عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

High Expectations for Growth of Saudi Telecom Market

The Saudi telecom sector is likely to grow in response to technology developments. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi telecom sector is likely to grow in response to technology developments. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
20
TT

High Expectations for Growth of Saudi Telecom Market

The Saudi telecom sector is likely to grow in response to technology developments. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Saudi telecom sector is likely to grow in response to technology developments. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia ranked third as the fastest growing economy among the G20 countries, and first in the world in the 5G average download speed.

Some economists have raised expectations for the growth of the Saudi telecom market - the largest market in the Middle East and North Africa.

Saudi Arabia and the United States concluded a memorandum of cooperation in the field of 5G and 6G, with the aim of accelerating the growth of the digital economy and promoting the pace of research, development and innovation in the Kingdom.

Saudi businessman Abdullah Al-Malehi told Asharq Al-Awsat that Saudi Arabia had major leaps in the global ranks in the field of communications.

Pointing to figures by GSMA, Al-Malehi said that in 2020, the size of the communications and information technology market in the Kingdom amounted to USD36 billion, achieving a growth rate of seven percent compared to 2019.

The Saudi communications investor said that the revenues of telecom companies listed on the Saudi stock market continued to grow for the fourth year in a row, reaching 86.4 billion riyals (USD23 billion) in 2021, compared to about 81.12 billion riyals (USD21.6 billion) the previous year.

He also stressed that the size of the IT and emerging technologies market in the Kingdom amounted to more than USD17 billion, with a growth rate of 10 percent compared to 2019, while the contribution of the communications and information technology sector to the GDP reached 5.1 percent.

Al-Malehi explained that a new memorandum of cooperation linking technology companies in both the Kingdom and the United States would enhance the application of the 5G using open radio networks, enable the development of the 6G through similar technologies, and enhance partnership in the field of cloud infrastructure and related technologies.

Dr. Abdul Rahman Baeshen, head of the Al-Shorouk Center for Economic Studies in Jazan, stressed that the communications and information technology sector was the future of the digital economy, explaining that Saudi Vision 2030 included this field as a major axis for development and economic transformation.

He added that among the 18 agreements that Riyadh signed with Washington during President Joe Biden’s recent visit to the Kingdom was a major cooperation agreement in the field of technology and communications.

Most Viewed

 
Business

China Hits Back at Trump Tariff Hike, Turmoil Rings Recession Alarm

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
TT
20
TT

China Hits Back at Trump Tariff Hike, Turmoil Rings Recession Alarm

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura

Beijing on Friday increased its tariffs on US imports to 125%, hitting back against US President Donald Trump's decision to hike duties on Chinese goods to 145% and raising the stakes in a trade war that threatens to up-end global supply chains.
Meanwhile, the turmoil unleashed by Trump's tariffs showed few signs of easing on Friday, with markets tumbling and foreign leaders puzzling how to respond to the biggest disruption to the world trade order in decades.
A brief reprieve for battered stocks seen after Trump decided to pause duties for dozens of countries for 90 days quickly dissipated, as attention returned to his escalating trade war with China that has fueled global recession fears, Reuters reported.
Global stocks fell, the dollar slid and a sell-off in US government bonds picked up pace on Friday, reigniting fears of fragility in the world's biggest bond market. Gold, a safe haven for investors in times of crisis, scaled a record high.
"Recession risk is much, much higher now than it was a couple weeks ago," said Adam Hetts, global head of multi-asset at Janus Henderson.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tried to assuage sceptics by telling a cabinet meeting on Thursday that more than 75 countries wanted to start trade negotiations. Trump himself expressed hope of a deal with China, the world's No.2 economy.
But the uncertainty in the meantime extended some of the most volatile trading since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asian indices mostly followed Wall Street lower on Friday. In Europe, China's latest tariff hike sent stocks lower, leaving the STOXX 600 down more than 1% on the day and set for another drop this week, one of its most volatile on record.
Bessent shrugged off the renewed market turmoil on Thursday and said striking deals with other countries would bring certainty.
The US and Vietnam have agreed to begin formal trade talks, the White House said. The Southeast Asian manufacturing hub is prepared to crack down on Chinese goods being shipped to the United States via its territory in the hope of avoiding tariffs, Reuters exclusively reported.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, meanwhile, has set up a trade task force that hopes to visit Washington next week.
As Trump suddenly paused his 'reciprocal' tariffs on other countries hours after they came into effect earlier this week, he ratcheted up duties on Chinese imports as punishment for Beijing's initial move to retaliate.
He has now imposed new tariffs on Chinese goods of 145% since taking office, a White House official said.
China hit back with new tariffs on Friday.
"The US imposition of abnormally high tariffs on China seriously violates international and economic trade rules, basic economic laws and common sense and is completely unilateral bullying and coercion," China's finance ministry said in a statement.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday that he thought the United States could make a deal with China and said he respected Chinese President Xi Jinping.
"In a true sense he's been a friend of mine for a long period of time, and I think that we'll end up working out something that's very good for both countries," he said.

Xi, in his first public remarks on Trump's tariffs, told Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez during a meeting in Beijing on Friday that China and the European Union should "jointly oppose unilateral acts of bullying," China's state news agency Xinhua reported.
"There are no winners in a trade war," the Chinese leader told his guest, adding that by acting together, the world's second-largest economy and the 27-strong European trade bloc could help uphold "the global rules-based order."