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CEO of Cisco Saudi Arabia: Our Investments in the Kingdom Continue to Support Digital Transformation

The logo of US networks giant Cisco Systems is seen in front of their headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, France August 6, 2022. (Reuters)
The logo of US networks giant Cisco Systems is seen in front of their headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, France August 6, 2022. (Reuters)
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CEO of Cisco Saudi Arabia: Our Investments in the Kingdom Continue to Support Digital Transformation

The logo of US networks giant Cisco Systems is seen in front of their headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, France August 6, 2022. (Reuters)
The logo of US networks giant Cisco Systems is seen in front of their headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, France August 6, 2022. (Reuters)

Saudi Arabia has demonstrated a strong commitment to IT infrastructure amid significant advancements in the Kingdom’s tech sector on global indices. This has positively impacted Cisco, a global leader in security and networking solutions, which has reported consistent performance in line with the opportunities available in the country and reaffirmed its decision to continue investing in Saudi Arabia to support its digital transformation initiatives.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Salman Faqeeh, CEO of Cisco Saudi Arabia, said the Kingdom showcased the strength and efficiency of its infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic, positively influencing Cisco’s operations over the past few years.

Cisco, a technology company listed on the US stock market and headquartered in Silicon Valley, California, specializes in developing, manufacturing, and selling networking devices, software, and communication equipment.

Faqeeh stated that Cisco is committed to playing a key role in supporting Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation through strategic investments. In 2023, the company opened a regional office in Riyadh to strengthen its operations across the Middle East and North Africa and deepen its presence in the Kingdom. Senior executives also held high-level meetings with government and private sector leaders to solidify partnerships in the local market.

Faqeeh stressed that the company has consistently invested in programs to accelerate digital transformation, supporting the Kingdom’s efforts in key sectors and fostering an innovation ecosystem. He added that since the launch of Saudi Arabia’s Digital Transformation Program in 2016, part of Vision 2030 aimed at enhancing digital skills and promoting innovation, Cisco has implemented more than 20 projects in critical areas such as healthcare, education, and smart cities.

Faqeeh praised the Kingdom’s achievements in digital transformation, citing its significant progress on global indices. Saudi Arabia ranked second among G20 countries in the 2024 ICT Development Index and led in cybersecurity readiness.

Boosting cybersecurity is a top priority for Saudi Arabia, particularly given the rising number of cyberattacks globally, he added. In this context, he pointed to Cisco’s efforts to provide solutions that protect data and digital infrastructure, citing a 2023 Cisco study, which revealed that 99% of surveyed organizations in the Kingdom increased their cybersecurity budgets, although 67% reported experiencing security incidents in the past year.

He also addressed challenges in artificial intelligence (AI), highlighting a recent Cisco study that found 93% of Saudi companies have AI strategies, but only 7% are fully prepared with the necessary infrastructure to implement these technologies.

Moreover, Faqeeh underscored the impact of Cisco’s Networking Academy program in Saudi Arabia, which has trained over 336,000 individuals, including more than 35% female participants—one of the highest percentages globally.

Regarding academic collaborations, he emphasized Cisco’s ongoing partnership with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), aimed at improving the educational environment and empowering academic staff and students with cutting-edge solutions.

Cisco is also committed to environmental sustainability, aiming for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. Faqeeh noted the company’s focus on delivering energy-efficient technology solutions and contributing to the Kingdom’s goals for carbon neutrality.

The company will participate as a strategic sponsor in the Black Hat cybersecurity conference, set to take place in Riyadh from November 26–28. According to Faqeeh, the company aims to use this platform to strengthen collaboration with clients and partners in the Kingdom, offering innovative security solutions that protect data and facilitate the safe adoption of AI technologies.

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Business

EBRD Cuts Growth Outlook Again as Iraq, Lebanon, Ukraine Hit by War Pressures

FILE - A worker collects engine oil as he works at a degassing station in Zubair oil field, near Basra, Iraq, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
FILE - A worker collects engine oil as he works at a degassing station in Zubair oil field, near Basra, Iraq, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
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EBRD Cuts Growth Outlook Again as Iraq, Lebanon, Ukraine Hit by War Pressures

FILE - A worker collects engine oil as he works at a degassing station in Zubair oil field, near Basra, Iraq, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
FILE - A worker collects engine oil as he works at a degassing station in Zubair oil field, near Basra, Iraq, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)

Growth is slowing across a range of emerging market nations, with economies in Iraq, Lebanon and Ukraine hamstrung by the effects of war, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said on Thursday.

High energy prices, rising borrowing costs and issues ranging from drought in Europe to the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz are combining to depress economic growth, the EBRD regional economic outlook found.

Across the 41 economies it covers, the EBRD expects growth of 2.5% this year, 0.6 ⁠percentage points below ⁠its June forecast and its second consecutive downgrade.

"What's a cause for concern is that there are multiple pressure points, from diesel to cost of wheat to cost of borrowing," EBRD chief economist Beata Javorcik said, according to Reuters. "Pressures are building up, and there are considerable downside risks to our forecast."

The sharpest downgrades were for Iraq and Lebanon. The EBRD expects Iraq's economy to contract ⁠by 12% this year after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz curbed oil exports, while Lebanon is expected to contract 5% as conflict with Israel weighs on economic activity.

The EBRD also lowered its forecasts for Ukraine, owing to intensifying Russian attacks, and for Türkiye, where it said persistent inflation pressures were forcing tighter financing conditions.

Price pressures, meanwhile, were less intense than the EBRD had feared. Average inflation in EBRD regions stabilized at around 6%, the report found, and energy accounted for roughly a quarter of the headline figure.

But wheat prices globally are ⁠up roughly ⁠30% since February as Black Sea attacks cut Ukrainian exports to the lowest level since April 2022, Javorcik said.

This could cut Ukrainian wheat, seed oil and metals exports by $5.5 billion this year, equivalent to 2.5% of GDP, as low water levels on the Danube and Russian attacks on rail links limit alternative export routes.

"This of course has big implications for economic activity in Ukraine," Javorcik said, adding that, if farmers cannot export their crops, it could harm their ability to buy fertilizer for the next planting season.

Elevated wheat prices threaten food-importing economies, particularly countries such as Egypt that heavily subsidize bread and grain products.

Russia and Ukraine combined account for roughly a quarter of global wheat exports.

Business

As 5% Treasury Yields Lose Shock Value, Investors Start Worrying about 6%

US Department of the Treasury (Reuters)
US Department of the Treasury (Reuters)
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As 5% Treasury Yields Lose Shock Value, Investors Start Worrying about 6%

US Department of the Treasury (Reuters)
US Department of the Treasury (Reuters)

For years, 5% on the benchmark US 10-year Treasury yield was viewed as the point at which global financial markets would start hitting turbulence. That threshold is beginning to look less like a ceiling and more like a waypoint.

This month's breach of 5% - something that has happened only briefly in recent decades - has forced investors to contemplate an unsettling question: What if 6% is the new number that should be keeping them awake at night? Reuters reported.

The latest move above 5% has not lasted long enough yet to properly test that theory. But it has always been a psychological marker rather than an automatic tripwire, according to BlueBay Asset Management's head of market strategy, Mike Bell.

"People think of it as if there's a magic number for Treasury yields at which it becomes a problem, (but) it's a relative number, not an absolute number," Bell explained.

What matters is how Treasury yields compare with other key investment metrics, particularly the earnings yield on stocks. Bell says that relationship ‌is now approaching ‌an inflection point, potentially setting the stage for an equity selloff.

History offers some guidance. MSCI's main world ‌stocks ⁠index halved in value ⁠the last time the 10-year Treasury yield broke 5%, which was just before the global financial crash. It suffered a similar slump less than a decade earlier when a near 6.8% spike helped pop the dotcom bubble.

JP Morgan's analysts say one of the reasons why the pain-point might now be above 5% again is a "key structural shift" in the global economy, with AI, healthcare and services playing a bigger role. Many of those firms are spending and expanding, regardless of the level of borrowing costs.

That means "the traditional interest-rate channel looks materially less binding" and the "breaking threshold" of stock markets may be "meaningfully higher, potentially in the 5.5%-6.0% range", JP Morgan said, referencing the views of some of the major investors at one of its most recent conferences.

PROFOUND REPRICING

In ⁠the $29-trillion Treasury market, which anchors pricing for virtually all financial assets, a shift from 5% to 6% ‌would represent a profound adjustment in the global cost of capital.

A 6% Treasury yield ‌would imply either significantly higher inflation expectations, growing concerns about US fiscal sustainability, a conviction that interest rates will remain elevated for years - or a mix of ‌all three.

Federal Reserve policymaker Austan Goolsbee said this week that he didn't know whether markets would react differently to a lengthier period of ‌5% yields than they had in the past.

Paul Jackson, Invesco global head of asset allocation research, said investors focus on Treasury yields for a simple reason: Treasuries represent the world's risk-free benchmark and at above 5%, investors can lock in the highest returns on US bonds since 2007.

Jackson's own calculations show world stocks start to drop when the 10-year yield has traded at an average of 4.72% for 12 months and then rises.

That tipping point remains some way off ‌for now - the 12-month average is currently around 4.34% - but Jackson said he was already dialling back on stocks and switching some money into government bonds to cash in on the juicy yields.

"If Treasury ⁠yields keep rising then there ⁠is a risk that the stock market is lower in 12 months' time," he said.

EMERGING QUESTIONS

Emerging markets, which have enjoyed something of a hot streak in recent years, are often among the first casualties when US yields surge.

Higher Treasury returns tend to strengthen the dollar and make dollar-denominated assets more attractive. That sucks capital away from EM economies and can tip hard-up countries into crisis if the cost of servicing their dollar-denominated debt spirals.

Data on investment flows shows last week saw the biggest exodus from EM bond funds in months, with billions also withdrawn from equity funds. Issuance of emerging-market sovereign debt has also been notably lighter than usual this month.

"It's not an optimal picture for EM," said Alison Shimada, Head of Total Emerging Markets Equity, Allspring Global Investments, although she stressed that for now nothing was going "horribly wrong" and therefore remained "constructive".

Perhaps the biggest risk is psychological.

Once investors start asking whether 6% is attainable, the debate shifts beyond a temporary spike in yields. It becomes a broader reckoning with the possibility that the era of abundant liquidity and ultra-cheap money has ended, forcing global asset prices to adapt to a permanently higher cost of capital.

Premier Miton CIO Neil Birrell said while stock markets were showing no sign of collapsing right now, that might be because investors weren't yet plugging in 5%-plus yields into their longer-term profit forecasting models.

"The markets look fine until everyone re-runs their valuation models," Birrell said. "Ultimately, the numbers are the numbers and they've got to come through."

Business

East Pipes Signs $12.27 Million Contract with Aramco

One of the manufacturing facilities of Eastern Pipes Company in Saudi Arabia. (Company photo)
One of the manufacturing facilities of Eastern Pipes Company in Saudi Arabia. (Company photo)
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East Pipes Signs $12.27 Million Contract with Aramco

One of the manufacturing facilities of Eastern Pipes Company in Saudi Arabia. (Company photo)
One of the manufacturing facilities of Eastern Pipes Company in Saudi Arabia. (Company photo)

Saudi Arabia's East Pipes Integrated Company for Industry has signed a new five-month contract with Saudi Aramco to manufacture and supply steel pipes, with the total value exceeding 46 million riyals ($12.27 million), including value-added tax, the company said on Thursday.

The contract was formally signed on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, after the contract award procedures were completed on the same day.

The company said the contract is expected to have a positive financial impact, which will be reflected in its financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026-2027.

The company said there were no related parties involved in the transaction and that the contract was concluded under customary commercial terms and conditions, in line with transparency and corporate governance requirements.