Saudi Arabia’s stc Group Wins Forbes Middle East Sustainability Leaders Award

stc Group logo
stc Group logo
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Saudi Arabia’s stc Group Wins Forbes Middle East Sustainability Leaders Award

stc Group logo
stc Group logo

stc Group, the Saudi enabler of digital transformation, has won the Forbes Middle East Sustainability Leaders Award in recognition of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable practices in four areas related to climate, society, digitalization and the future of work.
The award was received by stc Group Vice President of Corporate Relations Mohammed bin Rashid Abaalkheil on the sidelines of the Forbes Middle East Sustainability Leaders Summit 2023, which was held in Abu-Dhabi on November 2-3.
The award represents a testimony to stc Group’s commitment to sustainable business practices, which are being applied within the group’s various divisions. The group’s initiatives have had a positive impact on the environment and the communities within which it operates, from reducing carbon emissions to environmental awareness campaigns, as stc Group considers sustainability fundamental in dealing with the environment and a vital necessity for doing business.
The group pledges its commitment to shaping a sustainable future for its customers, employees, and the communities to which it provides its services, it said in a statement.
The sustainability efforts made by the group have received recognition from other organizations as well, such as the United Nations Global Compact and the Carbon Disclosure Project. The group’s sustainability strategy aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and focuses on three main areas: environmental responsibility, social investment and governance, it said.
The statement added that stc Group is committed to sustainability and carries out practices that help the environment, cementing its position as a leader in sustainable business practices. By reducing the carbon footprint and implementing sustainable practices, the group is having a positive impact and making the world healthier and more prosperous for future generations.
stc Group has a number of achievements in many aspects of sustainability, including providing 4,348 hours of sustainability training to employees, relying 38,21% on local content, involving 213 small and medium enterprises in procurement processes, and awarding contracts to giant projects that use local content worth SAR 5billion, as well as providing more than 127,000 hours of training through stc Academy.
The group, through the InspireU accelerator, adopted about 100 startup companies and provided them with support at a value of up to SAR10 billion, has 52% women in the advanced analytics department, employs 43 different nationalities in the work team, and contributed to the technical empowerment of 324 non-governmental organizations through the technical empowerment program, which provides services to more than 10,000 users in 64 cities.



New Car Sales in Spain Surpass Million-mark, Sector Facing Tough 2025

An aerial view shows new vehicles parked at the port in Barcelona, Spain, December 7, 2024. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo
An aerial view shows new vehicles parked at the port in Barcelona, Spain, December 7, 2024. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo
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New Car Sales in Spain Surpass Million-mark, Sector Facing Tough 2025

An aerial view shows new vehicles parked at the port in Barcelona, Spain, December 7, 2024. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo
An aerial view shows new vehicles parked at the port in Barcelona, Spain, December 7, 2024. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo

New car sales in Spain surpassed the one million mark in 2024 for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed on Thursday, but analysts and industry sources said this should not be seen as a sign of recovery in a sector facing a tough 2025.

Changing trends in car usage, high prices, uncertainty around electric vehicles (EVs) and fierce competition from Chinese brands are all expected to create challenges for the auto industry in Spain, said Felipe Munoz, an analyst at market research firm JATO Dynamics.

New car sales in 2019 reached well over 1.3 million, but then slumped to around 900,000 annually for the next four years. Though 2024's 1.02 million sales represent a 7.1% increase year-on-year, they are still far below the original trend, Reuters reported.

Last year's rise was helped by a massive 28.8% spike in year-on-year sales in December, the data showed.

Munoz said the uptick seemed transitory, as new car sales had failed to properly take off after the pandemic clobbered demand, adding: "I don't think (the Spanish car market) will ever hit those numbers again."

According to Munoz, after the semiconductor scarcity crisis, European car manufacturers focused on increasing their prices at the cost of selling fewer units - and still made record profits.

"That strategy worked perfectly for them until this year, when Chinese brands started to penetrate the market more successfully in Europe, and they realised their prices were too high in comparison," he added.

Spanish car part manufacturer Gestamp was less affected by a drop in car sales in Spain and Europe due to its geographic diversification, CFO Ignacio Mosquera said, but more had to be done to help an ailing sector that lacked a clear policy in "one of the most important industry overhauls in history".

"If there's no public-private partnership, there's uncertainty in demand and people don't know which vehicle to buy. Faced with that decision, what do they do? They extend the life of their vehicle," Mosquera said - thus reducing sales.

Echoing that sentiment, the head of Spanish car part manufacturers' association Sernauto, Jose Portilla, said more state support was needed to encourage the sale of EVs.

"If we're able to boost the recharging infrastructure, EVs become more affordable, and the subsidies are given at the time of purchase instead of one-and-a-half or two years later. This will encourage the market much more and we'll be able to redirect this situation," Portilla added.