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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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Federal Reserve Cuts Key Interest Rate by a Quarter-point

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell attends a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on interest rate policy in Washington, US, November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon
US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell attends a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on interest rate policy in Washington, US, November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon
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Federal Reserve Cuts Key Interest Rate by a Quarter-point

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell attends a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on interest rate policy in Washington, US, November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon
US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell attends a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on interest rate policy in Washington, US, November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon

The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Thursday by a quarter-point in response to the steady decline in the once-high inflation that had angered Americans and helped drive Donald Trump’s presidential election victory this week.
The rate cut follows a larger half-point reduction in September, and it reflects the Fed’s renewed focus on supporting the job market as well as fighting inflation, which now barely exceeds the central bank’s 2% target, The Associated Press reported.
Asked at a news conference how Trump's election might affect the Fed's policymaking, Chair Jerome Powell said that "in the near term, the election will have no effects on our (interest rate) decisions.”
But Trump’s election, beyond its economic consequences, has raised the specter of meddling by the White House in the Fed’s policy decisions. Trump has argued that as president, he should have a voice in the central bank’s interest rate decisions. The Fed has long guarded its role as an independent agency able to make difficult decisions about borrowing rates, free from political interference. Yet in his previous term in the White House, Trump publicly attacked Powell after the Fed raised rates to fight inflation, and he may do so again.
Asked whether he would resign if Trump asked him to, Powell, who will have a year left in his second four-year term as Fed chair when Trump takes office, replied simply, “No.”
And Powell said that in his view, Trump could not fire or demote him: It would “not be permitted under the law,” he said.
Thursday’s Fed rate cut reduced its benchmark rate to about 4.6%, down from a four-decade high of 5.3%. The Fed had kept its rate that high for more than a year to fight the worst inflation streak in four decades. Annual inflation has since fallen from a 9.1% peak in mid-2022 to a 3 1/2-year low of 2.4% in September.
When its latest policy meeting ended Thursday, the Fed issued a statement noting that the "unemployment rate has moved up but remains low,” and while inflation has fallen closer to the 2% target level, it “remains somewhat elevated.”
After their rate cut in September — their first such move in more than four years — the policymakers had projected that they would make further quarter-point cuts in November and December and four more next year. But with the economy now mostly solid and Wall Street anticipating faster growth, larger budget deficits and higher inflation under a Trump presidency, further rate cuts may have become less likely. Rate cuts by the Fed typically lead over time to lower borrowing costs for consumers and businesses.
Powell declined to be pinned down Thursday on whether the Fed would proceed with an additional quarter-point rate cut in December or the four rate cuts its policymakers penciled in for 2025.