Riyadh Seeks to Boost Food Security with Thai Partnerships

The Saudi delegation meets with Thai officials in Bangkok. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi delegation meets with Thai officials in Bangkok. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

Riyadh Seeks to Boost Food Security with Thai Partnerships

The Saudi delegation meets with Thai officials in Bangkok. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi delegation meets with Thai officials in Bangkok. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

A Thai official revealed his country’s efforts to build bilateral partnerships with Saudi Arabia to enhance food security, stressing that his country would study and address challenges facing Saudi investors in exporting to Thailand.

He made his remarks during a meeting in Bangkok on Tuesday that brought together Thailand’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperative Societies and a delegation from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Riyadh.

The Thai official underlined the importance of the meeting, noting that the Saudi delegation, which boasted over 100 businessmen, was the first and largest to visit Thailand in 32 years.

Chairman of the Agriculture and Water Committee in the Riyadh Chamber Dr. Ibrahim Al-Turki said the Kingdom was interested in strengthening its capabilities and developing its investment and trade relations with countries across the globe to promote food security. He noted that Thailand’s huge agricultural wealth would have a major role in forging more partnerships with Saudi Arabia.

He added that Thailand’s advanced technologies in agriculture were a source of confidence and a great opportunity for the Saudis to build multiple partnerships in this particular field.

Trade and economic relations between Saudi Arabia and Thailand were recently revived after being suspended for three decades.

The Saudi-Thai Investment Forum was launched in May in the Saudi capital, where a number of MoUs were signed between the Ministry of Investment and an official Thai delegation.

The delegation of the Riyadh Chamber discussed in Thailand opportunities for cooperation in mining technologies, in addition to strengthening partnership in the field of research and industrial consultancy.



Gold Edges Higher as US Inflation Data Looms

Gold bullion displayed in a store in the German city of Pforzheim (dpa)
Gold bullion displayed in a store in the German city of Pforzheim (dpa)
TT

Gold Edges Higher as US Inflation Data Looms

Gold bullion displayed in a store in the German city of Pforzheim (dpa)
Gold bullion displayed in a store in the German city of Pforzheim (dpa)

Gold prices inched higher on Wednesday as the dollar eased, with traders' attention turning to key US inflation data that may influence the Federal Reserve's next policy decision.

Spot gold was up 0.2% at $2,524.54 per ounce, as of 0842 GMT. US gold futures edged 0.4% higher to $2,553.80.

The dollar index slipped 0.2%, making greenback-priced bullion more attractive to buyers holding other currencies, Reuters reported.

The US inflation Consumer Price Index (CPI) data is due at 1230 GMT. The headline CPI is expected to have risen 0.2% on a month-on-month basis in August, according to a Reuters poll, unchanged from the previous month.

The Fed will lower interest rates by 25 basis points at each of the three remaining policy meetings in 2024, according to a majority of economists in a Reuters poll that found only nine of 101 expected a half-percentage-point cut next week.

Lower rates boost the appeal of holding non-yielding bullion.

A rate cut should suggest a weaker dollar and by extension gold would benefit but the market might have over-positioned ahead of the long awaited Fed pivot, so prices might go lower before marching much higher, said independent analyst Ross Norman.

"Gold maintains its range-trading, but with a positive bias. We may see fresh highs in gold in 2024 and I would not be surprised to see a test of $2,650," Norman added.

Other data points due this week include the US producer Price Index reading and initial jobless claims.

Bullion has gained more than 22% so far this year and scaled successive record highs, fuelled by rate-cut optimism, geopolitical turmoil and robust central bank demand.

Among other metals, spot silver was up 1.3% at $28.76 per ounce, platinum inched 0.1% higher to $938.34 and palladium firmed 1.1% to $975.50.