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Saudi Arabia Establishes 1st Council for Sustainable Economies Transformation

Officials sign a tripartite agreement to form an advisory council for sustainable economic transformations, during the LEAP conference on Tuesday. (SPA)
Officials sign a tripartite agreement to form an advisory council for sustainable economic transformations, during the LEAP conference on Tuesday. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Establishes 1st Council for Sustainable Economies Transformation

Officials sign a tripartite agreement to form an advisory council for sustainable economic transformations, during the LEAP conference on Tuesday. (SPA)
Officials sign a tripartite agreement to form an advisory council for sustainable economic transformations, during the LEAP conference on Tuesday. (SPA)

The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), the Saudi Research, Development and Innovation Development Authority, and Microsoft Corporation have announced the formation of the Sustainability Council to respond to the transformations of sustainable economies.

Dr. Munir El-Desouki, the president of KACST, said that the establishment of the council came in line with the Saudi Arabia Green initiative and the Green Middle East to reach zero neutrality by 2060 and to lead a new wave of green Saudi investments of a sustainable economic nature.

Al-Desouki stressed that the new council would seek to promote innovation and build partnerships by motivating stakeholders to ensure the achievement of the Kingdom’s goals and aspirations at the level of the global competitiveness map.

Eng. Thamer Alharbi, the head of Microsoft Arabia, said the council would help organizations transform their business, increase productivity, drive innovation, and manage more sustainable operations, by providing roundtable discussions for leaders, and stimulating scientific research.

The Sustainability Council, which was announced on the sidelines of the LEAP 2023 conference, is an advisory platform that brings together key stakeholders from industry, academia, government agencies and international experts to facilitate regular meetings and knowledge exchange between leaders.

The LEAP 2023 conference kicked off in Riyadh on Monday, in the presence of more than 700 experts, scientists and specialized companies from around the world, who are discussing the latest developments in virtual reality, creative economy, edutech, retail, Fourth Industrial Revolution, future energy, smart cities, fintech, and healthtech.

Sibi Gurnani, CEO of Tech Mahindra - a world leader in information technology solutions – stressed that Saudi Arabia had promising technical investments in a number of fields, especially energy and environment.

In remarks during a session on the second day of LEAP 2023, Gurnani said that Prince Mohammed bin Salman had a clear plan to face challenges and build broad partnerships in the field of automation, innovations and human engineering.

For his part, CEO of Natanix Rajeev Ramaswamy said that Saudi Arabia launched an inspiring and bold vision that would lead to major social and economic transformations and employ technology to serve humanity.

Phalgun Kompalli, CEO of UpGrad, praised the Kingdom’s endeavor to adopt new technologies, pointing to the great opportunities available for investment in technology to cover the needs of industry, education, health, and other service and logistical sectors.

CEO of 2U Inc. Chip Paucek said that around a billion jobs would be available in the Arab Gulf region thanks to technology changes and the expansion of the uses of artificial intelligence.

He added that partnerships between the public and private sectors contributed to a greater chance of success in the fields of education and provided appropriate platforms to help people access advanced technology services and capabilities, and localize technology.

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French Finance Minister Says Budget Can Still Be Improved

French Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry Antoine Armand arrives for a dinner in honor of the President of Nigeria, at the Elysee palace in Paris, on November 28, 2024. (AFP)
French Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry Antoine Armand arrives for a dinner in honor of the President of Nigeria, at the Elysee palace in Paris, on November 28, 2024. (AFP)
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French Finance Minister Says Budget Can Still Be Improved

French Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry Antoine Armand arrives for a dinner in honor of the President of Nigeria, at the Elysee palace in Paris, on November 28, 2024. (AFP)
French Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry Antoine Armand arrives for a dinner in honor of the President of Nigeria, at the Elysee palace in Paris, on November 28, 2024. (AFP)

French Finance Minister Antoine Armand said on Saturday that the 2025 budget could still be improved, but stopped short of giving ground in a standoff with the far right over new concessions.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's gave Prime Minister Michel Barnier's fragile minority government a rare reprieve late on Friday leaving its rating steady although France's budget deficit has spiraled out of control this year.

Any relief is likely to prove short-lived with both the left and far right threatening to bring Barnier's government down over the budget, which seeks to squeeze 60 billion euros ($64 billion) in savings through tax hikes and spending cuts.

Marine Le Pen's far right National Rally (RN), whose tacit support Barnier needs to survive a likely no confidence motion, has given him until Monday to accede to her demands to make further changes to the budget.

"This government, under his authority, is willing to listen, to have a dialog, to be respectful, to improve this budget," Armand told journalists.

Asked about the showdown with Le Pen, he said: "The only ultimatum really facing the French is that our country gets a budget."

On Thursday, Barnier already dropped plans to raise electricity taxes in the budget as the RN had demanded, but it is keeping pressure on the government to scrap plans to postpone an increase in some pensions to save money.

RN lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy told Les Echos newspaper on Saturday if the bill is not modified the party would back a no-confidence motion.

The test could come as soon as Monday if his government has to use an aggressive constitutional measure to ram the social security financing legislation through parliament, which will trigger a no-confidence motion.