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Experts: Saudi PIF’s Alat to Explore New Opportunities in Modern Sectors

Alat specializes in manufacturing products within seven strategic business units, including Advanced Industries (SPA).
Alat specializes in manufacturing products within seven strategic business units, including Advanced Industries (SPA).
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Experts: Saudi PIF’s Alat to Explore New Opportunities in Modern Sectors

Alat specializes in manufacturing products within seven strategic business units, including Advanced Industries (SPA).
Alat specializes in manufacturing products within seven strategic business units, including Advanced Industries (SPA).

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced on Thursday the launch of Alat - a Public Investment Fund company – with the aim to transform Saudi Arabia into a global hub for sustainable technology manufacturing that focuses on advanced technologies and electronics.
In this regard, experts told Asharq Al-Awsat that the new entity would explore new opportunities in modern sectors, in addition to supporting national companies and enabling them to launch investments in advanced technologies and industries.
Professor of Economics at the University of Jeddah, Dr. Salem Bajaja, stressed that Saudi Arabia would become a pioneer in the manufacture of electronics, by providing sustainable industrial solutions that rely on clean energy sources and meet the future needs of the sector.
Bajaja added that the Alat Company would be able to create more job opportunities in the local market, which would reduce the unemployment rate, pointing that the Kingdom enjoyed all the success ingredients to develop the advanced technologies and electronics sector.
He also emphasized that Alat would in turn explore untapped opportunities in this promising field to reach its desired goals.
Alat will work on manufacturing products that serve local and international markets within seven key strategic business units: advanced industries, semiconductors, smart appliances, smart health, smart devices, smart buildings, and next generation infrastructure.
The company, chaired by the crown prince, aims to enhance the capabilities of the Saudi technology sector, increase its contribution to local content, and raise the country’s attractiveness and its ability to create investment opportunities.
According to Bajaja, the launching of the new company keeps pace with the global evolution of Information Technology, which would contribute to transforming Saudi Arabia into a leader in electronics and open new horizons for the private sector and increase its contribution to the country’s GDP.
For his part, Economic Expert Ahmed al-Jubeir said: “It is important to rely on clean energy in the work of the new company, which focuses on modern industries, with the aim to meet the Kingdom’s directions in the next stage in creating promising investment opportunities.”
Al-Jubeir noted that Alat will have a positive impact on the national economy and will stimulate the private sector to invest in new industries and forge partnerships with the PIF.
Moreover, the new products that will be manufactured through Alat will raise the competition levels and will reflect on the prices in the local market, he said, noting that the new company will also help generate new job opportunities and develop human capabilities in these fields.
Alat will focus on manufacturing in more than 30 categories that serve vital sectors, mainly robotic systems, communication, advanced computers, digital entertainment products, and advanced heavy equipment used in construction, building and mining.
The new company aims to create 39,000 direct jobs in Saudi Arabia by 2030, and achieve a direct non-oil GDP contribution of $9.3 billion by the same year.

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US Job Growth Slowed Sharply in October amid Steady Unemployment Rate

A worker transports items during Cyber Monday at the Amazon fulfillment center in Robbinsville Township in New Jersey, US (Reuters/File)
A worker transports items during Cyber Monday at the Amazon fulfillment center in Robbinsville Township in New Jersey, US (Reuters/File)
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US Job Growth Slowed Sharply in October amid Steady Unemployment Rate

A worker transports items during Cyber Monday at the Amazon fulfillment center in Robbinsville Township in New Jersey, US (Reuters/File)
A worker transports items during Cyber Monday at the Amazon fulfillment center in Robbinsville Township in New Jersey, US (Reuters/File)

US job growth likely slowed sharply in October amid disruptions from hurricanes and strikes by aerospace factory workers, but a steady unemployment rate should offer assurance that the labor market remained on solid footing ahead of Tuesday's election.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed that nonfarm payrolls increased by 12,000 in October from the previous month, after employment in September shot up by 223,000 jobs.
A Reuters survey of economists showed that nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 113,000 jobs last month after surging 254,000 in September. Estimates ranged from no jobs added to 200,000 positions created. October's anticipated payrolls count would be the smallest in six months.
Hurricane Helene devastated the Southeast in late September and Hurricane Milton lashed Florida a week later.
The Labor Department reported last week that there were 41,400 new workers on strike, including 33,000 machinists at Boeing and 5,000 at Textron, an aircraft company, when employers were surveyed for October's employment report. The remaining 3,400 were workers at three hotel chains in California and Hawaii.
Workers who do not receive a paycheck during the survey period, which includes the 12th day of the month, are counted as unemployed in the survey of establishments from which the payrolls number is calculated.
The Labor Department's closely watched employment report is the last major economic data before Americans head to the polls to choose Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican former President Donald Trump as the country's next president.
Polls show the race is a toss-up. Americans have not warmed up to the economy's strong performance, which has outshined its global peers, rankled by high prices for food and rents. Low layoffs have been the hallmark of the labor market's strength.
The unemployment rate was seen unaffected by the distortions as the striking workers would be counted as employed in the household survey from which the rate is derived. Workers unable to work because of bad weather would be reported as employed, “with a job, but not at work” as per the BLS' classification.
Economists said a marginal rise in the unemployment rate would not be alarming and expected the Federal Reserve to sort through the noise and cut interest rates by 25 basis points next Thursday.
A rise in the unemployment rate to 4.3% in July from 3.8% in March was one of the catalysts for the US central bank's unusually large half-percentage-point interest rate cut in September, the first reduction in borrowing costs since 2020.
The Fed's policy rate is now set in the 4.75%-5.00% range, having been hiked by 525 basis points in 2022 and 2023.
Though employers have pulled back on hiring, they are retaining their workers, underpinning wage gains and consumer spending.
Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% last month after gaining 0.3% in September. They were likely lifted by hourly paid workers dropping out of the payrolls calculation.
Wages increased 4.0% in the 12 months through October after advancing 3.9% in September.