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Saudi Arabia Approves Financial Technology Strategy

Saudi Arabia continues its digital transformation in the financial sector. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia continues its digital transformation in the financial sector. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Approves Financial Technology Strategy

Saudi Arabia continues its digital transformation in the financial sector. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia continues its digital transformation in the financial sector. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Saudi Cabinet approved on Tuesday the Kingdom’s financial technology strategy, a move that experts say would enable and activate modern means in the financial sector and attract local and foreign companies to work in an equipped infrastructure in the Kingdom.

Specialists explained that the strategy will organize the sector and put it on the right track for active participation in financial technology.

They also considered the strategy a great leap to prepare the infrastructure in the Kingdom to be ready to receive foreign investments working in this field and to reach the country's goals during the next stage.

Saudi Arabia's Minister of Communications and Information Technology Abdullah Alswaha said that with the support of the Kingdom's government, the new strategy will be a fundamental pillar to accelerate the growth of the digital economy in the country.

Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) Governor Fahad Almubarak emphasized that the financial sector is going through rapid changes, especially in the FinTech industry, which necessitates swift and collaborative action to keep pace with such changes, noting that the implementation of this strategy requires cooperation and joint efforts from all relevant stakeholders.

Capital Market Authority (CMA) Chairman Mohammed Elkuwaiz clarified that the strategy supports all financial technology activities through transformation engines combined with initiatives that support service providers and develop the sector’s infrastructure.

Mohammed Al Suwayed, CEO of Razeen Capital, highlighted the specialized role played by government agencies, especially the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Capital Market Authority and the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia, in developing the financial technology sector.

Al Suwayed told Asharq Al-Awsat that government agencies are ensuring that FinTech activity in the Kingdom is based on international standards and a safe institutional ecosystem.

Saudi Arabia's adoption of an independent strategy in financial technology explicitly indicates that the Kingdom is organizing this sector and placing it on the path of active participation in the financial sector in its broadest sense, he added.

The new strategy is in line with the supreme directive for Saudi Arabia to be among the leading countries in the field of FinTech, with Riyadh becoming a global tech hub.

It is included as a new pillar within the Saudi Vision 2030's Financial Sector Development Program (FSDP), which is aimed at developing the national economy, diversifying sources of income and enabling financial institutions to support private sector growth by giving new companies the opportunity to provide financial services.

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Japan Plans 'World First' Deep-sea Mineral Extraction

The Chikyu, pictured here in 2013, will drill around the remote island of Minami Torishima. TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP/File
The Chikyu, pictured here in 2013, will drill around the remote island of Minami Torishima. TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP/File
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Japan Plans 'World First' Deep-sea Mineral Extraction

The Chikyu, pictured here in 2013, will drill around the remote island of Minami Torishima. TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP/File
The Chikyu, pictured here in 2013, will drill around the remote island of Minami Torishima. TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP/File

Japan will from January attempt to extract rare earth minerals from the ocean floor in the deepest trial of its kind, the director of a government innovation program said Thursday.

Earlier this week the country pledged to work with the United States, India and Australia to ensure a stable supply of critical minerals, as concern grows over China's dominance in resources vital to new technologies.

Rare earths -- 17 metals difficult to extract from the Earth's crust -- are used in everything from electric vehicles to hard drives, wind turbines and missiles.

China accounts for almost two-thirds of rare earth mining production and 92 percent of global refined output, according to the International Energy Agency.

A Japanese deep-sea scientific drilling boat called the Chikyu will from January conduct a "test cruise" to retrieve ocean floor sediments that contain rare earth elements, said Shoichi Ishii, director of Japan's Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program.

"The test to retrieve the sediments from 5,500 meters (3.4 miles) water depth is the first in the world," he told AFP.

"Our goal... of this cruise is to test the function of all mining equipment," so the amount of sediment extracted "doesn't matter at all", Ishii added.

The Chikyu will drill in Japanese economic waters around the remote island of Minami Torishima in the Pacific -- the easternmost point of Japan, also used as a military base.

Japan's Nikkei business daily reported that the mission aims to extract 35 tons of mud from the sea floor over around three weeks.

Each ton is expected to contain around two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of rare earth minerals, which are often used to make magnets that are essential in modern electronics.

Deep-sea mining has become a geopolitical flashpoint, with anxiety growing over a push by US President Donald Trump to fast-track the practice in international waters.

Beijing has since April required licenses to export rare earths from China, a move seen as retaliation for US curbs on the import of Chinese goods.

Environmental campaigners warn that deep-sea mining threatens marine ecosystems and will disrupt the sea floor.

The International Seabed Authority, which has jurisdiction over the ocean floor outside national waters, is meeting later this month to discuss a global code to regulate mining in the ocean depths.