for 2021 issued by the European Center for Digital Competitiveness.

The Kingdom seeks to boost communication and relations with developed countries in the field, including the US.

Saudi Arabia said it is adopting a package of initiatives and investments at the LEAP conference, which it hosted last February.

It is determined to continue building its digital economy and transform it into an innovation-based economy, expanding the impact to serve humanity and preserve the planet.

The Kingdom continues to establish partnerships with many entities and sectors to accelerate innovation in the communications and information technology sector, enhance technical research and digital education, and sponsor digital innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems to achieve the goals of Vision 2030.

Recently, the Ministry launched the National Center for Emerging Network Technologies, following a strategic partnership between King Saud University and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

Powered by Huawei, this new center aims to develop 5G applications and identify frameworks for developing local talent, to enhance the country's position as the most innovative country in the region.

The two parties aim to develop 5G applications, identify frameworks for developing local talent, enhance the Kingdom's position as the leading and most innovative country in the region, and work towards serving common interests and goals.

The center will help raise awareness of 5G technologies and its expanding set of applications, support local talent in this field, and strengthen 5G cybersecurity.

It will provide a platform to develop digital trust, enhance digital infrastructure, adopt emerging technologies, advance smart cities, foster digital capabilities and skills, and digital innovation.

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World Bank Warns that US Tariffs Could Reduce Global Growth Outlook

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 16: Workers build risers in Freedom Plaza ahead of the Inauguration on January 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. US President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect former Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) will be sworn in on January 20. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images/AFP
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 16: Workers build risers in Freedom Plaza ahead of the Inauguration on January 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. US President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect former Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) will be sworn in on January 20. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images/AFP
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World Bank Warns that US Tariffs Could Reduce Global Growth Outlook

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 16: Workers build risers in Freedom Plaza ahead of the Inauguration on January 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. US President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect former Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) will be sworn in on January 20. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images/AFP
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 16: Workers build risers in Freedom Plaza ahead of the Inauguration on January 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. US President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect former Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) will be sworn in on January 20. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images/AFP

The World Bank on Thursday warned that US across-the-board tariffs of 10% could reduce already lackluster global economic growth of 2.7% in 2025 by 0.3 percentage point if America's trading partners retaliate with tariffs of their own.
Such tariffs, promised by US President-elect Donald Trump, could cut US growth - forecast to reach 2.3% in 2025 - by 0.9% if retaliatory measures are imposed, the bank said, citing economic simulations. But it noted that US growth could also increase by 0.4 percentage point in 2026 if US tax cuts were extended, it said, with only small global spillovers.
Trump, who takes office Monday, has proposed a 10% tariff on global imports, a 25% punitive duty on imports from Canada and Mexico until they clamp down on drugs and migrants crossing borders into the US, and a 60% tariff on Chinese goods.
The World Bank's latest Global Economic Prospect report, issued twice yearly, forecast flat global economic growth of 2.7% in 2025 and 2026, the same as in 2024, and warned that developing economies now faced their weakest long-term growth outlook since 2000, Reuters said.
The multilateral development bank said foreign direct investment into developing economies was now about half the level seen in the early 2000s and global trade restrictions were five times higher than the 2010-2019 average.
It said growth in developing countries is expected to reach 4% in 2025 and 2026, well below pre-pandemic estimates due to high debt burdens, weak investment and sluggish productivity growth, along with rising costs of climate change.
Overall output in emerging markets and development economies was expected to remain more than 5% below its pre-pandemic trend by 2026, due to the pandemic and subsequent shocks, it said.
"The next 25 years will be a tougher slog for developing economies than the last 25," World Bank chief economist Indermit Gil said in a statement, urging countries to adopt domestic reforms to encourage investment and deepen trade relations.
Economic growth in developing countries dropped from nearly 6% in the 2000s to 5.1% in the 2010s and was averaging about 3.5% in the 2020s, the bank said.
It said the gap between rich and poor countries was also widening, with average per capita growth rates in developing countries, excluding China and India, averaging half a percentage point below those in wealth economies since 2014.
The somber outlook echoed comments made last week by the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, ahead of the global lender's own new forecast, to be released on Friday.
"Over the next two years, developing economies could face serious headwinds," the World Bank report said.
"High global policy uncertainty could undercut investor confidence and constrain financing flows. Rising trade tensions could reduce global growth. Persistent inflation could delay expected cuts in interest rates."
The World Bank said it saw more downside risks for the global economy, citing a surge in trade-distorting measures implemented mainly by advanced economies and uncertainty about future policies that was dampening investment and growth.
Global trade in goods and services, which expanded by 2.7% in 2024, is expected to reach an average of about 3.1% in 2025-2026, but to remain below pre-pandemic averages.