Good morning, wonderful people. We hope you enjoyed our impromptu long weekend. We’ve boiled down a ton of news for you this morning — a task made easier by a reasonably quiet day for news yesterday.

THE BIG STORY here at home? No single story captures the imagination, but we have more IPO and M&A news and word from the World Bank that while the economy will contract this year, the private-sector boom continues. (Guess they noticed all the cranes, new compounds, and soon-to-open shops across Riyadh on their last visit?)

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SMART POLICY- We’ve gotten kudos from the World Bank for the remarkable strides the Kingdom has taken in boosting women’s participation in the workforce. The rate at which women are participating in the labor workforce is growing at by far the fastest rate in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, more than doubling to 36% in 1Q 2023 from 17.4% in 2017, the multilateral lender said in its Gulf Economic Report (pdf).

Sound smart: That means we’ve already broken past the 30% target set by Vision 2030.

Extra kudos to the private sector, where women’s participation is up 87% since 2017 thanks to better wages, steps to address [redacted] harassment in the workplace, and better access to finance for business owners.

From the Dept. of the Obvious:The changes “appear to result” from the nexus of “transformational policy reforms and tectonic shifts in social norms,” the World Bank said.

^^ We have more on the report in this morning’s news well, below.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS-

PSA #1- It’s going to be a lot easier to visit Turkey: The Turkish embassy in Riyadh said last week that Saudi travelers can apply for multiple-entry e-visas to Turkey effective immediately, it said in a post on X. The visa allows travelers to enter Turkey multiple times within 180 days from the date of issue.

PSA #2- Your commute is about to get a bit more complicated — second semester has started: Over 7 mn students nationwide are back in class as the second semester kicked off yesterday.

PSA #3- Passengers with service animals can take their furry friends on board:Passengers with impaired vision can now take their service animals on public transportation, Okaz reports, citing the Transport General Authority. The caveat: They can’t pose a threat to other passengers or to the general flow of traffic. Other passengers can have bring pets on public transport provided they’re small in size and remain crated throughout the trip.

PSA #4- It’s a second win for the Green Falcons in a triumph over Jordan in FIFA World Cup qualifiers:The national team secured a 2-0 victory against Jordan last week, giving Coach Roberto Mancini a reason to celebrate with six points from two matches to put the team at the lead of Group G in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Man of the match Saleh Al Shehri scored the two goals at minutes 6’ and 30’ of the game, with the Hilal forward continuing to shine after leading his team to a 4-0 victory over Pakistan.

IT’S NEARLY COP O’CLOCK

Saudi government and business leaders will be among the thousands of delegates heading to COP28 in Dubai this coming Thursday for the latest round of talks and teeth-gnashing about the state of the climate.

How we’ll cover it: If you’re in the Kingdom, but not working in a climate-related industry, EnterpriseAM KSA will have everything you need to know. If you need to go deeper (you invest along a climate theme, your business could get a boost or be harmed by our warming planet), you’ll want to tune in to Enterprise Climate, our MENA-focused daily, which appears Monday-Thursday at 9am KSA.

Our editorial line: Longtime Enterprise readers know we prefer to look at climate through the lens of how businesses and the finance community can do well while doing good — we think it’s the world’s largest and most important industry.

Get ready: We have the rundown in this morning’s news well of some of the big themes you can expect out of this year’s gathering.

Oh, and speaking of COP — We’re not really buying a lower emissions target for the aviation sector by 2030:Saudi Arabia and Iraq have expressed opposition to an agreed interim 5% target in emissions reductions from the global aviation sector by 2030, Reuters reports.

The details: The interim target, which came after five days of UN-led negotiations last week in Dubai ahead of COP28, was agreed by over 100 countries. The 5% figure is at the low end of the 5-8% range earlier floated and sees the industry using more lower-pollution energy sources such as SAF, or sustainable aviation fuel.

DATA POINTS-

#1– The Kingdom welcomed 16 mn tourists in 1H 2023, Mubasher reported last week, citing remarks by Saudi Tourism Authority CEO for Middle East and Africa Markets Abdulkarim Al Darwish. He said that the kingdom was the fastest-growing tourist destination globally.

BACKGROUND- The Tourism Ministry has recently updated its target for total annual tourist trips to 150 mn by 2030, with an equal split between domestic and international travelers, according to earlier statements by Tourism Minister Ahmed Al Khateeb. The ministry wants to see the industry account for 10% of GDP by that year.

DATA POINT #2- Oil cuts weigh heavily on exports: The Kingdom’s exports fell 17.1% y-o-y to SAR 103.8 bn in September 2023, down from SAR 125.3 bn in the same month last year, according to General Authority for Statistics figures (pdf). Oil exports declined 17.1% y-o-y to SAR 83.1 bn in September, while non-oil exports shrank 17.2% y-o-y to SAR 20.7 bn. The economy contracted 4.5% y-o-y in 3Q on the back of lower oil activity.

REMEMBER- OPEC+ will meet on Thursday to discuss production quotas for 2024, with the expectation that KSA will push for further cuts to prop up prices.

#3- Small businesses see improving access to credit: Credit facilities to small and medium sized enterprises in the kingdom rose by 19% y-o-y to SAR 262.7 bn, Okaz reported last week, citing figures from SAMA. Some SAR 245.3 bn in funds were provided by the banking sector, amounting to 93% of overall credit facilities taken out by SMEs, with the balance coming from financial services firms. SMEs have enjoyed improving access to finance in recent years thanks to smart policy at SAMA, which has prompted growing interest in the segment at the kingdom’s national banks.

#4- KSA is the top exporter to Brazil among Arab countries: Saudi Arabia topped the list of Arab countries exporting to Brazil with exports estimated at USD 2.9 bn, Al Eqtisadiah reported last week.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

ON THE FRONT PAGES- Gaza is dominating the international front pages this morning, with the world’s media all focused on the latest on the prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel, brokered by Egypt and Qatar.

The latest on day four of the four-day ceasefire: Another batch of Palestinian and Israeli hostages were released yesterday and an extension of the truce could be on the table, mediators Egypt and Qatar have signaled.

See more:Associated Press | Reuters | Bloomberg | Financial Times | New York Times | Washington Post | Wall Street Journal | BBC

IN THE GLOBAL BUSINESS PRESS- Sam Altman is back as CEO of OpenAI ending the endless news cycle of “will he or won’t he” after he was sacked by the OpenAI board.

Instead, OpenAI’s board is out: The board that fired Altman, which was in place to ensure the “safe development” of AI, has been replaced by a three-man provisional board. The board that fired Atlman included two high-profile effective altruists and Ilya Sutskever, a co-founder of OpenAI and its chief scientist. Sutskever helped lead the rebellion against Altman and then flipped sides, saying he would leave the company if Altman did not return as CEO.

So who’s on the board?

  • US economist and former treasury secretary Larry Summers (someone apparently thinks he’s capable of standing up to Altman ?)
  • Bret Taylor, a former Facebook and Salesforce exec who was a key player in negotiating the sale of Twitter to Elon Musk;
  • Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, the only remaining member of the board that had sacked Altman.

Their mandate: Sort out a proper governance structure and an expanded board, among other things.

Wondering how Altman weighs in the power dynamics of the AI space? It took twelve years for Steve Jobs to Apple after he was sacked; Altman took only 5 days to reclaim his throne.

There are whispers that an AI breakthrough catalyzed Altman’s sacking: Prior to Altman’s dismissal, a previously unreported letter from staff researchers to the board of directors had warned of a powerful AI discovery that they believed “could threaten humanity,” two sources told Reuters. It was this letter, and the new algorithm finding named Q*, which catalyzed Altman’s ousting, they added.

But the tech press isn’t buying it (yet). Reporters have been unable to track down the letter, and there’s disagreement among experts on whether an AI that can do grade school math is a breakthrough.

The story is getting plenty of ink:New York Times | Bloomberg | Reuters | CNN, amongst others.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Who let the dogs out? Because Riyadh Season is doing just that: Riyadh will hold the first Dog Festival as part of its Riyadh Season, welcoming over 250 dogs from all corners of the globe to strut their stuff. The event, which runs from Thursday, 30 November to Friday, 1 December will feature competitions showcasing the dogs’ abilities in many categories, with a beauty pageant for our furry friends.

And horses too: The latest edition of the Riyadh Ubayyah festival is coming up. (PSA for recently-arrived expats — this has nothing to do with the loose-fitting garments of a similar-sounding name.)

But really: The Saudi Arabian Horse Festival kicks off tomorrow at the International Equestrian Resort in Riyadh and will wrap up on Saturday, 2 December, state-run Saudi Press Agency says. The event begins with Diriyah Pride’, an auction of some of the rarest purebred Arabian horses, and will be followed by the International Championship for Purebred Arabian Horses, with 200 horses competing for purses totalling more than SAR 1 mn.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

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