عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

Saudi Fund Injects $1.7 Bn to Boost Food Security

The fund financed agricultural projects worth 7.1 million dollars to support afforestation and expand vegetation cover. SPA
The fund financed agricultural projects worth 7.1 million dollars to support afforestation and expand vegetation cover. SPA
TT
TT

Saudi Fund Injects $1.7 Bn to Boost Food Security

The fund financed agricultural projects worth 7.1 million dollars to support afforestation and expand vegetation cover. SPA
The fund financed agricultural projects worth 7.1 million dollars to support afforestation and expand vegetation cover. SPA

Saudi Arabia’s Agricultural Development Fund is stepping up efforts to bolster food security and sustain the Kingdom’s agricultural sector, raising self-sufficiency and strengthening strategic reserves.

The push is part of a broader strategy balancing support for domestic production and supply chains with external programs to import targeted products and invest in cross-border agriculture.

Habib Al-Shammari, the fund’s official spokesman, told Asharq Al-Awsat the approach aligns with the national agriculture and food security strategies. He said the fund continues to promote modern technologies in agricultural projects to preserve natural resources and boost productivity.

In 2024, the fund disbursed more than 1.2 billion riyals (about 300 million dollars) for projects that used modern technologies. These helped save nearly 4 million cubic meters of water and cut energy consumption by about 330,000 megawatt hours, Al-Shammari said.

He added that such technologies also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by improving efficiency, in line with the Saudi Green Initiative. The fund financed agricultural projects worth 26.6 million riyals (7.1 million dollars) to support afforestation and expand vegetation cover.

Al-Shammari said the fund has also backed biodiversity protection by financing programs supporting beekeeping and honey production, developing rose cultivation and rain-fed crops, and extending loans totaling more than 12 million riyals to central nurseries.

Loan approvals reached about 6.47 billion riyals (1.72 billion dollars) by the end of 2025, he said. The fund also signed a memorandum of understanding last year with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome to support sustainable rural agricultural development and exchange expertise.

Al-Shammari said such agreements strengthen the agricultural sector, pointing to deals with local entities, including Jazan City for Primary and Downstream Industries, to enhance integration into food-sector investment opportunities and maximize the impact of the fund’s programs for investors and farmers.

The fund also signed an agreement with the National Center for Palms and Dates to support the sustainability of the sector and related industries, financing operating costs for date purchases and offering tailored financing solutions.

Another agreement with the Imam Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Royal Reserve Development Authority focuses on vegetation development, ecosystem sustainability, and support for local communities within the reserve.

To strengthen the livestock sector, the fund signed a deal with Al-Raie National Livestock Company to finance a sheep farming project in Hail valued at 1.106 billion riyals (295 million dollars), with a total investment cost of 2 billion riyals (533 million dollars). It also signed an agreement with the Center for Support and Liquidation (Infath) to regulate the sale of seized real estate and share expertise.

Most Viewed

 
 
Business

flynas Says Direct Flights Between Riyadh, Milan Start Thursday

The Saudi capital, Riyadh (SPA)
The Saudi capital, Riyadh (SPA)
TT
TT

flynas Says Direct Flights Between Riyadh, Milan Start Thursday

The Saudi capital, Riyadh (SPA)
The Saudi capital, Riyadh (SPA)

flynas has announced the launch of direct flights connecting Riyadh with Milan, SPA reported.

Starting Thursday, the airline will operate three weekly direct flights between King Khalid International Airport and Milan Malpensa Airport.

Business

SpaceX Reveals Plans for What Could be Biggest-ever Initial Public Offering

FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk walks to attend the trial in his lawsuit over OpenAI for-profit conversion at a federal courthouse, in Oakland, California, US, April 29, 2026. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk walks to attend the trial in his lawsuit over OpenAI for-profit conversion at a federal courthouse, in Oakland, California, US, April 29, 2026. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo/File Photo
TT
TT

SpaceX Reveals Plans for What Could be Biggest-ever Initial Public Offering

FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk walks to attend the trial in his lawsuit over OpenAI for-profit conversion at a federal courthouse, in Oakland, California, US, April 29, 2026. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk walks to attend the trial in his lawsuit over OpenAI for-profit conversion at a federal courthouse, in Oakland, California, US, April 29, 2026. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo/File Photo

Elon Musk announced plans Wednesday for one of the biggest stock sales ever by taking public a space company that is currently losing billions of dollars a year.

A filing shows that his SpaceX lost $2.6 billion from operations last year on $18.7 billion in revenue, and the losses kept piling up at the start of this year, too.

The prospectus did not put a dollar figure on the amount Musk hopes to raise, but various reports have put it at $75 billion or so.

SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., has said the money will help finance projects to put people on the moon and Mars in its quest to make humans an intergalactic species as they face existential threats that could wipe out civilization.

“We do not want humans to have the same fate as dinosaurs,” the filing states.

The prospectus reads in part like a Hollywood fantasy version of the future, detailing in one section how part of Musk’s compensation will be granted only if he maintains “a permanent human colony on Mars with at least one million inhabitants.”

Short of that, the stock sale alone could make Musk, a major owner who founded SpaceX in 2002, the world’s first trillionaire. Forbes currently puts his net worth at $839 billion.

In addition to making reusable rockets to hurl astronauts into orbit, SpaceX has other businesses, some successful, some struggling — and with plenty of questions marks.

The document shows that Starlink, the world’s largest satellite communications company, is a big source of cash for the company, generating $4.4 billion in operating income last year. The business uses 10,000 satellites in low orbit to provide internet service to 10 million people in 150 countries and territories.

Among the struggling businesses are two Musk units that were recently acquired by SpaceX — his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, and his artificial intelligence business, xAI.

Those purchases were blasted by some SpaceX investors as bailouts because they are big money losers.

The prospectus said its AI business lost $6.4 billion in operations last year.

The original SpaceX business, making rockets and staging launches, has been helped by massive government contracts, which raises questions that could come back to haunt the company. Given Musk’s close relation to the Trump administration, government ethics lawyers and watchdogs have asked if he has gotten special treatment to win taxpayer money and whether that good luck will run out once President Donald Trump is out office.

SpaceX has won contracts worth $6 billion from NASA and the Defense Department and other government agencies in the past five years, according to USAspending.gov. The company noted in its filing that a fifth of its revenue last year was from the federal government, The Associated Press reported.

Musk was the biggest donor to Trump’s presidential campaign and is still a big backer despite their sometimes rocky relationship after his stewardship of the government cost-cutting effort called DOGE early last year.

Like many corporate CEOs, Musk’s compensation will go far beyond his annual salary, which was $54,080 in 2025 and has remained unchanged since 2019, according to the filing.

The prospectus says stock grants for him would be sliced into 15 nearly equal amounts — 67 million shares each — and would vest only as the company achieves preset market cap goals. In addition to the Martian colony, SpaceX’s stock market value would have to reach $7.5 trillion for him to receive the full award.

He would get even more stock awards if SpaceX manages to get giant data centers the size of football fields in space.

The document shows Musk will be able to exert big control over the business.

It says he and certain other shareholders will receive shares in a special class of stock that gives them 10 votes for each share they hold. Those shareholders will be able, among other things, to elect a majority of the company’s board of directors.

“This will limit or preclude your ability to influence corporate matters and the election of our directors,” SpaceX said in a warning to prospective investors.

SpaceX will be able to pitch the offering to investors — in what’s known in Wall Street parlance as a “road show” — 15 days after making its prospectus public. In this case, that works out to June 4.

Business

Gold Eases on Higher Yields, Firm Dollar; US-Iran Talks in Focus

Gold bracelets displayed at a jewelry store in Varanasi, India (AFP)
Gold bracelets displayed at a jewelry store in Varanasi, India (AFP)
TT
TT

Gold Eases on Higher Yields, Firm Dollar; US-Iran Talks in Focus

Gold bracelets displayed at a jewelry store in Varanasi, India (AFP)
Gold bracelets displayed at a jewelry store in Varanasi, India (AFP)

Gold edged lower on Thursday as higher Treasury yields and a firm dollar weighed on the metal, while hopes of a resolution to the US-Iran conflict limited losses.

Spot gold was down 0.3% at $4,528.03 per ounce, as of 0611 GMT. Bullion had gained more than 1% on Wednesday after falling to its lowest level since March 30 earlier in the day.

US ‌gold futures for ‌June delivery fell 0.1% at $4,528.90.

The dollar rose ‌0.1%, ⁠making greenback-priced bullion expensive ⁠for other currency holders.

"Inflation expectation, rising yields, and stronger dollar are the headwinds keeping gold prices under pressure. And these factors will continue to remain in place until we get clarity on how long the conflict is going to persist," said ANZ analyst Soni Kumari.

Gold has fallen more than 14% since the war began in late February, as ⁠the non-yielding metal tends to decline on expectations of ‌higher interest rates.

Iran said it ‌was reviewing Washington's latest position on ending the war after US President Donald ‌Trump suggested he was prepared to wait a few days to "get ‌the right answers" from Tehran, Reuters reported.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury bond was up 1 basis point at 4.578%, resuming its climb after snapping a three-day streak of declines.

Markets are increasingly pricing in possibilities of the Federal Reserve ‌tightening monetary policy this year, with a 39% chance of a 25 basis-point hike expected in December, ⁠per CME Group's ⁠FedWatch tool.

"The overall trend of 10-year US Treasury yield, since the start of early March, is still in a medium-term uptrend phase. Hence, gold bulls may not be so aggressive in beating up prices at this juncture," said Kelvin Wong, a senior market analyst at OANDA.

Minutes of the Fed's April meeting showed a majority of policymakers felt "some policy firming would likely become appropriate" if inflation stays persistently above the central bank's 2% target.

Gold is expected to remain weak in the upcoming sessions, with resistance seen at $4,645 levels and support at $4,456 levels, said Wong.

Spot silver was down 1.1% at $75.19 per ounce, platinum lost 0.9% to $1,933.13, and palladium fell 0.8% to $1,359.20