The Saudi Industrial Production Index (IPI) recorded its highest growth in three years, reaching 11.1 percent last January on an annual basis, according to official data.
The General Authority for Statistics indicated that the increase in the annual growth rate is a clear indication of the recovery of industrial production in the country.
The increase of industrial production resulted mainly from higher output in the three sub-sectors, mining and quarrying, manufacturing, and electricity and gas supply.
Taking a longer-term view, the growth of the IPI turned positive in May 2021 after a long period of negative growth rates in 2019 and 2020, partly impacted by the effects of the worldwide pandemic.
Since mid-2021, the IPI growth showed a positive trend, accelerating at the end of 2021.
In January 2022, mining and quarrying grew by 11.4 percent compared to January 2021 as Saudi Arabia increased its oil production to its highest level by more than 10 million barrels per day in January 2022.
Manufacturing grew by 9.7 percent, and electricity and gas supplies by 15.7 percent.
Meanwhile, Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) extended the Guaranteed Financing Program - one of SAMA's Private Sector Financing Support Programs - for one more year until March 14, 2023, for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)
The extensions are consistent with SAMA's mandate of promoting financial sector stability, supporting economic growth, enhancing the Saudi Central Bank's support to MSMEs growth, and overcoming challenges from COVID-19 preventive measures.
MSMEs can benefit from the Guaranteed Financing Program through banks and financing companies that are subject to the supervision of the Saudi Central Bank and are members of the Small & Medium Enterprises Funding Guarantee Program "Kafalah."
Since its launch on March 14, 2020, the Program has benefited more than 13,000 contracts with a total financing value exceeding $2.9 billion.
European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic gives a press statement on EU-Philippines trade relations at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, 22 September 2026. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
EU Strikes New Free Trade Deal with the Philippines
European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic gives a press statement on EU-Philippines trade relations at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, 22 September 2026. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
The European Union and the Philippines announced a new free trade deal on Tuesday in the latest bilateral agreement struck by Brussels as it seeks to diversify its economy as tensions persist with traditional trading partners including China, Russia and the United States.
The EU's top trade negotiator, Maroš Šefčovič, said that he and Philippine Trade Secretary María Cristina Aldeguer-Roque structured the deal to grow the nearly 30 billion euros (around $35 billion) of annual trade between the 27-nation EU and the Southeast Asian nation of 115 million people.
“It also delivers stronger, more diversified supply chains at the moment when resilience has become a strategic priority,” Šefčovič said.
Trade is dominated by electronics, with the EU exporting aircraft, pork and pharmaceuticals while importing semiconductors, integrated circuits and industrial machinery manufactured in the Philippines.
The Philippines is the third nation from the ASEAN bloc after Vietnam and Singapore to sign a bilateral trade deal with the EU. Negotiations are ongoing between the
European Commission and Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, while a larger free-trade agreement is hoped for in the long term between ASEAN itself and the EU.
“There is a bigger picture here too,” The Associated Press quoted Šefčovič as sayhing. “This agreement sends a clear signal that the EU is reinforcing its engagement with the Indo-Pacific.”
The EU has sought growth and stability in new trade links from Australia to Argentina as the bloc itself is beset by a geopolitical maelstrom, including conflicts in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine.
The EU also has been dealing with the need to explore alternative energy sources, heightened tensions with the Trump administration, officials from EU member states accusing Russia of hybrid attacks, and China running a gargantuan trade imbalance and a near-monopoly over critical mineral supplies.
The EU deal with the Philippines roughly tracks with the “ middle powers ” strategy laid out at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this year by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Last week, he was the guest of honor in the European Parliament in Strasbourg at the annual State of the European Union speech by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
She said then that the EU would forge a new kind of “ associated membership ” for Canada.
“In this new world, we must urgently reimagine our partnerships,” von der Leyen said during her speech.
BlackRock: Saudi Arabia Accounts for More Than 60% of Capital-Raising in the Regionhttps://english.aawsat.com/business/5321137-blackrock-saudi-arabia-accounts-more-60-capital-raising-region
BlackRock: Saudi Arabia Accounts for More Than 60% of Capital-Raising in the Region
The King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh
Saudi Arabia is leading fundraising in the region, accounting for over 60% of all Middle East-based funds closed since 2015, a sign of the Kingdom's growing role as a destination for private investment, alongside a broader regional shift from being merely a source of capital to becoming a market that attracts investment and redeploys it domestically.
BlackRock's Aladdin released on Tuesday “Market Evolution: The Middle East,” a new report examining the region's shift from a source of global private markets capital to a destination for private capital deployment.
The report says Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation programs, growing infrastructure investments, and advancing institutional capabilities are driving the expansion of the Kingdom’s private capital market. At the same time, investor appetite for technology, infrastructure, and other sectors continues to grow.
Saudi Arabia’s leadership in capital fundraising has been accompanied by an accelerating pace of domestic capital deployment.
According to the report, “Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has accelerated domestic deployment, overtaking rest-of-world direct deal activity in the Middle East deals in 2023 and has extended that lead since.”
This shift reflects a broader trend toward building a local market capable of absorbing a larger share of investment capital. In 2024, Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock, stated that BlackRock Riyadh Investment Management Platform, launched in partnership with PIF, aims to elevate Saudi Arabia’s capital markets and attract greater foreign institutional investment.
He noted that the ambition extends beyond connecting global investors to Saudi Arabia; it also includes “bringing capital back to Saudi Arabia.”
Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock, speaking at a session of the Future Investment Initiative conference (Asharq Al-Awsat file photo)
Fink later highlighted the development of local capital markets as a central theme in his discussions with regional leaders. He emphasized that BlackRock’s partnership with PIF was designed to encourage investment and strengthen the Kingdom’s capital markets.
These developments coincide with growing interest among major investors in the region in private assets. “Middle East sovereign wealth funds tracked by Preqin allocate 43% of their exposure to private capital, compared with 35% for their rest-of-world peers, and appetite continues to build,” said the report.
“The share of Middle East LP investors positive on or considering private equity mandates has climbed from 70% in 2019 to 83% in 2026. Among LP investors elsewhere in the world, that figure has moved only marginally over the same period, from 60% to 61%, showing regional conviction is growing well ahead of the global baseline,” it added.
Managing Director and Head of Aladdin Business Development for the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and India Ayman Daif said: "The direction of travel in the region points to a structural shift: capital is increasingly being deployed at home, and the institutions and ecosystems are being built around it.”
"The next phase of growth will be shaped by continued collaboration between sovereign wealth funds, family offices and global investment managers, alongside broader adoption of technology and data-driven investment approaches,” he stated.
"This comes as BlackRock Investment Institute research suggests GCC countries will invest about $2.1 trillion by 2030, with spending focused on making economies more resilient to disruptions in trade, shipping and energy markets,” Daif added.
FILE PHOTO: The company logo and trading information for BlackRock is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
The report identifies Saudi Arabia and the UAE as the region's leading private capital markets, supported by economic transformation programs, expanding infrastructure investment and growing institutional sophistication, with centers such as Kuwait also increasing activity.
The report’s findings also highlight the growing importance of infrastructure and digital infrastructure investment. Regional investors cite opportunities across energy, utilities, transport, data centers and artificial intelligence-related infrastructure as key drivers of future growth.
Family offices are also playing an increasingly important role in the region's investment ecosystem. The report finds family offices now account for nearly half of active private capital investors in the Middle East, with private equity representing their largest area of investment interest.
GCC family offices tilt toward private equity at 27% of future search mandates, ahead of real estate at 19%, private credit at 16%, infrastructure at 14%, hedge funds at 13%, and natural resources at 11%.
As an indication of the resilience of the region’s venture capital market amid a more challenging global funding environment, aggregate Middle East VC deal value averaged $2.4 billion per year between 2021 and 2025, holding steady throughout the period.
Add-ons have also risen from 20% of total buyout deal activity in 2020 to 46% in 2025, reflecting the growing use of this strategy to expand companies and existing investment platforms.
“Market Evolution: The Middle East” draws on Preqin Pro data as of June 2026, covering funds closed in the Middle East since 2015 and private capital deal activity since 2020.
The report also draws on preliminary results from Preqin's upcoming Middle East Investor Survey, which had captured responses from 26 regional investors and remained open at the time of publication, alongside interviews with BlackRock leaders across the region.
Oil Prices Climb after Declining for 4 Consecutive Sessionshttps://english.aawsat.com/business/5321102-oil-prices-climb-after-declining-4-consecutive-sessions
FILE PHOTO: Flames and smoke rise from the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which has been on fire since August 23, after an attack by Houthi militants, on the Red Sea, September 12, 2024 in this handout image. EUNAVFOR ASPIDES/Handout via REUTERS
Oil Prices Climb after Declining for 4 Consecutive Sessions
FILE PHOTO: Flames and smoke rise from the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which has been on fire since August 23, after an attack by Houthi militants, on the Red Sea, September 12, 2024 in this handout image. EUNAVFOR ASPIDES/Handout via REUTERS
Oil prices gained on Tuesday after declining for four consecutive sessions as investors awaited developments on potential US-Iran talks at the United Nations General Assembly this week after more supplies emerged through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.
The Brent crude futures November contract rose $1.29, or 1.29%, to $101.63 a barrel at 0758 GMT. The WTI October contract, which expires on Tuesday, climbed 92 cents, or 0.96%, to $96.70 a barrel, Reuters reported.
The more actively traded November contract was up 80 cents, or 0.87%, at $93.17 a barrel.
Tehran and Washington exchanged threats on Sunday, though US President Donald Trump said he would be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is expected to be in New York this week for the UN meeting.
The rebound in crude suggests traders need fresh developments on supply risks or diplomatic efforts before pushing prices materially lower, said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.
Over the weekend, Iran also reportedly conveyed its conditions to mediators for re-engaging in negotiations.
"Oil exports from the Middle East have recovered but remain well below pre-conflict averages," said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
Hansen said he does not see much further downside in oil prices until there is increased supply through the Strait of Hormuz, particularly refined products, where the real crunch remains.
Separately, an armed group closed valve seven on Libya's Sharara crude pipeline to Zawiya port on Monday, resulting in a significant decline in production at the Sharara oilfield, Libya's National Oil Corporation said in a statement.
Production at the field has fallen by around 200,000 barrels per day and is currently between 100,000 and 105,000 bpd, two engineers at the field told Reuters.
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