Good morning, folks. We’re kicking off the week with Saudi firing the starting gun on Syria’s reconstruction, signing a suite of agreements to rebuild everything from Aleppo’s airport to the nation’s digital backbone.

Also in today’s issue: Masna Ventures launches the Kingdom’s first defense-focused VC fund, and Fitch sees Saudi bank liquidity coming under strain as gigaprojects shift to operations.

Happening today

The World Defense Show kicks off today and runs through Thursday, 12 February in Riyadh, bringing together defense officials, military leaders, and industry executives from across the globe. The event will be officially inaugurated by Defense Minister and Vice Chairman of the GAMI Board Prince Khalid bin Salman.

Keep an eye on these two heavyweight program features:

  • The Future Defense Lab will serve as a high-tech hub for startups and global primes to showcase breakthroughs in AI, robotics, and quantum technologies through live demonstrations and dedicated technical briefings.
  • The Meet the KSA Government Program offers a rare, closed-door forum for industry leaders to engage directly with Saudi Arabia’s defense and security authorities. Sessions featuring entities like the Defense Ministry and the General Authority for Defense Development will provide insights into the Kingdom’s capability gaps, procurement priorities, and pathways for localizing 50% of military spending.

A not-so-smooth start: The event has reportedly seen some UAE companies withdraw, Reuters reports, citing two sources it says are familiar with the matter. The move is the latest sign of a geopolitical rift between the two Gulf powers — centered on Yemen and oil policy — threatening USD 30 bn in bilateral trade and investment. It is unclear if all Emirati participants in the country pavilion have pulled out.

ALSO- The AlUlaConference on Emerging Market Economies kicks off today and runs through tomorrow at AlUla’s Maraya Hall. The two-day event is organized by the Finance Ministry and the International Monetary Fund Regional Office in Riyadh.

Happening tomorrow

  • Riyadh hosts the Private Sector Forum tomorrow and Tuesday at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center. The forum highlights multi-bn USD investment windows across 13 priority sectors, such as tourism and renewable energy.
  • The Global Games Show Riyadh starts tomorrow at Malf Hall in Riyadh. The two-day B2B festival is organized by VAP Group.
  • The Asian Racing Conference will also commence on Monday at Crowne Plaza Riyadh RDC Hotel & Convention Center in Riyadh, marking its return to the Arabian Peninsula for the first time in about 20 years.

WEATHER- Thunderstorms bringing moderate to heavy rain, hail, and reduced visibility are forecast across Riyadh, Qassim, and the Eastern Province. Meanwhile, lighter showers are expected over the highlands of Makkah, Al Baha, Asir, and Jazan, with a chance of fog in parts of these areas. Dust-raising winds will sweep through Al Jouf and the Northern Borders.

  • Riyadh: 27°C high / 17°C low.
  • Jeddah: 31°C high / 21°C low.
  • Makkah: 33°C high / 21°C low.
  • Dammam: 23°C high / 17°C low.

PSAs

Businesses subject to withholding tax must file their January tax returns by Tuesday, 10 February via the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority’s (Zatca) website, the authority said in a statement. Late submissions will face a 1% penalty for every 30 days of delay.

Watch this space

SPORTS — Is the Ronaldo situation getting out of hand? Cristiano Ronaldo was a no-show for Al Nassr’s game against Al Ittihad, his second straight absence from the lineup as reports keep mounting that the Don is unhappy with how the club failed to score any high-profile signings in the latest transfer window. Rival Al Hilal managed to snag Karim Benzema at the last minute.

The player is reportedly blaming the Public Investment Fund’s interference andunbalanced spending on top clubs, as well as deep-pocketed private backers. Alwaleed bin Talal is said to have provided the war chest for Al Hilal’s six signings. Some sources are signalling Ronaldo could head for the door this June if he remains dissatisfied with Al Nassr’s lineup.

SPL weighs in: The Saudi Pro League (SPL) said in a widely circulated statement that the league is bigger than any individual player, without referring to Ronaldo’s situation. “Clubs have their own boards, executives and football leadership. Decisions on recruitment, spending and strategy rest with those clubs, within a financial framework designed to ensure sustainability and competitive balance. That framework applies equally across the league,” the statement read.

AVIATION — More jets for Saudia? National air carrier Saudia is in early talks with Boeing and Airbus over a potential order for at least 150 aircraft, in what could become the airline’s largest purchase to date, unnamed sources told Bloomberg. The order is expected to include a mix of narrowbody and widebody jets to both replace aging models in Saudia’s current 200-plane fleet and expand overall capacity.

Why it matters: The 80-year-old national carrier is being repositioned with a dual focus to dominate the high-volume religious pilgrimage market while modernizing its brand, whereas PIF-backed Riyadh Air targets global luxury fliers. The purchase comes amid intensifying competition from low-cost carriers both domestically (flynas and flyadeal) and regionally.

Not the first big order: The air carrier purchased 105 Airbus narrow-body jets in May 2024 and ordered nearly 40 Boeing 787 Dreamliners in 2023.

OIL — The Kingdom cut the official selling price for Arab Light crude for March shipments to Asian buyers by USD 0.30 a barrel, bringing its flagship grade to the lowest level since December 2020, according to Bloomberg. This also brings the price to parity with the Oman/Dubai benchmark — the lowest level in over five years.

The reduction signals that global demand continues to outpace immediate demand, although Aramco opted for a more moderate cut than the expected USD 0.50-0.85 per barrel.

[wwtt4] TRADE — The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is set to ship 50k tons of copper to Saudi Arabia and the UAE via a US-backed JV between the DRC’s state-owned miner Gecamines and Swiss commodities group Mercuria, the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) said in a statement. This comes after Gecamines agreed to ship 100k tons to the US last month.

The US is looking to secure its foothold in the DRC’s China-dominated supply chain — and its allies are included in the push. “Growing cooperation between the US and the DRC ensures valuable critical minerals are directed to the US and our allies, and strengthens the economic viability of our African partners,” DFC CEO Ben Black said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg. China heavily leads as the DRC’s major importer, receiving USD 21.6 bn worth of goods — out of USD 29.6 bn exported in 2024 — followed by South Korea, India, Saudi Arabia, and Spain.

BACKGROUND- The DFC backed and expressed interest in taking up an equity share in the JV between Gecamines and Mercuria to market copper and cobalt back in December, as it aims to expand into germanium and gallium — key minerals for semiconductors and solar panels.

SPORTS — We will not be hosting the 2029 winter games after all: The Olympic Council of Asia selected Kazakhstan’s Almaty as the host city for the 2029 Asian Winter Games, which were initially slated for Neom’s Trojena mountain resort. Almaty was selected due to its robust sporting infrastructure, Kazakhstan’s Olympic Committee stated.

Trouble at Trojena? The Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the Olympic Council postponed the event earlier this year, following reports of construction hurdles at Trojena that surfaced late last year. At the time, both entities were reportedly on the lookout for another city to host the games.

Data point

5.2 tons — that’s the volume of gold bars and coins purchased in the Kingdom in 4Q 2025, marking the highest level in 10 quarters and up from 4.5 tons in 3Q, Asharq Business reports, citing World Gold Council data.

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The big story abroad

Global headlines this morning are focused on the resignation of Washington Post CEO Will Lewis, which came just days after the organization laid off one-third of its staff. Lewis took over in January 2024 and presided over a rather unstable period in the paper’s lifetime, which saw mass layoffs and the resignation of one of its top editors. The paper’s CFO Jeff D’Onofrio will take the lead as publisher and CEO.

MEANWHILE, IN MARKETS- BTC has officially lost all its gains since US President Donald Trump’s inauguration last year, as thin liquidity and price volatility push investors away from the cryptocurrency. The slump is likely to persist “for some time,” research analyst at Kaiko Thomas Probst told Reuters. BTC is now trading at around the USD 69k mark, down 20.7% YTD.

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