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Arab Leaders Approve Riyadh as Headquarters for Arab Cybersecurity Ministers Council

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
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Arab Leaders Approve Riyadh as Headquarters for Arab Cybersecurity Ministers Council

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (SPA)

Arab leaders approved the basic system for the Council of Arab Cybersecurity Ministers during the 33rd Arab Summit being held in Manama, Bahrain. The Arab League welcomed Saudi Arabia's proposal to establish the ministerial council.
The basic system for the council includes that it will operate under the umbrella of the Arab League and will have its permanent headquarters in Riyadh, with a general secretariat and an executive office in the host country, SPA reported.
The council's responsibilities include setting general policies, developing strategies and priorities to enhance Arab collective efforts in cybersecurity, promoting cybersecurity initiatives and programs, and addressing all cybersecurity issues at security, economic, developmental, and legislative levels.
Saudi Minister of State, Member of the Cabinet, and Chairman of the Board of the National Cybersecurity Authority Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban emphasized that the Kingdom’s proposal to establish the council comes amid the increasing cyber threats worldwide, as they now pose a danger to countries' stability and hinder their development plans.
He expressed deep gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for their wise guidance, continuous support, and keenness to enhance joint Arab efforts, preserve Arab security, and ensure stability.
The council was established based on a proposal put forth by the Kingdom and received unanimous support from all Arab countries.
The council's objectives include developing and strengthening cooperation among Arab countries in all aspects related to cybersecurity, coordinating efforts, and exchanging knowledge, experiences, studies, and relevant experiments.
It also aims to work on protecting the interests of member states in international organizations related to cybersecurity through joint coordination, unify the Arab position regarding cybersecurity at international organizations and entities, and contribute to creating a safe and reliable Arab cyberspace that enables growth and prosperity for all member states.

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Technology

Samsung’s Preliminary Q4 Profit Falls Far Short of Estimates as Chip Issues Drag

Samsung Electronics’ booth is seen during Korea Electronics Show 2024 in Seoul, South Korea, October 23, 2024. (Reuters)
Samsung Electronics’ booth is seen during Korea Electronics Show 2024 in Seoul, South Korea, October 23, 2024. (Reuters)
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Samsung’s Preliminary Q4 Profit Falls Far Short of Estimates as Chip Issues Drag

Samsung Electronics’ booth is seen during Korea Electronics Show 2024 in Seoul, South Korea, October 23, 2024. (Reuters)
Samsung Electronics’ booth is seen during Korea Electronics Show 2024 in Seoul, South Korea, October 23, 2024. (Reuters)

Samsung Electronics' preliminary fourth-quarter operating profit missed estimates by a large margin, with the South Korean tech giant hit hard by extra costs as it works towards providing high-end chips to Nvidia.

Its earnings were dented by rising research and development costs and the ramp-up of manufacturing capacity for advanced semiconductors, the company said in a statement. Slowing demand for conventional memory chips used in PCs and mobile phones also weighed on earnings, it added.

The world's largest memory chip, smartphone and TV maker expects to log an operating profit of 6.5 trillion won ($4.5 billion) for the three months ended Dec. 31, well below an LSEG SmartEstimate of 7.7 trillion won.

The expected profit is 131% higher than the same period a year earlier, but down 29% from a disappointing third quarter. Preliminary revenue came in at 75 trillion won, slightly lower than analysts' estimates.

Rival SK Hynix is Nvidia's main supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in artificial intelligence graphics processing units (GPUs) whereas Samsung has struggled to meet Nvidia's requirements.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told reporters in Las Vegas on Tuesday that Samsung has to "engineer a new design" to supply HBM chips to his company, adding that "they can do it and they are working very fast," Korea JoongAng Daily reported.

Samsung said at the time of its third-quarter earnings that it was making progress in supplying HBM chips to Nvidia but has not made any public updates since then.

Greg Noh, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities, said Samsung's profit was possibly eroded by one-off costs as well as disappointing chip and display earnings.

Samsung finished 3.4% higher with analysts attributing the gain to the sense that the company's woes had already been factored in and were unlikely to get worse.

"There are concerns about Samsung's major businesses continuing to lose competitiveness. But chip demand may have bottomed already," said Lee Min-hee, an analyst at BNK Investment & Securities, adding that smartphone demand in China may gradually improve.

Shares of Samsung, South Korea's biggest company by market value, slumped 32% last year, far more than a 10% decline for the wider market.

By contrast, SK Hynix is expected to post record earnings for the fourth quarter and its stock surged 23% last year.

Samsung will release detailed fourth-quarter results on Jan. 31.

RISING COMPETITION

Samsung said fourth-quarter earnings also fell for its division that designs and manufactures logic chips, hit by slower mobile phone demand, lower utilization rates at its factories and higher research and development costs.

The division may have widened losses to about $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter from about $960 million in the preceding quarter due to struggles to increase production yields, analysts said.

Earnings for its devices business, which includes mobile phones, TVs and household appliances, dropped as it has been some time since new mobile phone models were launched and because competition has increased, Samsung said.

Analysts said its mobile division earnings may have declined year on year due to lower sales for its premium foldable phones.

Slowing demand likely offset the positive impact of weakness in the local currency which boosts earnings from overseas.

The South Korean won dropped to its weakest level in 15 years in December after President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law decree triggered political turmoil. It was also hurt by US President-elect Donald Trump's pledges of higher tariffs on imports.