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Saudi Arabia Expected to Invest $20 Bln in Chinese Technologies

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Expected to Invest $20 Bln in Chinese Technologies

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia is expected to lead Gulf investments estimated at $20 billion in the Chinese technology sector over the next two years, according to investment sources.

Governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), Mohammad al-Tamimi confirmed that the Saudi telecom market is the largest growing market in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

He indicated that the telecom market is worth an estimated $18.6 billion, the information technology market $17 billion and the postal market $1.7 billion. Telecom companies have a market value of $65.6 billion.

Abdullah bin Zaid al-Meleihi, an investor in Chinese technology, explained that Beijing plans to offer the Chinese technology sector to invest in the Middle East region.

He noted that the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology drafted a three-year work plan to develop the country’s cybersecurity sector, estimating its value could exceed $38.6 billion by 2023, according to Chinese reports.

The draft comes as the Chinese authorities intensify their efforts to prepare regulations to improve storage, data transfer, and the privacy of personal data, he added.

Cyberspace Administration of China proposes draft rules that call on all data-rich technology companies with more than one million users to undergo security reviews before listing their shares.

Meleihi told Asharq Al-Awsat that Chinese software revenues in the first half of this year amounted to $684 billion, while Gulf investments in the Chinese technology sector amount to $7 billion, with expectations to reach $20 billion over the next two years.

According to the investor, the electric car market in China is about threefold the European market. Recent data revealed that the global electric car market has grown at about 60 percent year-on-year.

Moreover, Alibaba Cloud has opened its headquarters in Saudi Arabia, which enhances the Kingdom’s digital leadership, both regionally and globally.

Alibaba Cloud plans to invest $500 million in the Kingdom as part of the qualitative partnership, said Meleihi.

The partnership seeks to provide an integrated set of cloud products and services to companies and establish the largest high-performance public cloud service for the MENA region.

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Gold Rises as Dollar Slips, Focus Turns to US Jobs Data

FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
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Gold Rises as Dollar Slips, Focus Turns to US Jobs Data

FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo

Gold prices rose on Monday, buoyed by a softer dollar as investors braced for a week packed with US economic data that could offer more clues on the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy.

Spot gold rose 1.2% to $5,018.56 per ounce by 9:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT), extending a 4% rally from Friday.

US gold futures for April delivery also gained 1.3% to $5,042.20 per ounce.

The US dollar fell 0.8% to a more than one-week low, making greenback-priced bullion cheaper for overseas buyers.

"The big mover today (in gold prices) is the US dollar," said Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities, adding that expectations are growing for weak economic data, particularly on the labor front, Reuters reported.

Investors are closely watching this week's release of US nonfarm payrolls, consumer prices and initial jobless claims for fresh signals on monetary policy, with markets already pricing in at least two rate cuts of 25 basis points in 2026.

US nonfarm payrolls are expected to have risen by 70,000 in January, according to a Reuters poll.

Lower interest rates tend to support gold by reducing the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset.

Meanwhile, China's central bank extended its gold buying spree for a 15th month in January, data from the People's Bank of China showed on Saturday.

"The debasement trade continues, with ongoing geopolitical risks driving people into gold," Melek said, adding that China's purchases have had a psychological impact on the market.

Spot silver climbed 2.9% to $80.22 per ounce after a near 10% gain in the previous session. It hit an all-time high of $121.64 on January 29.

Spot platinum was down 0.2% at $2,092.95 per ounce, while palladium was steady at $1,707.25.

"A slowdown in EV sales hasn't really materialized despite all the policy softening, so I do see that platinum and palladium will possibly slow down," after a bullish run in 2025, WisdomTree commodities strategist Nitesh Shah said.

Business

Al-Rumayyan: PIF Investments in Local Content Exceed $157 Billion

Yasir Al-Rumayyan speaks to the audience in the opening speech of the Public Investment Fund Private Sector Forum (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Yasir Al-Rumayyan speaks to the audience in the opening speech of the Public Investment Fund Private Sector Forum (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Al-Rumayyan: PIF Investments in Local Content Exceed $157 Billion

Yasir Al-Rumayyan speaks to the audience in the opening speech of the Public Investment Fund Private Sector Forum (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Yasir Al-Rumayyan speaks to the audience in the opening speech of the Public Investment Fund Private Sector Forum (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), announced that spending by the sovereign fund’s programs, initiatives, and companies on local content reached 591 billion riyals ($157 billion) between 2020 and 2024.

He added that the fund’s private sector platform has created more than 190 investment opportunities worth over 40 billion riyals ($10 billion).

Speaking at the opening of the PIF Private Sector Forum on Monday in Riyadh, Al-Rumayyan said the fund is working closely with the private sector to deepen the impact of previous achievements and build an integrated economic system that drives sustainable growth through a comprehensive investment cycle methodology.

He described the forum as the largest platform of its kind for seizing partnership and collaboration opportunities with the private sector, highlighting the fund’s success in turning discussions into tangible projects.

Since 2023, the forum has attracted 25,000 participants from both public and private sectors and has witnessed the signing of over 140 agreements worth more than 15 billion riyals, he pointed out.

Al-Rumayyan emphasized that the meeting comes at a pivotal stage of the Kingdom’s economy, where competitiveness will reach higher levels, sectors and value chains will mature, and ambitions will be raised.

PIF Private Sector Forum aims to support the fund’s strategic initiative to engage the private sector, showcase commercial opportunities across PIF and its portfolio companies, highlight potential prospects for investors and suppliers, and enhance cooperation to strengthen the local economy.

Business

Pakistan’s Finance Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: We Draw Inspiration from Saudi Arabia

The Pakistani Finance Minister during his meeting with Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference (SPA)
The Pakistani Finance Minister during his meeting with Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference (SPA)
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Pakistan’s Finance Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: We Draw Inspiration from Saudi Arabia

The Pakistani Finance Minister during his meeting with Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference (SPA)
The Pakistani Finance Minister during his meeting with Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference (SPA)

Pakistani Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb discussed the future of his country, which has frequently experienced a boom-and-bust cycle, saying Pakistan has relied on International Monetary Fund (IMF) programs due to the absence of structural reforms.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies, Aurangzeb acknowledged that Pakistan has relied on IMF programs 24 times not as a coincidence, but rather as a result of the absence of structural reforms and follow-up.

He stressed the government has decided to "double its efforts" to stay on the reform path, no matter the challenges, affirming that Islamabad not only has a reform roadmap, but also draws inspiration from "Saudi Vision 2030" as a unique model of discipline and turning plans into reality.

Revolution of Numbers

Aurangzeb reviewed the dramatic transformation in macroeconomic indicators. After foreign exchange reserves covered only two weeks of imports, current policies have succeeded in raising them to two and a half months.

He also pointed out to the government's success in curbing inflation, which has fallen from a peak of 38 percent to 10.5 percent, while reducing the fiscal deficit to 5 percent after being around 8 percent.

Aurangzeb commented on the "financial stability" principle put forward by his Saudi counterpart, Mohammed Aljadaan, considering it the cornerstone that enabled Pakistan to regain its lost fiscal space.

He explained that the success in achieving primary surpluses and reducing the deficit was not merely academic figures, but rather transformed into solid "financial buffers" that saved the country.

The minister cited the vast difference in dealing with disasters. While Islamabad had to launch an urgent international appeal for assistance during the 2022 floods, the "fiscal space" and buffers it recently built enabled it to deal with wider climate disasters by relying on its own resources, without having to search "haphazardly" for urgent external aid, proving that macroeconomic stability is the first shield to protect economic sovereignty.

Privatization and Breaking the Stalemate of State-Owned Enterprises

Aurangzeb affirmed that the Pakistani Prime Minister adopts a clear vision that "the private sector is what leads the state."

He revealed the handover of 24 government institutions to the privatization committee, noting that the successful privatization of Pakistan International Airlines in December provided a "momentum" for the privatization of other firms.

Aurangzeb also revealed radical reforms in the tax system to raise it from 10 percent to 12 percent of GDP, with the adoption of a customs tariff system that reduces local protection to make Pakistani industry more competitive globally, in parallel with reducing the size of the federal government.

Partnership with Riyadh

As for the relationship with Saudi Arabia, Aurangzeb outlined the features of a historic transformation, stressing that Pakistan wants to move from "aid and loans" to "trade and investment."

He expressed his great admiration for "Vision 2030," not only as an ambition, but as a model that achieved its targets ahead of schedule.

He revealed a formal Pakistani request to benefit from Saudi "technical knowledge and administrative expertise" in implementing economic transformations, stressing that his country's need for this executive discipline and the Kingdom's ability to manage major transformations is no less important than the need for direct financing, to ensure the building of a resilient economy led by exports, not debts.