More praise + warmer ties as Saudi Great Futures closes: The two-day Saudi Great Futures investment conference — which is backed by our friends at HSBC — wrapped up yesterday with an agreement on a (vague) “landmark commitment to increase bilateral trade” between Saudi and the UK as officials once again stressed that investment ties between the two countries are “stronger than ever.”

REFRESHER- Execs from hundreds of British companies were in town as part of a delegation led by UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden to “connect with senior government and business decision-makers from Saudi Arabia’s ultra-ambitious giga-projects, and establish long-lasting relationships,” according to the summit’s webpage, in addition to mulling over “how to make Vision 2030 a reality.”

Investment goes both ways: Investment Minister Khalid Al Falih sat down with UK Investment Minister Dominic Johnson to “discuss the bns of investment flows” between the two countries, according to a post on X. The two countries signed an agreement to “accelerate strategic investments into both Kingdoms,” Johnson said, without providing further details.

And London — or at least The City — is calling for Saudi businesses: The ministers also chaired a meeting to identify funding solutions for local companies seeking growth. “The UK is a leading global financial hub, and we are open to providing funding solutions to firms to meet their funding requirements,” Johnson said.

Pitching Neom: Neom CEO Nadhmi Al Nasr highlighted massive potential investments available to British investors in the city. “Aligned with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, we are contributing to solving some of the world’s most complex challenges, with a view to building a better future for people and the planet,” he said. Neom has been active in the past weeks to drum up investment interest, with a recent trip to China to lure interest from Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai.

And bringing in more tourists: The Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) signed a declaration of intent with UK’s national tourism agency VisitBritain to look at how to cooperate on boosting tourism between the two countries, according to a statement on Tuesday. Over 165k British tourists visited Saudi between January and March this year, Tourism Minister and STA Chairman Ahmed Al Khateeb said. He said Saudi hopes some of its tourism projects “become as iconic as UK attractions like the Tower of London and Stonehenge” to lure in more visitors.

British Airways returns to Jeddah: British Airways will resume flights to Jeddah starting Monday, 4 November, ending a three-year hiatus that began during covid-19, according to a statement by the Saudi Air Connectivity Program. The airline will operate four weekly flights between London and Jeddah, the statement said. The British flagship carrier suspended flights to Jeddah and other long-haul destinations including Abu Dhabi in 2021 in a bid to slash losses caused by the grounding of flights due to the pandemic.

And more cooperation in education + arts: Education Minister Yousef Al Benyan signed a cooperation program agreement with Johnson to advance the fields of technical and vocational education, Technical Vocational Training Corp said in a post on X. On the arts and culture front, Saudi and the UK unveiled an initiative to promote cross-cultural understanding, Arab News reports. Titled “A Shared Heritage of Two Kingdoms,” the campaign kicked off with a number of workshops focused on the traditional crafts of Najdi wooden doors and Sadu weaving in both Riyadh. A similar workshop will be hosted in London today.

AND- Nothing is complete without some AI talk: Experts from Saudi and the UK discussed how artificial intelligence could be leveraged to enhance healthcare, Arab News reported. “In Saudi Arabia, we have embraced digital health as a priority because of its potential to enhance healthcare delivery, improve patient outcomes, and drive economic growth,” the CEO of Vision 2030’s Health Sector Transformation Program Khalid Al Shaibani said. The UK’s Under Secretary of State in the Department of Health and Social Care Nick Markham highlighted the growing importance of AI in healthcare, saying that AI sees and analyzes health patterns and data in ways that people can’t.

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