Business

Gulf Railway Enters Implementation Phase, Targets 2030 Completion

Business Members of the GCC Transport and Communications Ministers Committee pose for an official photo in Manama (GCC). 

Gulf Railway Enters Implementation Phase, Targets 2030 Completion

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries signed an agreement in Manama on Sunday to advance a 2,117-kilometer railway linking all six member states by 2030, as…

Mirza al-Khuweildi (Manama)
Business A gold mine in Saudi Arabia (SPA) 

Saudi Gold Refinery Obtains 10 Gold Exploration Licenses in Tanzania

Saudi Gold Refinery Company (SGR) announced Sunday it has secured 10 licenses to explore gold in the Republic of Tanzania, covering a total area of nearly 1…

Asharq Al Awsat (Riyadh)
Business A worker walks past oil pipes at a refinery in Wuhan, Hubei province March 23, 2012. (Reuters)

Oil Falls as Trump Says New Iran Attacks ‘Unlikely’

Oil prices fell at Monday's open after US President Donald Trump said he was highly unlikely to order new Iran attacks while talks to end the conflict make…

Business A conceptual rendering of the Gulf railway interconnection project. (X)

Bahraini Transport Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: Each Country to Finance Its Share of Gulf Railway Project

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states took a new step toward completing the railway interconnection project by signing the project's general…

Merza al-Khuwaldi (Manama)
Business Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty speaks during a press conference with Minister of Information Diaa Rashwan (not pictured) in Cairo, Egypt, March 25, 2026. (Reuters)

Egypt Seeks Faster Progress on Libya Gas, Refining and Power Projects

Egypt aims to accelerate energy projects with Libya, including gas pipeline links, refining of Libyan crude in Egypt and an electricity interconnection,…


Business Analysts Cut Oil Price Forecasts Due to Fears Over Economy, Trade

Analysts Cut Oil Price Forecasts Due to Fears Over Economy, Trade

Analysts have slashed their oil price forecasts to the lowest in more than 16 months, citing softening global demand as an economic slowdown looms and…

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
Business Saudi Ministry of Housing to Improve Real Estate Quality

Saudi Ministry of Housing to Improve Real Estate Quality

The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Housing has launched a new initiative under the Sustainable Building program, which is a service to test the quality of…

Asharq Al Awsat (Riyadh)
Business Tunisia PM Urges Continued Focus on Economy after Presidential Elections

Tunisia PM Urges Continued Focus on Economy after Presidential Elections

Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, a candidate for president in next month's election, said on Thursday the country should press ahead with his government…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business Sisi: We Look Forward to Viable Results from TICAD 7

Sisi: We Look Forward to Viable Results from TICAD 7

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi inaugurated the seventh edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African…

Asharq Al Awsat (Cairo)
Business Lebanon CDS Hit Record High

Lebanon CDS Hit Record High

The cost of insuring Lebanon’s sovereign debt against default jumped to a fresh record high and the country’s dollar-denominated bonds came under pressure…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Business Aramco Trading Sells 1st US West Texas Light Crude to Hyundai

Aramco Trading Sells 1st US West Texas Light Crude to Hyundai

Aramco Trading Company (ATC) sold its first-ever cargo of US West Texas Light (WTL) crude, with a South Korean refiner the buyer, as the Saudi Aramco unit…

Asharq Al Awsat (Seoul)
Business US Gives Tunisia $335 Million in Financial Aid over Five Years

US Gives Tunisia $335 Million in Financial Aid over Five Years

The United States has agreed to give Tunisia financial aid worth $335 million over five years to support its democratic transition, the Tunisian Development…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business Iraq Suggests Gas, Petrochemical Projects to Saudi Firms

Iraq Suggests Gas, Petrochemical Projects to Saudi Firms

Dr. Hamid al-Zawbai, Deputy Minister of Oil for Gas Affairs, has affirmed that a list of investments in the petrochemicals and oil fields were suggested before…

Obeid Al-Suhaimi (Dammam)
Business Saudi Arabia Reveals Strategy to Accelerate Telecom Growth by 50%

Saudi Arabia Reveals Strategy to Accelerate Telecom Growth by 50%

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology launched a five-year strategy aimed at accelerating the sector's growth by 50 percent and…

Fatehelrahman Yousif (Riyadh)
Business ‘Managem’ Sales Drop 13%

‘Managem’ Sales Drop 13%

Group Managem announced Tuesday a 13 percent drop in its sales in the first half of 2019, totaling MAD2.16 billion (USD227.5 million) end of June. The…

Lahcen Mokena (Casablanca)
Business Saudi Arabia: EXIM Bank Will Be Launched Within Months

Saudi Arabia: EXIM Bank Will Be Launched Within Months

Saudi EXIM Bank will start operating at the end of this year or during Q1 of 2020, as the bank awaits approval of its system and bylaws, announced Secretary…

Asharq Al Awsat (Dammam)
Business Egypt Expands Drilling in Gulf of Suez, North Damietta

Egypt Expands Drilling in Gulf of Suez, North Damietta

The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum announced Monday that its expanding search activities of oil petroleum and gas, and developing output fields in Ras Shukeir,…

Asharq Al Awsat (Cairo)
Business Saudi Arabia Introduces New Labor Violations, Penalties

Saudi Arabia Introduces New Labor Violations, Penalties

The Saudi Ministry of Labor and Social Development has approved some amendments in the Executive Regulations of the Labor Law, introducing a new list of…

Eman Al-Khattaf (Dammam)
Business Gulf Firms’ Profits Relapse in Q2

Gulf Firms’ Profits Relapse in Q2

The total profits of listed companies in GCC countries stocks relapsed 14.7 percent on annual basis in the second quarter of 2019, reaching USD15.8 billion…

Motleq Mounir (London)
Business Kuwait: Non-oil Exports Drop 4.9% in July

Kuwait: Non-oil Exports Drop 4.9% in July

Kuwait’s non-oil exports dropped 4.9 percent in July compared to the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The number of…

Asharq Al Awsat (Kuwait)
Business Saudi Arabia Seeks to Become Regional Electricity Hub between Asia, Africa

Saudi Arabia Seeks to Become Regional Electricity Hub between Asia, Africa

The Saudi National Grid, a subsidiary of the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), said it covers more than 13,000 cities and villages across Saudi Arabia. It…

Asharq Al Awsat (Riyadh)
Business Egypt to Host Int’l Conference to Encourage African Investment

Egypt to Host Int’l Conference to Encourage African Investment

The Egyptian government intensified Friday its preparations to host the two-day Invest in Africa 2019 conference, which is set to be held in the New…

Waleed Abdul Rahman (Cairo)
Business Finance Minister: Lebanon Can Overcome Economic Crisis

Finance Minister: Lebanon Can Overcome Economic Crisis

Lebanon will overcome its economic crisis, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said on Friday as Fitch downgraded the country's credit rating to CCC while…

Asharq Al Awsat (Beirut)
Business Egypt's Central Bank Cuts Rates by 150 bps

Egypt's Central Bank Cuts Rates by 150 bps

Egypt’s central bank on Thursday cut the overnight deposit rate by 150 basis points to 14.25 percent, for the first time since February, after July inflation…

Asharq Al Awsat (Cairo)
Business Britain’s SDX in ‘Advanced Planning’ to Drill 12 Morocco Wells

Britain’s SDX in ‘Advanced Planning’ to Drill 12 Morocco Wells

Planning for the drilling of 12 wells in Morocco is at an “advanced stage,” with the campaign targeted to begin in the fourth quarter of 2019 and complete in…

Lahcen Mokena (Casablanca)
Business Boeing Plans to Increase Investment in Saudi Arabia

Boeing Plans to Increase Investment in Saudi Arabia

Boeing said it has entrusted all of its defense operations in Saudi Arabia to the head of its Saudi unit Eng. Ahmed Jazzar. “Saudi Arabia is one of our key…

Asharq Al Awsat (Riyadh)
Business OPEC's Market Share Sinks, No Sign of Wavering on Supply Cuts

OPEC's Market Share Sinks, No Sign of Wavering on Supply Cuts

OPEC's share of the global oil market has sunk to 30 percent, the lowest in years, as a result of supply restraint and involuntary losses in Iran and Venezuela…

Asharq Al Awsat (London)
Business Saudi Finance Ministry Closes Book on August Sukuk Issuance

Saudi Finance Ministry Closes Book on August Sukuk Issuance

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Finance announced closing the August 2019 issuance under the Saudi Arabian Government SAR-denominated Sukuk Program. The…

Asharq Al Awsat
Business South Sudan Makes Minor Oil Discovery, First since Independence

South Sudan Makes Minor Oil Discovery, First since Independence

South Sudan has made a small oil discovery in Northern Upper Nile State, its first since independence in 2011 when exploration was interrupted by war and…

Asharq Al Awsat