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Western tourists trickle into Saudi Arabia as it tries to open up
21 Dec 2018 Written by Admin AdminWestern tourists, a rarity in Saudi Arabia, visited this weekend under a new visa system, as one of the world’s most inaccessible countries tries to open up its society and diversify its economy away from oil.
Thousands of fans flocked to Riyadh’s historic Diriyah district for Formula E, a motor sports tournament using electric vehicles, and concerts including by David Guetta and Black Eyed Peas.
Most were Saudis still unaccustomed to such entertainment in their own country, where cinemas and public concerts were banned until changes by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the past two years.
Despite an international outcry over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the Saudi-led war in Yemen, some Westerners also seized the opportunity to visit a country that still largely restricts foreigners to resident workers and their dependents, business visitors, and Muslim pilgrims.
An American named Jason is spending a week here with his German wife, riding quad bikes in the desert and visiting heritage sites in Ushaiger, 200 km (120 miles) northwest of the capital.
“The race sounds interesting but to be honest it was a means to see the country. We’re happy to be here,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to come for many, many years... I’m so happy to be here and that they’re letting us be here.”
Aaron, a 40-year-old software engineer, travelled from New York for two days. He and a few dozen other adventure travellers seeking to visit every country in the world checked the desert kingdom off their list this weekend.
“Saudi Arabia’s always been an exotic place... and I didn’t think I’d ever be able to come here,” he said as circus performers entertained guests in between races.
Some 1,000 foreigners from 80 countries received the new “sharek” visa, which is linked to a specific entertainment event, the authorities said.
That is a fraction of what they eventually hope to attract.
“Hopefully we will learn from this and see what we need to do for the future, but I can tell you from now that there is a lot of demand...” said Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Faisal, vice chairman of the General Sports Authority.
TOURISM TARGETS
Whizzing electric racecars wound through the ruins of Diriyah, the capital of the first Saudi state built by the ruling Al Saud family three centuries ago.
The UNESCO world heritage site is undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation, celebrating a telling of national history that puts the dynasty and its clerical allies front and centre.
Plans to admit significant numbers of tourists from abroad have been discussed for years, only to be blocked by conservative opinion and bureaucracy.
Now the crown prince is seeking to develop new industries to wean the world’s top oil exporter off petro-dollars.
Tourism is high on the agenda, despite a shortage of infrastructure. Reforms aim to lift total spending - by locals and foreigners - to $46.6 billion in 2020 from $27.9 billion in 2015.
Such efforts have been overshadowed recently by the murder of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of the crown prince, with the U.S. Senate blaming Prince Mohammed and insisting that Saudi Arabia hold accountable anyone responsible.
Saudi officials have denied Prince Mohammed ordered the hit, but their changing accounts and ties between him and some of the suspects have complicated Riyadh’s efforts to move on.
James, another American tourist, said the visit corrected some of his preconceived notions, but he bristled at the idea that visiting a country implied endorsing its government.
“Just forget the politics and you can relate to people all over the world,” he said. “That applies to Saudi Arabia, too.”
Source: Reuters
SoftBank has hired Deutsche Bank to advise on its power investment plans in Saudi Arabia, two sources familiar with the matter said.
The Japanese firm, which is planning to invest in a giant solar power plant in the kingdom, has also shown interest in electricity distribution in the world’s top oil exporter, they said.
One source said SoftBank could consider purchasing a minority stake in Saudi Electricity from the Public Investment Fund (PIF) sovereign wealth fund.
“They want to become a minority shareholder of influence,” the source told Reuters.
PIF owns a 74 percent stake in Saudi Electricity. The other major shareholder is state oil giant Aramco, which owns a nearly 7 percent stake.
A SoftBank spokeswoman declined to comment. PIF and Deutsche Bank also declined comment. Saudi Electricity did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. (read more)
وفقا لموقع العربية نت
بحسب موقع العربية نت أقر مجلس الوزراء السعودي الذي انعقد برئاسة خادم الحرمين الشريفين، الملك سلمان بن عبدالعزيز، اليوم الاثنين، الاتفاقية الموحدة لضريبة القيمة المضافة لدول مجلس التعاون الخليجي والاتفاقية الموحدة للضريبة الانتقائية لدول مجلس التعاون الخليجي، وأعد مرسوم بذلك.
مشاركة معالي وزير المالية للمملكة العربية السعودية المنتدى الاقتصادي العالمي في مدينة دافوس للعام 2017
31 Jan 2017 Written by Admin SAEبحسب ما نشىر على الموقع الرسمي لوزارة المالية السعودية فقد شارك معالي وزير المالية الأستاذ محمد بن عبدالله الجدعان في المنتدى الاقتصادي العالمي في مدينة دافوس لعام 2017 م وعلى هامش اجتماعات منتدى دافوس التقى معالي وزير المالية الأستاذ محمد بن عبدالله الجدعان، ومعالي محافظ مؤسسة النقد العربي السعودي الدكتور أحمد بن عبدالكريم الخليفي، مديرة صندوق النقد الدولي كريستين لاغارد. وجرى خلال الاجتماع مناقشة ميزانية المملكة لعام 2017 م والخطوات التي اتخذتها المملكة لتنويع مصادر الدخل ضمن رؤية 2030.
alarabiya.net
According to the web site of Alarabiya.net, Saudi Arabia is ready to implement a region-wide value added tax, the cabinet confirmed on Monday, giving final approval to the measure which will take effect next year.
Arabianbusiness
The governments from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are likely to lead the debt issuance market in 2017, favouring conventional bonds over sukuk (Islamic bonds), it has been reported.
In 2016, governments scrambled to cover budget deficits due to low oil prices, turning to conventional debt - a shift from the traditional pattern in which sukuk and conventional bonds had roughly equal shares of the region's international bond issuance.
In October last year, Saudi Arabia raised $17.5 billion through the conventional bonds, overtaking Qatar’s $9bn sovereign bonds issued in May.
Saudi Arabia has already given hints on a new bond issuance this year, while Bahrain and Kuwait expected to hit the market as well.
Junaid Ansari, Assistant Vice President, Kamco reportedly said the prospects for region’s bond issuances in 2017 appeared bright based on further funding requirement in the region by sovereigns and corporates.
A recent report by Moody's put Gulf governments rising $1.1bn, or 5 percent of their total debt issuance through sukuk in the first six months of 2016.
Standard & Poor’s estimated GCC corporate and project-related sukuk issuance totaled $2.5bn in the first eight months 2016, up marginally from $2.3bn a year ago.
GCC states said to drive debt issuance market in 2017 2017, Arabian Business.
www.arabianbusiness.com
Saudi Arabia’s cabinet agreed to implement a broad reform plan known as Vision 2030, which is expected to involve sweeping change to diversify the economy beyond dependence on oil exports, state media reported on Monday.
The Kingdom announced sweeping economic reforms to reduce its dependence on oil and ensure long-term sustainable development, with plans for a massive $2 trillion sovereign fund to boost its global investment power.
In an exclusive interview with Al-Arabiya News Channel on Monday, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, second deputy premier and defense minister, said the implementation of the Vision 2030 plan would likely see the country operate without oil income by 2020, without sacrificing current infrastructure projects. The plan would also see the development of the country’s tourism industry, building the capacity of its military industries, reduced subsidies to save money, job creation initiatives, an education system revamp and a Green Card-style residency system for Arabs and Muslims.
He said the plan includes the setting up of a restructured Public Investment Fund (PIF) worth $2 trillion by including the proceeds of a Saudi Aramco initial public offering (IPO), other assets of $600 billion, and state-owned real estate and industrial assets estimated at $1 trillion. It would have more than 10 percent of global investment capacity, he said.
Prince Mohammed said the sale of 5 percent of oil giant Saudi Aramco would be the “biggest IPO in history.” Aramco would have a holding company with an elected board, with subsidiaries also sold through IPOs. “The 5 percent is from the parent company,” he said. Aramco is the world’s leading oil company, producing about 10 million barrels a day, or about 10 percent of global production.
Prince Mohammad said the partial IPO would help transform Saudi Arabia into an investment-driven economy and turn the Kingdom into a global player. “The Saudi addiction to oil has disrupted the development of many sectors in previous years,” he was quoted as saying.
On the highly-anticipated topic of the American-style Green Card for expatriates in the Kingdom, the prince said the scheme would be ready in five years. “The Green Card will allow Muslims and Arabs to live in Saudi Arabia for a long time and will be a source of revenue for the government,” he said. Prince Mohammed also revealed plans to develop the country’s tourism industry but within the framework of “our beliefs and values,” revitalizing culture and entertainment, and building an Islamic museum. “How can the Kingdom be the holiest place for Muslims and have no Islamic museum?”
The prince said the Aramco IPO is also aimed at ensuring greater transparency to boost the confidence of investors. “In this day and age, no country can afford to not be transparent. There are many benefits to the Aramco proposal, and the most important and major one is transparency.”
He said the lack of transparency of Aramco has “upset” many people. If Aramco is listed then it would have to announce its results quarterly and be open to scrutiny by financial and other institutions locally and abroad, he said.
Prince Mohammed said the government would cut subsidies but limit its impact on low and middle income earners. However, it would be applied to everyone, “including princes and government ministers. This is a promise.”
The deputy crown prince also confirmed in the interview the government plans to reduce Saudi unemployment from 11.6 percent to 7 percent.
On defense, he said it made no sense for Saudi Arabia to be the world’s third-largest spender on arms but with no manufacturing industry. There were plans underway to set up factories for this purpose by 2017, initially wholly owned by the government but later listed on the Saudi bourse.
Prince Mohammed said that the Kingdom was adopting Vision 2030 “regardless of the oil price,” in reference to prices plunging to a 12-year low of $32 a barrel in January. “The Vision doesn’t require high spending but restructuring.” It focuses on the Kingdom’s strengths, its religion and Arab heritage, ability and location, he said.
Asked about the proposed King Salman Bridge over the Red Sea, announced last week in an agreement with Egypt, Prince Mohammed said the crossing would link Europe and Asia, provide building and investment opportunities, and help move billions’ worth of cargo across the Red Sea.
According to reports, the plan also envisages increasing the participation of women in the workplace, which has been growing rapidly over the past five years, from 22 percent to 30 percent.
Summary:
- Saudi is to sell less than 5 per cent of oil giant Aramco in IPO: deputy crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
- He expects the value of Aramco to exceed $2 trillion as the kingdom prepares to sell part of the company in what could be the world’s largest initial public offering. The valuation of Saudi Arabian Oil Co. hasn’t been completed.
- A new investment fund will turn the world’s top oil exporter into a global investment power, deputy crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman said. The kingdom’s existing Public Investment Fund (PIF) had made returns of 30 billion riyals ($8bn) in 2015. Asked whether he thought the management of PIF would be too autocratic, he said there would be an elected board that would make investment decisions for PIF.
- “We plan to set up a $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund … part of its assets will come from the sale of a small part of Aramco," he said.
- The Saudi stock index recovered from early losses and was up 1.8 per cent after the reform was outlined.
- A “green card" system will be introduced within five years to allow resident expatriates in the kingdom to have more rights in order to improve its investment climate. Sweeping reforms, of which the proposed green card is one, will be implemented even if oil prices rise back above $70 a barrel, prince Mohammed said.
- Plans for a military industries holding company fully owned by government at first and offered in IPO by end of 2017.
- The reform plan will not require major spending but will involve restructuring, prince Mohammed said, adding that spending on infrastructure projects would continue. He said that the government would restructure the housing ministry to help more citizens buy homes, said subsidies should not go to the rich, and said he aimed to reduce unemployment among Saudi nationals to 7 per cent from 11.6 per cent.
Sources: Arabnews.com, thenational.ae
Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud announced in an interview with Bloomberg, that Saudi Arabia could introduce a system for its millions of expatriates that would be similar to the Green Card system in the US. He added that would help the kingdom generate new revenues for the national economy.
No details were given by Prince Mohammad, but with around nine million foreigners living in the vast kingdom, making up one third of the total population, the system would be a source for the country as it seeks to implement an ambitious package of new reforms and measures that will considerably improve its non-oil revenues and “raise at least an extra $100 billion a year by 2020, more than tripling non-oil income and balancing the budget.”
The emulation of the American Green Card system would be alongside more steps to restructure subsidies and the imposition of a value-added tax and a levy on energy and sugary drinks as well as luxury items, the deputy crown prince reportedly said.
Most of the foreigners in Saudi Arabia and fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirate – are Asians, mainly unskilled workers in the booming building and service sectors.
In his interview, Prince Mohammad expressed optimism the new measures would reinforce the government’s drive to reduce reliance on oil and to boost non-oil revenues.
With the dramatic slump of oil prices, the GCC countries have been looking at viable options to generate non-oil sources and reduce threats to fiscal stability and sustainability.
Experts believe that hydrocarbon exports represent more than 80 per cent of the total revenue in the GCC countries where taxation is almost absent.
The main non-oil revenue base in the GCC states currently includes customs duties and fees and charges.
Bahrain, the first GCC country to discover oil in 1932, has been leading the way in the diversification of non-oil resources.
Source: Gulf news
Saudi Arabia announces spending cuts, after posting record $98 billion budget deficit for 2015
31 Dec 2015 Written by Admin SAESaudi Arabia, its finances hit by low oil prices, announced plans to shrink a record state budget deficit with spending cuts, reforms to energy subsidies and a drive to raise revenues from taxes and privatisation.
Most of the GCC region’s private wealth (74 per cent) is controlled by affluent individuals in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, according to a new study by Strategy&, formerly Booz & Company.
