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Expectations on Enhancing Cloud Computing in Saudi Arabia in 2018

Cloud computing. (Reuters)
Cloud computing. (Reuters)
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Expectations on Enhancing Cloud Computing in Saudi Arabia in 2018

Cloud computing. (Reuters)
Cloud computing. (Reuters)

Experts predicted that 2018 will see higher levels of adoption of cloud computing solutions and technologies in Saudi Arabia at a time when the global market value of the industry of "Chatbots" has amounted to around $800 million in 2016.

Moreover, experts have expected this value to exceed three billion dollars by 2020 while 74.7 percent of the Saudi citizens use social media chat applications and are always connected to the Internet.

"Companies will increasingly embrace new technologies in their digital strategies, but many of these companies cannot integrate and benefit from artificial intelligence," Chief Executive Officer of Ubuntu Ayman al-Ashkar told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Ashkar added that artificial intelligence is not limited to large companies as there is a way for small and medium-sized companies to integrate it quickly and easily in their digital strategies through ChatBox for use in e-commerce.

"This artificial intelligence-based mobile phone or website enables companies to address customers without talking to them and interact with them in a direct dialogue such as Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp for 24 hours per day,” he added.

"In 2017, the Kingdom witnessed more than 164,000 online attacks in one day," said Fateh Gergenawi, regional director of FireEye in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

He stressed the need for institutions and bodies in Saudi Arabia to reduce the risk of hacking by developing response capabilities and recovery from breakthroughs in the case they occur.

He pointed out that Saudi Arabia’s plan to enhance e-security will play a key role in achieving its 2030 vision, noting that the process of growth and development of the Kingdom depends more on technology, artificial intelligence and IT experience.

The stability of technologies in the cloud lets stored data an easy target for hackers, making cloud security one of the key emerging trends to be adopted by organizations across the region, not just in the Middle East, Gergenawi stressed.

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China's BYD Poised to Overtake Tesla in 2025 EV Sales

The Tesla logo is seen in this illustration taken July 23, 2025. (Reuters)
The Tesla logo is seen in this illustration taken July 23, 2025. (Reuters)
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China's BYD Poised to Overtake Tesla in 2025 EV Sales

The Tesla logo is seen in this illustration taken July 23, 2025. (Reuters)
The Tesla logo is seen in this illustration taken July 23, 2025. (Reuters)

Growing Chinese auto giant BYD stands poised to officially surpass Tesla as the world's biggest electric vehicle company in annual sales.

The two groups are expected soon to publish their final figures for 2025, and based on sales data so far this year, there is almost no chance the American company led by Elon Musk will retain its leadership position.

At the end of November, Shenzhen-based BYD, which also produces hybrid vehicles, had sold 2.07 million EVs so far in 2025.

Tesla, for its part, had sold 1.22 million by the end of September.

Tesla's September figures included a one-time boost in sales, to nearly half-a-million vehicles in a three-month period, before the expiration of a US tax credit for buyers of electric vehicles -- which ended under legislation backed by President Donald Trump, a climate change skeptic.

But Tesla's sales in the coming quarter are expected to fall to 449,000, according to a FactSet analysis consensus. That would give Tesla about 1.65 million sales for all of 2025, a drop of 7.7 percent and well below the level BYD had attained by end November.

Deutsche Bank, which projects just 405,000 Tesla EV sales during the fourth quarter, sees the company's sales down by around one-third in both North America and Europe, and by one-tenth in China.

- Transition period -

Industry watchers say it will take time for EV demand to reach a level of equilibrium in the United States following the elimination of the $7,500 US tax credit at the end of September 2025.

Even prior to that, Tesla had seen sales struggle in key markets over CEO Musk's political support of Trump and other far-right politicians. Tesla has also faced rising EV competition from BYD and other Chinese companies and from European giants.

"We believe Tesla will see some weakness on deliveries" in the fourth quarter, said Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities.

Sales of 420,000 would be "good enough to show stable demand," with Wall Street "laser focused on the autonomous chapter kicking off in 2026," Ives added, referring to plans for self-driving vehicles.

Even as it has grown quickly, BYD has faced challenges in its home market.

With profitability in China weighed down by price-wary consumers, the company has sought to strengthen its foothold in foreign markets.

BYD is "one of the pioneers to establish overseas production capacity and supply chains for EVs," Jing Yang, Director of Asia-Pacific Corporate Ratings at Fitch Ratings, told AFP.

"Going forward, its geographical diversification is likely to help it to navigate an increasingly complicated global tariff environment," said Yang.

Overseas rivals to BYD have balked at Chinese state subsidies and other state supports that have allowed the company to sell vehicles cheaply.

Trump's predecessor Joe Biden imposed 100 percent tariffs on Chinese EV imports that could potentially go even higher under Trump. Europe has also imposed tariffs on Chinese imports, but BYD is building manufacturing capacity in Hungary.

While the chance of Tesla reclaiming its global leadership in EVs looks uncertain, the American company is also potentially positioned for growth.

Michaeli of TD Cowen sees autonomous technology playing an increasingly important role for Tesla, with breakthroughs in its "full self-driving" or "FSD" offerings potentially boosting sales.

"As Tesla really begins to roll out eyes-off features and expand FSDs capability, if they do that successfully, that should generate more demand for their vehicles," Michaeli said.

Musk has said the Cybercab, an autonomous robotaxi model, will begin production in April 2026. The company has also unveiled lower-priced versions of the Models 3 and Y that could boost sales.

Business

China Says to Launch Digital Currency Action Plan

People walk past a shopping mall in Beijing on December 28, 2025. (AFP)
People walk past a shopping mall in Beijing on December 28, 2025. (AFP)
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China Says to Launch Digital Currency Action Plan

People walk past a shopping mall in Beijing on December 28, 2025. (AFP)
People walk past a shopping mall in Beijing on December 28, 2025. (AFP)

China will on January 1 launch an "action plan" for boosting management and operations of its digital currency, a deputy governor of the country's central bank said Monday.

"The future digital yuan will be a modern digital payment and circulation means issued and circulated within the financial system," People's Bank of China (PBoC) Deputy Governor Lu Lei wrote in Financial News, a media outlet under the central bank.

In the next step towards that goal, a "new generation" arrangement for digital yuan will be launched on January 1, Lu said, encompassing a "measurement framework, management system, operating mechanism and ecosystem".

The "action plan" will see banks pay interest on balances held by clients in digital yuan -- a move to incentivize broader adoption of the currency.

The plan also includes a proposal to establish an international digital yuan operations center in the eastern financial hub of Shanghai, the report said.

Monetary authorities around the world have in recent years been exploring ways to digitalize currencies, propelled by a boom in online payments during the pandemic and the increased popularity of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.

The PBoC has been working on a digital currency since 2014 and has been testing the use of a "digital yuan" or "e-CNY" in various pilot programs.

Consumers across the country already widely use mobile and online payments, but the digital yuan could allow the central bank -- rather than the big tech giants -- access to more data and control over payments.

Business

Bulgaria Prepares for the Euro amid Excitement and Skepticism

People shop in a Lidl store, as prices are displayed in both the Bulgarian lev and euro currencies, ahead of Bulgaria's adoption of the euro on January 1, 2026, in Sofia, Bulgaria, December 18, 2025. (Reuters)
People shop in a Lidl store, as prices are displayed in both the Bulgarian lev and euro currencies, ahead of Bulgaria's adoption of the euro on January 1, 2026, in Sofia, Bulgaria, December 18, 2025. (Reuters)
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Bulgaria Prepares for the Euro amid Excitement and Skepticism

People shop in a Lidl store, as prices are displayed in both the Bulgarian lev and euro currencies, ahead of Bulgaria's adoption of the euro on January 1, 2026, in Sofia, Bulgaria, December 18, 2025. (Reuters)
People shop in a Lidl store, as prices are displayed in both the Bulgarian lev and euro currencies, ahead of Bulgaria's adoption of the euro on January 1, 2026, in Sofia, Bulgaria, December 18, 2025. (Reuters)

Bulgarian banks, businesses and shoppers were preparing this week to say goodbye to ​the lev currency ahead of a move to adopt the euro on January 1, a long-awaited milestone met with excitement, skepticism and, in some corners, anger.

Bulgaria, a Black Sea country on the European Union's southeast frontier, will be the 21st country to join the euro currency zone after it met the formal entry criteria this year, including for inflation, budget deficit, long-term borrowing costs and exchange-rate stability.

It comes two years after Croatia joined in January 2023 - the last country to do so - and ‌will push ‌the number of Europeans using the currency to more ‌than ⁠350 ​million. Becoming a ‌member of the euro zone, apart from using euro notes and coins, also means a seat at the European Central Bank's rate-setting Governing Council.

While successive Bulgarian governments have tried to make the step since joining the EU in 2007, the Balkan country of 6.7 million people is split on the issue, polls show, although businesses are largely in favor.

SUSPICIONS AMONG SOME BULGARIANS

Some fear it will push up prices, or are suspicious of ⁠a domestic political establishment in the throes of a crisis that saw the government step down this month ‌amid widespread protests against proposed tax increases.

In a country with ‍historic cultural and political ties to Russia, ‍many are wary of further allegiance to Europe.

“I am against it, first ‍because the lev is our national currency," said Sofia pensioner Emil Ivanov, interviewed while shopping. "Secondly, Europe is heading towards demise, which even the American president (Donald Trump) mentioned in the new national security strategy.

"I may not be alive when this (the EU's demise) happens but that is where everything ​is going."

BUSINESSES HAVE BEEN PREPARING

Some political analysts said the campaign promoting the euro has been weak, and that older people, especially in ⁠remote areas, will struggle to adapt. They said a lack of stable government may further complicate the change.

Still, in the streets and stores of Sofia, businesses have been preparing. Prices of everything from fruit to bottles of wine are displayed in both levs and euros. Government-funded billboards show the euro-lev exchange rate with a message saying: "Common past. Common future. Common currency." Television adverts have also flagged the coming change.

Some have welcomed the move. "Not only older people but also all young people can easily travel using euros instead of having to exchange currency," said Veselina Apostovlova, a pensioner shopping in Sofia.

Businesses that sell goods across borders were also supportive.

Natalia Gadjeva, owner of the Dragomir Estate Winery in the Thracian ‌Valley, told Reuters: "For me, the most important thing is that all operations involving currency conversion and reissuing invoices in euros and then in levs will be eliminated."