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Aramco Spends $12 Bil on SMEs Yearly

Aramco Spends $12 Bil on SMEs Yearly
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Aramco Spends $12 Bil on SMEs Yearly

Aramco Spends $12 Bil on SMEs Yearly

Aramco has been spending $12 billion every year on more than 4,000 SMEs (small and medium enterprises) either directly or through its supply chain through Total Value Add Program (iktva).

Aramco’s iktva is a landmark initiative that catalyses localisation in the energy and energy-related industries, leveraging the economic role of SMEs and increasing their contribution to the GDP, and adds thousands of quality job opportunities, according to VP for Procurement & Supply Chain Management at Saudi Aramco Abdulaziz al-Abdulkarim.

This is being mainly done by Aramco to highlight the importance of creating an ecosystem that enables SMEs to flourish and grow in order to achieve a sustainable economic development in the kingdom, stated the VP.

Through iktva, Aramco plans to deliver a world-class, locally-sourced supply chain in the Kingdom, with an overarching objective of achieving 70 percent of locally supplied content by 2021, he added.

He indicated that this is in line with the goals and objectives of Vision 2030 that aspires to raise the contribution of local content in industry and to foster the economic role of SMEs as engines for innovation and sustainability.

Currently, SMEs contribute around 20 percent of the Kingdom’s gross domestic product. Saudi Vision 2030 has set an initial target to increase that share to 35 percent.

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Gold Eases from Record Peak on Profit-taking; Trump's Tariffs in Focus

Gold bars at a gold shop in Bangkok, Thailand, 01 April 2025. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT
Gold bars at a gold shop in Bangkok, Thailand, 01 April 2025. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT
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20
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Gold Eases from Record Peak on Profit-taking; Trump's Tariffs in Focus

Gold bars at a gold shop in Bangkok, Thailand, 01 April 2025. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT
Gold bars at a gold shop in Bangkok, Thailand, 01 April 2025. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT

Gold dipped on Thursday as traders locked in profits after prices hit a record high, following a rush to safe-haven assets triggered by US President Donald Trump's aggressive import tariffs, which escalated the already intense global trade war.

Spot gold was down 0.4% at $3,122.1, as of 0710 GMT. Earlier in the session, bullion hit an all-time high of $3,167.57.

US gold futures fell 0.7% to $3,145.00.

Trump unveiled on Wednesday a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the US, and higher duties on dozens of countries, including some of its biggest trading partners, deepening a trade war that has rattled global markets, Reuters said.

The reciprocal tariffs do not apply to certain goods, including gold, energy and "certain minerals that are not available in the US," according to a White House fact sheet.

One of the factors supporting gold was "the slowdown that tariffs are likely to cause the US economy, raising the prospects of future rate cuts," Capital.com's financial market analyst Kyle Rodda said.

The Trump administration confirmed that the 25% global car and truck tariffs will take effect on April 3, as planned, and duties on automotive parts imports will be launched on May 3.

Gold is in "a pure momentum trade, where bulls who were left for dust are agonizing on the side line, eager for even the smallest of dips, and until we see a volatile shakeout big enough to stun bulls and bears, the momentum trade could continue higher," said Matt Simpson, a senior analyst at City Index.

Gold, a hedge against political and financial instabilities, has surged more than 19% year-to-date, mainly driven by tariff jitters, rate- cut possibilities, geopolitical conflicts, and central bank buying.

"There's also some front running going on amongst traders who anticipate (Trump's) policies will drive central banks to park their reserves in gold rather than US dollar-denominated assets," Rodda said.

Market awaits US non-farm payrolls report due on Friday for clues into the Federal Reserve's policy path.

Spot silver slipped 2.8% to $33.07 an ounce, platinum fell 1.5% to $968.37, and palladium lost 1.4% to $956.50.