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Gulf Countries Address e-commerce Challenges

The Biban 23 Forum, which was recently held in Riyadh, shed light on e-commerce. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Biban 23 Forum, which was recently held in Riyadh, shed light on e-commerce. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Gulf Countries Address e-commerce Challenges

The Biban 23 Forum, which was recently held in Riyadh, shed light on e-commerce. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Biban 23 Forum, which was recently held in Riyadh, shed light on e-commerce. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is working on limiting the challenges related to e-commerce in member-states, including legal, regulatory or logistical obstacles that prevent optimal use of the advantages of the sector.

It has called on government and private agencies in the Gulf to intensify efforts and collect the information required to give a clear picture to the decision-makers at the council level.

This comes in conjunction with the growth of e-commerce in the GCC countries, as the sector is expected to reach $50 billion by 2025, according to a report by Kearney Middle East.

According to information obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat, the Saudi private sector is currently preparing an integrated file to list the difficulties it faces in e-commerce, before submitting the data to the General Secretariat of the GCC.

These results would contribute to shedding light on the necessary measures to create an appropriate legislative and regulatory climate that keeps pace with developments in the digital world, and within local, regional and international commercial markets.

E-commerce is a major driver of economic growth and helps in expanding the scope of commercial transactions, bringing them to the largest number of companies and consumers, and providing more opportunities and a broader base for transactions.

The Federation of Chambers of the GCC announced its support for the outcome of the consultative meeting of the ministers of trade and industry and representatives of the Gulf private sector, which was held recently in Amman, calling for completing the implementation of the common market paths and addressing the challenges of intra-trade between the council members.

The federation emphasized the need to adopt the necessary steps to support the implementation of the paths of the Gulf common market, in coordination with the GCC General Secretariat, and to present relevant initiatives and studies.

Hassan Al-Huwaizi, President of the Federation of Gulf Chambers, said at the time that they would work to encourage citizens of the GCC countries to interact more with the electronic platform (Takamol), which aims to address inquiries, observations and proposals related to the common market.

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Meta Becomes the Latest Big Tech Company Turning to Nuclear Power for AI Needs

The Meta logo marks the entrance of their corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, California on November 9, 2022. (AFP)
The Meta logo marks the entrance of their corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, California on November 9, 2022. (AFP)
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Meta Becomes the Latest Big Tech Company Turning to Nuclear Power for AI Needs

The Meta logo marks the entrance of their corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, California on November 9, 2022. (AFP)
The Meta logo marks the entrance of their corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, California on November 9, 2022. (AFP)

Meta has cut a 20-year deal to secure nuclear power to help meet surging demand for artificial intelligence and other computing needs at Facebook’s parent company.

The investment with Meta will also expand the output of a Constellation Energy Illinois nuclear plant.

The agreement announced Tuesday is just the latest in a string of tech-nuclear partnerships as the use of AI expands. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Constellation's Clinton Clean Energy Center was actually slated to close in 2017 after years of financial losses but was saved by legislation in Illinois establishing a zero-emission credit program to support the plant into 2027. The agreement deal takes effect in June of 2027, when the state's taxpayer funded zero-emission credit program expires.

With the arrival of Meta, Clinton’s clean energy output will expand by 30 megawatts, preserve 1,100 local jobs and bring in $13.5 million in annual tax revenue, according to the companies.

“Securing clean, reliable energy is necessary to continue advancing our AI ambitions,” said Urvi Parekh, Meta’s head of global energy.

Surging investments in small nuclear reactors comes at a time when large tech companies are facing two major demands: a need to increase their energy supply for AI and data centers, among other needs, while also trying to meet their long-term goals to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions. Those emissions are generated, in large part, from the burning of fossil fuels like gasoline, oil and coal. Nuclear energy, while producing waste, does not emit carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases.

Constellation, the owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, said in September that it planned to restart the reactor so tech giant Microsoft could secure power to supply its data centers. Three Mile Island, located on the Susquehanna River just outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was the site of the nation’s worst commercial nuclear power accident in 1979.

Also last fall, Amazon said it was investing in small nuclear reactors, two days after a similar announcement by Google. Additionally, Google announced last month that it was investing in three advanced nuclear energy projects with Elementl Power.

US states have been positioning themselves to meet the tech industry’s power needs as policymakers consider expanding subsidies and gutting regulatory obstacles.

Last year, 25 states passed legislation to support advanced nuclear energy, and lawmakers this year have introduced over 200 bills supportive of nuclear energy, according to the trade association Nuclear Energy Institute.

Advanced reactor designs from competing firms are filling up the federal government’s regulatory pipeline as the industry touts them as a reliable, climate-friendly way to meet electricity demands from tech giants desperate to power their fast-growing artificial intelligence platforms.

Amazon, Google and Microsoft also have been investing in solar and wind technologies, which make electricity without producing greenhouse gas emissions.

Shares of Constellation Energy Corp., based in Baltimore, were flat Tuesday.