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Saudi Arabia Inaugurates Stage of Transition to Digital World Economies

Saudi Arabia introduces its National Gaming and Esports Strategy (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia introduces its National Gaming and Esports Strategy (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Inaugurates Stage of Transition to Digital World Economies

Saudi Arabia introduces its National Gaming and Esports Strategy (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia introduces its National Gaming and Esports Strategy (Asharq Al-Awsat)

After Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the National Gaming and Esports Strategy on Thursday, Saudi Arabia is set to launch a serious transformation phase towards the economies of the gaming industry.

The Strategy aims to contribute to the Kingdom’s GDP by about SAR 50 billion ($13.3 billion) directly and indirectly, experts confirmed.

Moreover, economists told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Strategy will support investors in the gaming and esports sector in drawing a road map through which Saudi Arabia becomes a global hub for the industry.

Raising the quality of life by improving players’ experience, providing new entertainment opportunities, and achieving an economic impact by contributing to the GDP by about SAR 50 billion are the Strategy’s three main objectives.

This will lead to the creation of 39,000 new jobs by 2030.

Saudi Arabia aims to produce more than 30 competitive games in the Kingdom’s studios and become one of the top three countries having the highest number of professional esports players.

Ahmed Al-Shehri, an economist, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the new Strategy would motivate investors to enter the promising sector of gaming and e-sports and achieve huge profits in light of the great demand from the current generations for these games.

According to Al-Shehri, the Strategy is bound to yield a positive effect on the Saudi economy.

The country intends to implement the Strategy through 86 initiatives covering the entire value chain, which was launched and managed by more than 20 government and private entities.

These initiatives are divided into eight focus areas, which include technology and hardware development, game production, e-sports, additional services, and other aspects such as infrastructure, regulations, education and talent acquisition.

The Strategy will meet the aspirations of the gaming community locally and globally by providing new and distinctive job and recreational opportunities, Saudi economic expert Ahmed al-Jubeir told Asharq Al-Awsat.

According to al-Jubeir, the Strategy will create healthy competition among companies to enter this promising and targeted sector in Saudi Arabia.

He noted that companies could achieve huge profits because of the Kingdom having the largest purchasing power in the region.

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US Mulls Plan to Disrupt Iran's Oil by Halting Vessels at Sea

The Liberian-flagged oil tanker Ice Energy transfers crude oil from the Iranian-flagged oil tanker Lana (former Pegas), off the shore of Karystos, on the Island of Evia, Greece, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo
The Liberian-flagged oil tanker Ice Energy transfers crude oil from the Iranian-flagged oil tanker Lana (former Pegas), off the shore of Karystos, on the Island of Evia, Greece, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo
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US Mulls Plan to Disrupt Iran's Oil by Halting Vessels at Sea

The Liberian-flagged oil tanker Ice Energy transfers crude oil from the Iranian-flagged oil tanker Lana (former Pegas), off the shore of Karystos, on the Island of Evia, Greece, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo
The Liberian-flagged oil tanker Ice Energy transfers crude oil from the Iranian-flagged oil tanker Lana (former Pegas), off the shore of Karystos, on the Island of Evia, Greece, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo

US President Donald Trump's administration is considering a plan to stop and inspect Iranian oil tankers at sea under an international accord aimed at countering the spread of weapons of mass destruction, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Trump has vowed to restore a "maximum pressure" campaign to isolate Iran from the global economy and drive its oil exports to zero, in order to stop the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Trump hit Iran with two waves of fresh sanctions in the first weeks of his second-term, targeting companies and the so-called shadow fleet of ageing oil tankers that sail without Western insurance and transport crude from sanctioned countries.

Those moves have largely been in line with the limited measures implemented during former President Joe Biden's administration, during which Iran succeeded in ramping up oil exports through complex smuggling networks.

Trump officials are now looking at ways for allied countries to stop and inspect ships sailing through critical chokepoints such as the Malacca Strait in Asia and other sea lanes, according to six sources who asked not to be named due to the sensitive subject.

That would delay delivery of crude to refiners. It could also expose parties involved in facilitating the trade to reputational damage and sanctions, the sources said.

"You don’t have to sink ships or arrest people to have that chilling effect that this is just not worth the risk," one of the sources said.

"The delay in delivery ... instills uncertainty in that illicit trade network."

The administration was examining whether inspections at sea could be conducted under the auspices of the Proliferation Security Initiative launched in 2003, which aims to prevent the trafficking of weapons of mass destruction.

The US drove that initiative, which has been signed by over 100 governments.

This mechanism could enable foreign governments to target Iran's oil shipments at Washington's request, one of the sources said, effectively delaying deliveries and hitting supply chains Tehran relies upon for revenue.

The National Security Council, which formulates policy in the White House, was looking into possible inspections at sea, two of the sources said.

It was unclear if Washington had yet approached any signatories to the Proliferation Security Initiative to test their willingness to cooperate with the proposal.

John Bolton, who was the US lead negotiator for the initiative when it was formed, told Reuters: "it would be fully justified" to use the initiative to slow down Iran oil exports. He noted that selling oil was "obviously critical to raise revenue for the government of Iran to conduct both its proliferation activities and support for terrorism."

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Iran's parliament on March 2 that Trump "has once again signed an order sanctioning many of our ships at sea, leaving them uncertain about how to unload their oil and gas cargo". He was referring to Trump's latest round of sanctions.