SAMA, People’s Bank of China agree to SAR 26 bn currency swap

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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Burgerizzr makes the leap to the main market. PLUS: Tax time, foreign interest in KSA equities, and the meltdown of OpenAI

Good morning, wonderful people, and welcome to the first-ever zero issue of EnterpriseAM Saudi, wherein we will chronicle what we immodestly think is one of the most globally compelling business stories of our generation.

THIS MORNING’S ISSUE is heavy on capital markets stories, but we’ve also got the latest on drugmaker Spimaco’s turnaround bid, a new air passenger’s bill of rights, and the latest on the meltdown of OpenAI (where the story is literally shifting hour-by-hour).

** This is a zero issue of EnterpriseAM Saudi and has not been published or distributed to a wide audience.

** Did you receive this as a forward? Email editorial@enterprisemea.com and let us know if you’d like to be added to our list of beta readers ahead of our launch.

SIGN OF THE TIMES- You know Tadawul-mania is at a new level when homegrown burgerchain Burgerizzr makes the leap to the big league. Shatirah House Restaurant Co., the owner and operator of the Burgerizzr brand, has filed to transition to Tadawul’s main market from parallel market Nomu, the company said in a regulatory filing yesterday. Burgerizzr hopes the move will make it more attractive to potential shareholders — only qualified investors can dabble in Nomu, with its light-touch regulation, while an upgrade to the main market opens it to other individual investors.

BACKGROUND- Burgerizzr has been working on this for some time and arranged for Mohamed Al-Ruwaigh, a founder and major shareholder, to divest last week a 0.84% stake to make certain the popular burger chain could meet the liquidity requirement for an upgrade to the main market. Al-Ruwaigh now holds 42.8% of the company, according to data compiled by Argaam, and was formerly the company’s CEO after a career working FMCG for domestic and multinational players including Al Safi-Danone. The chain had 100 outlets nationwide at the end of last year (the last figure it has publicly disclosed) and is looking to double that number by 2025.

DATA POINT #1- Foreign ownership of Saudi equities is up 300% in value terms in the past five years, the Capital Markets Authority said in a report. The news comes as the CMA aims to make KSA equities more appealing to foreign investors, who are underrepresented in a market that remains dominated by Saudi individual and institutional investors. We have more on the story in this morning’s news well — and an update in Planet Finance on the return of foreigners after last month’s selloff, both below.

PSA- The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority is reminding us all that the deadline to submit tax returns is Thursday, 30 November. Zatca is calling on businesses whose annual revenues exceed SAR 40 mn to submit their tax returns for October by 30 November, the authority said yesterday. This can be done either via ZATCA’s official website or through the authority’s mobile application. Failure to comply within this timeframe may result in fines ranging from 5% to 25% of the declared tax value.

SH*T SHOW AT THE F*CK FACTORY- Sam Altman is out at OpenAI. But is he returning as CEO to the company he founded? Or taking as many as 700 OpenAI staff and decamping for Microsoft? Not even Microsoft boss Satya Nadella seems to know. Sh*t show at the f*ck factory, indeed.

Here are the big beats — and big, lingering questions — in the drama that the global business press has dubbed the single largest business story of 2023. (Bloomberg | Financial Times | WSJ)

1- OpenAI’s board fired Altman over the weekend in what Silicon Valley insiders are calling a “coup” led by the company’s chief scientist.

2- The chief scientist is now threatening to leave with Altman, saying he regrets his actions. (Sure, Fredo.)

3- OpenAI’s board (all of them external folks, none of them shareholders) has missed two deadlines to bring back Altman and then resign themselves. They’ve been under pressure from major shareholders including Microsoft and venture capital outfit Thrive. Instead, they’ve fired the interim CEO they appointed a few days ago (she’s backing Altman) and hired the guy who used to run Twitch.

4- Nadella announced in a stone-coldtweetpost on Elon Musk’s dumpster fire of a social network that Altman is joining Microsoft.

And as of right now: More than 700 OpenAI staff have threatened to walk, Nadella doesn’t seem to know whether he employs Altman or not, and it seems Altman is still making a play to return to OpenAI.

PSA- Maybe you don’t want to pay for ChatGPT Plus, after all? Microsoft’s Copilot (until recently named Bing) is powered by a fairly recent build of ChatGPT and Google’s Bard has exploded out of the gates in recent weeks, now giving users the ability to link Bard to their email as well as to Google’s Docs, Sheets and Slides products, among others.

THE LOCAL ANGLE- Does this mean the end of Altman’s bid to raise funds out of Saudi and the UAE to back a new business focused on chips and devices for AI? He had been in and out of our neck of the woods trying to raise “tens of bns” of USD for unspecified hardware-focused projects, Fortune reports, suggesting Altman had been speaking with the Public Investment Fund as well as Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala.

HAPPENING TODAY-

#1- It’s the second day of meetings for a Saudi business delegation in Cairo kicking tires on potential investments there. The delegation is being led by Trade Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, who has led meetings with officials including Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly.

One-on-one meetings with Egyptian business leaders and government officials are on the agenda for today ahead of tomorrow’s opening of the Egy-GCC Business forum, also in Cairo.

Egypt’s pitch: Some 90 top executives from both private and state-owned companies will hear from Egyptian officials that the country is positioning itself as a logistics and manufacturing hub for Saudi companies looking to sell in to Europe, Africa and beyond. Attracting fresh FDI, particularly in manufacturing and exportable services, is a key component of Egypt’s strategy to get past an FX crunch that has weighed on growth since the outbreak of war in Ukraine last year.

Alhokair is already in: CEO Turki Al Hokair, who has joined the delegation, said on Sunday his business plans to invest some USD 1.5 bn in Egypt next year in sectors including energy, real estate, and infrastructure.

Yeah, but can they get their money out? Saudi Egyptian Business Council chief Bandar Al Amiri told CNBC Arabia that Egypt’s central bank governor is pursuing a remedy that will make it easier for investors to repatriate dividends from Egypt despite the ongoing FX crunch.

DATA POINT #2- Saudi of the largest foreign investors in Egypt this year, Al-Eqtesad reports, citing Central Bank of Egypt figures. Net FDI out of KSA and into Egypt hit USD 2.14 bn in Egypt’s 2022-2023 fiscal year, representing 21.3% of total inbound foreign investment to Egypt in the period. Arab countries accounted for 42.9% of Egypt’s total inbound FDI, half of which came from Saudi, followed by the UAE and China.

ALSO ON THE AGENDA IN CAIRO- Saudi and Egypt are discussing whether to use local currencies in trade exchange, according to state-owned Ahram Online, quoting the head of Egypt’s foreign commercial service. The central banks of both countries are discussing the matter, he said.

#2- It's day three of Global Entrepreneurship Week at the Taif Chamber, organized by the Ataa Center. The three-day event includes a series of talks and workshops for entrepreneurs in a range of fields.

#3- The BRICS and UN will Facetime todayto discuss Israel’s war in Gaza, Bloomberg reports. Attendees include all BRICS leaders, making it the first time they’re all in the same gathering since August. Also on the call with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and his staff will be representatives of countries invited to join the alliance earlier this year, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

It’s Thanksgiving week in the United States — and because we all love a good capitalist discount, Black Friday sales now blanked the Arab world. Saudi is no exception: Some of the bargains on offer at Amazon.sa look particularly appealing. Both brick-and-mortar and online retailers are ramping up the hype ahead of this weekend’s festivities.

SOUND SMART- Retail lore has it that Black Friday — the Friday after US Thanksgiving — is the day on which major retailers saw their income statements turn from “in the red” to “in the black” for the year. Some of us are a bit, uh, overly sensitive to the notion that a “black” Friday has a negative connotation in our part of the world, hence the rebranding to “White Friday” in some quarters. (We’re looking at you, Amazon.)

OIL WATCH-

OPEC+ could extend oil supply cuts into 2024 in a bid to arrest falling prices, Reuters reports, citing multiple sources at the group of oil producers. The cartel will meet on Sunday, November 26, with prices having fallen c. 20% since late September to hit a four-month low last week.

In numbers: Brent crude prices fell to USD 79 a barrel this week down from a 2023 peak in September at USD 98.

What’s weighing on prices? Concern over waning demand and a possible oil surplus next year have slashed prices, despite voluntary supply cuts and the ongoing war on Gaza.

What it means for us: Extending oil cuts will put some downward pressure on the government’s spending program, with oil receipts still accounting for the majority of the inflows into state coffers.

Oil futures edged higher yesterday as traders start pricing in expectations of the supply cut, Reuters reports. Brent crude rose USD 1.18 to USD 81.79 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was up USD 1.05 to USD 76.94.

KSA, China sign local currency swap worth CNY 50 bn

Saudi Arabia and China signed a bilateral local currency swap agreement worth CNY 50 bn (c. SAR 26 bn), statements by two countries’ central banks read (here and here). The move comes as Riyadh and Beijing look to take ties to the next left — and reflect their shared interest in partially diversifying their non-oil trade away from the greenback.

Neither the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) nor Beijing’s central bank were loquacious about the three-year swap. SAMA said only that the agreement “reflects closer ties between the two banks in fields of common interest.” The People’s Bank of China said separately that the swap will “help strengthen financial cooperation” and “facilitate more convenient trade and investment” between the two countries.

Why this matters: China is our largest trade partner, with bilateral trade between the two countries hitting USD 87.3 bn in 2021. The move reflects Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman’s emphasis on building deeper economic ties with China, where we are already one of that country’s top oil suppliers. We’re also shifting away from the USD as the de-facto currency for oil payments. Business ties with Beijing have grown in recent years as we’ve worked to attract investment in the Kingdom by Chinese tech companies and oil giant Aramco has poured bns of USD into China’s petrochemicals sectors.

It’s not only economy: Riyadh and Beijing have shared geopolitical interests, with China helping broker a historic reestablishment of ties between Riyadh and Tehran earlier this year. Beijing was also the starting point of a visit yesterday by a Middle East delegation led by Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud for talks on a ceasefire in Gaza.

An easier “I do?” to BRICS? Saudi was one of six countries invited in August to join the BRICS group of nations. We’re expected to join in January with allies including Egypt and the UAE.

What’s on Beijing’s mind: “China seems to be using swap lines in a very different way to the US," Weitseng Chen, associate professor at the National University of Singapore told Reuters.
“[China] uses it as a credit line, so it's on a constant basis, instead of a one-time, one-off thing during a financial crisis,” Chen said.

The story also got ink from: Reuters | Bloomberg

Riyadh Steel’s IPO on Saudi’s parallel market was more than 2x oversubscribed

Riyadh Steel’s Nomu IPO was more than 2x oversubscribed:Riyadh Steel has priced its shares at SAR 17 (USD 4.5) a piece and its book-building process was 222.6% oversubscribed, Alinma Investment, the IPO’s financial advisor and underwriter, said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. The steel manufacturer is set to offer some 1 mn ordinary shares, good for a 20% stake in the company. The listing date is yet to be determined.

Last year’s results: The company’s bottom line rose 13.6% to SAR 5 bn y-o-y in 2022, up from SAR 4.5 bn in 2021, according to the IPO prospectus (pdf).

SOUND SMART- Nomu is Tadawul’s version of London’s AIM, offering lighter listing and financial reporting requirements in a bid to attract companies at earlier stages of development, including smaller businesses and startups. There is no profitability requirement to list on Nomu, which is open only to qualified investors (read: most day-trading retail investors need not apply). Want to go deeper? Tap or click here.

Some companies use Nomu as a stepping stone to “upgrade” to the main market, as burger chain Burgerizzr did yesterday. (See What We’re Tracking Today, above.)

ADVISORS- Alinma Investment is quarterbacking the transaction as financial advisor and underwriter to Riyadh, while PFK and RSM are serving as legal accountants, according to the prospectus.

Upcoming Nomu listings on which we’re keeping our eyes open for news:

NUPCO, Saudi’s largest medical procurement firm;
Osool & Bakheet Investment (prospectus, pdf);
View United Real Estate Development (prospectus, pdf);
Lana Medical (prospectus, pdf);
Armah Sports (prospectus, pdf);
Fad International (prospectus, pdf);
Mulkia Investment (prospectus, pdf).

Foreign holding of Saudi equities, debt skyrockets –CMA report

Foreign investors have growing appetite for KSA equities, with their holdings of Saudi shares listed on Tadawul rising to SAE 347 bn at the end of 2022, a 300% increase from the end of 2018, the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) said in an annual report (pdf) on Monday. Some SAR 180 bn worth of foreign investment has flowed into shares on the Tadawul’s main market in the past five years, the authority said.

The CMA has been actively courting foreign institutional investors at the same time as global interest in the Saudi story has been rising. Foreigners held 14.2% of Tadawul’s total freefloat shares at the end of last year, up from 3.8% in 2018, underscoring “growing international confidence” in the market, said CME Deputy President Abdullah Binghannam.

A penchant for Saudi debt? Foreign ownership of our debt has grown more than 10x since the market opened without restriction to foreign investors in late 2020, according to the CMA.

What they said: “The CMA has made major efforts in recent years to increase the attractiveness of the Saudi capital market to foreign investors and to encourage their entry and participation in the trading and offerings, as well as in the general assemblies of firms,” the report read.

As part of turnaround bid, Spimaco unit partners with MSD to make advanced diabetes meds in Kingdom

Climbing the pharma value chain: Dammam Pharma Co., a unit of Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Appliances Corp. (Spimaco), is partnering with US-based Merck Sharp & Dohme International (MSD) to manufacture treatments for type-two diabetes in the Kingdom, Spimaco said on X. Dammam Pharma says it will become the first first facility in the region to produce type-two diabetes treatments, according to Saudi Gazette.

What we know:

Production will start in early 2024;
Dammam is looking to sell both at home and to regional markets;
The two partners are talking up the transfer of “advanced pharma technologies” to KSA.

What we don’t know: Which molecule(s) and brand(s) might be made at the Spimaco unit, but we’re not talking insulin here: MSD’s diabetes portfolio includes advanced molecules, among them DPP-4 and SGLT4 inhibitors as well as metformin in both combination and standalone therapies.

Sizing up the market: Nearly 18% of adult Saudis suffer from diabetes, Spimaco CEO Jerome Cabannes says. The total KSA market for pharma products stands at c. SAR 34 bn today and is set to grow to c. SAR 40 bn by 2030.

Spimaco is a turnaround play: Cabannes was until October Spimaco’s COO, when he was asked to step up and lead the company. Spimaco has struggled in recent years, but a turnaround plan kicked off in late 2022 sees the company in the black for 9M 2023 with a net profit of SAR 40 mn (against a loss of SAR 67 mn in the same period last year), the company’s earnings release (pdf) shows. The improvement comes on the back of improving revenues and better control of selling, general, and administrative costs.

What are the planks of the turnaround? Shareholders are looking to create a “national champion” for the industry and are talking up a management team with both solid business and pharma experience as well as an emphasis on “accelerated delivery of M&A and business development” strategy execution, according to a recent investor presentation (pdf) that directly addresses “What’s different this time?” The presentation identifies diabetes meds as one of its priority markets.

Who’s who: Dammam Pharma Co. specializes in medical and pharmaceutical products. Merck & Co., Inc., is an American multinational pharmaceutical company based in New Jersey that operates as Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD internationally.

REMEMBER- Plenty of players are working to make the Kingdom a hub for pharma manufacturing, looking to serve both the large domestic market and to capture a share of regional exports. Nupco, a Public Investment Fund company and one of KSA’s leading medical procurement companies, signed an MoU last month with local firm Sudair Pharma and global major drugmaker Sanofi to start the local production of insulin.

GCC-owned GIC acquires significant minority stake in UAE-based Pipecare

GCC-owned GIC grabs minority stake in Pipecare:Kuwait-based Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) said it acquired a “significant minority stake” in UAE-based Pipecare Group Holding, a global provider of pipeline inspection services, according to a company statement. The transaction was executed on 15 November, the statement read, without disclosing the size of the stake acquired and the value of the transaction.

Where the funds are going: Pipecare will use the cash infusion to speed its international expansion with a focus on expanding its premium offerings — namely its “high-end in-line inspection technologies” — in the North American market.

It’s another Gulf-Goes-Global story: “This investment highlights the interest of GIC in partnering with a successful GCC company to help it expand its operations outside the region,” Group Head of Principal Investments at GIC Meshary Al-Judaimi said.

What’s GIC? Established in 1983 by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), GIC is an investment company jointly owned by the six GCC member states. Its primary objective is to boost cooperation and growth through equity commitments, both within the GCC and globally.

About Pipecare: Pipecare Group, established in 1998, is a key global provider of in-line inspection services for pipeline operators in some 85 countries.

Saudi Arabia’s GACA declares new passenger rights guidelines effective November 20

Travelers on airlines in the Kingdom have new rights under guidelines announced yesterday by the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA). The Passenger First regulations, as GACA is dubbing them, came into effect yesterday, the authority said on X.

What they covered: Everything from ticketing and boarding to in-flight services, baggage handling, delays, time spent on tarmac, and assistance for disabled passengers.

The package is generous to travelers: The rules could see compensation for delays reaching as high as 200% of the original ticket value in certain circumstances, while passengers will be able to claim up to SAR 6.6k for lost luggage.

We’ve been expecting this for a while now: The new guidelines were first announced in August, but went into effect yesterday.

Saudi FM leads Gaza ceasefire push with Arab counterparts

Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud is on a mission to convince some of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to back a ceasefire in Gaza, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday. The tour of world capitals was one of the mandates of the Arab-Islamic summit hosted in Riyadh earlier this month.

Who’s in: Joining Al Saud on the road are the PMs and foreign ministers of Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, and Nigeria. It also includes the Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister, Arab League Secretary Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and Organization of Islamic Cooperation Secretary General Hussein Ibrahim Taha.

FIRST STOP: Beijing, where bin Abdullah and company met yesterday with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to SPA. “Let us work together to quickly calm the situation in Gaza and restore peace in the Middle East as soon as possible,” Wang said, Asharq Al Awsat reported. The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Indonesia joined Al Saud for the Beijing leg of the tour, according to the Associated Press.

ALSO- KSRelief sends 15th aid flight: The fifteenth Saudi relief aircraft arrived at Egypt’s El Arish Airport carrying 31 tons of food, water, and medical supplies for Gaza as part of the Saudi Relief Campaign run by local aid agency KSRelief, Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Cairo said on X.

Currency swap, Gaza diplomacy are driving the conversation on KSA in the global press

No single story is driving the conversation on the Kingdom in the foreign press this morning.

The big business story: Both Reuters and Bloomberg have given plenty of attention to the currency swap with China, which we cover in this morning’s news well, above.

Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud’s tour of P5 security council members (also covered above) is also getting plenty of ink.

In miscellany:

We’re channeling our inner Dubai: Six Flags Qiddiya has unveiled what it is billing as the world’s tallest and fastest rollercoaster, getting ink in Fox Business and the New York Post.
Good news for tourists: Travelers in the Kingdom will enjoy new rights in an air passenger bill of rights unveiled by the General Authority for Civil Aviation, Gulf News writes.
Neom announces new upscale development: Saudi mega city Neom unveiled Epicon, a development featuring two skyscrapers standing (one 225 m tall, the other 275 m) and a 41-key hotel near the resort. (Archdaily)

Helping SMEs export. PLUS: News from PIF, Najran municipality, Keir, First Mills, and Naba Alsaha

EXPORTS-

The Finance Ministry’s Kafalah fund is working is partnering with the SaudiImport-Export Bank to provide finance to SMEs with export ambitions, Kafalah said on X. Kafalah provides loan-risk guarantees to help spur the growth of SMEs in the Kingdom. The program is designed to make it easier for qualifying businesses to land finance from banks and financial services companies.

Who can apply? Companies nationwide are eligible to apply provided they’ve been exporters for at least one year and fall in one of the industries covered in the bank’s National Economic Activities Guide.

INVESTMENT WATCH-

#1- Egypt’s e-Finance is a little bit more Saudi after the Public Investment Fund (PIF) raised its stake in EGX-listed fintech player e-Finance by two percentage points to 27% by purchasing freefloat shares, e-Finance Chairman Ibrahim Sarhan told Al Arabiya in an interview. The Saudi Egyptian Investment Company — the PIF’s investment arm in Egypt — had reportedly been looking to increase its ownership of the company to 28%. PIF acquired 25% of the company last year.

#2- Najran municipality is shopping some 24 investment opportunitiesacross the southern province, SPA reported on Monday. The investments include commercial activities, minerals and building materials, health and medical services among others. Interested investors can apply for the potential investments through Furas, the unified investment platform for Saudi cities.

INFRASTRUCTURE-

Keir and SEC ink SAR 26.4 mn contract:Keir International has landed an SAR 26.4 mn contract with the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) to deliver a high-voltage interconnection project in Al Khobar, according to a company disclosure to Tadawul. The contract includes the installation of 115 kV ground cables connecting two stations west of Al-Khobar in the Eastern Province.

MARKET WATCH-

#1-First Mills mulls share buyback to retain talent via ESOP: The Board of Directors of Tadawul-listed milling company First Mills is set to recommend a 300k-share buyback program at the next general assembly, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul yesterday. The shares will be transferred to a share ownership plan that is part of its long-term incentive compensation scheme for employees. The potential buyback will be funded by the “company’s own cash resources,” setting First Mills back some SAR 20.3 mn at the most recent closing price of SAR 67.50 per share.

#2- Naba Alsaha’s BoD approves a 50% capital increase to fuel expansion:Nomu-listed Naba Alsaha Medical Services gave the greenlight for a SAR 35 mn capital increase in an extraordinary general assembly meeting, saying the proceeds would “support and finance the company’s new expansion projects.” The capital increase will be financed by “capitalizing part of the company’s earnings balance,” raising the company’s capital to a total of SAR 105 mn shares. While each shareholder will receive one new share for every two they own.

Foreign investors in Saudi equities return to market after October’s panic exit

Foreign investors u-turn after panic exit in October: The Tadawul saw net inflows of SAR 2.5 bn from foreign and GCC investors last week, according to Tadawul data reviewed by Enterprise, reversing a drain that saw foreign and GCC investors sell positions worth SAR 3.8 bn in October on fears that markets could crater if the war in Gaza were to become a regional conflict.

Last week on Tadawul: Foreigners were bullish, and Saudi investors were sellers.While foreign investors recorded SAR 875.7 mn in net purchases in the week ending 16 November, and GCC investors acquired positions worth SAR 504 mn, Saudi investors were bearish with net sales worth SAR 1.38 bn, according to Tadawul figures.

Foreign ownership of issued capital on Tadawul rose slightly to 3.30% on the week ending 16 November, up from 3.24% on the week ending 31 October. Foreign ownership of freefloat shares was roughly flat at 12.50%, down from 12.56% the previous week.

But, it's going to be a bumpy ride: “Saudi Arabia has a strong fundamental story and significant untapped potential,” Bloomberg reports quoting Junaid Ansari, director of investment strategy and research at Kamco Investment. “That said, we expect volatility in the near term due to a lot of chaos in the market,” Ansari added.

What the pundits are tipping: “Keeping exposure to consumer staples, utilities and health care should provide a hedge,” said Aditum Investment Head of Investment Structuring Ali El Adou.

	TASI	11,118	-0.2% (YTD: +6.1%)
	MSCI Tadawul 30	1,442	-0.3% (YTD: -1.3%)
-	USD : SAR (SAMA)	3.75	-
-	Interest rates	6% repo	5.5% reverse repo
	EGX30	24,760	-0.6% (YTD: +69.6%)
-	ADX	9,575	-unch- (YTD: -6.2%)
	DFM	4,002	+0.2% (YTD: +20%)
	S&P 500	4,514	+0.1% (YTD: +17.6%)
	FTSE 100	7,484	-0.3% (YTD: +0.5%)
-	Euro Stoxx 50	4,339	-unch- (YTD: +14.3%)
	Brent crude	USD 82.8	+2.7%
	Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 2.96	-3.3%
	Gold	USD 1,984.70	-0.1%
	BTC	USD 37,030.07	+1.3% (YTD: 123.7%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The TASI fell 0.2% yesterday on turnover of SAR 7.1 bn (x.xx% above the 90-day average).

In the green: Naqi (+6.5%), Ades (+1.8%) and Al Omran (+2.5%).

In the red: Al Rajhi Takaful (-6.2%), UACC (-0.5%) and Al Aseel (-0.1%).

Global arms manufacturers are starting to look at us through a new lens

Geopolitical calculations set off by Israel’s war in Gaza are prompting global arms manufacturers to look at the Saudi market in new light even as we position ourselves as an emerging hub for defense systems production. The Kingdom remains, by most counts, the world’s second-largest arms importer.

First up: Germany may be having a change of heart and is now considering selling us fighter jets. Germany’s coalition government could consider going ahead with a multi-bn EUR sale of Eurofighter Typhoon jets, the Financial Times reports. It’s not a certainty yet, but changing views of regional security issues are prompting Berlin to reconsider the sale, on which it put brakes back in 2018.

Meanwhile, we’re shopping for missiles — and South Korea is pumped, Bloomberg reports, suggesting Saudi may be just what Korea was hoping for as it looks to build its arms export industry. The Cheongung II KM surface-to-air system system, designed by a group of South Korean affiliates of Hanwha Aerospace, could cost more than USD 3.5 bn, a bit more than the UAE paid for a similar system.

The Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry hosted the kickoff yesterday of the Saudi-Irish Business Forumin Riyadh, Asharq Al Awsat reported, saying that human resources and aviation were high on the list of topics at a meeting attended by representatives of more than 80 Saudi and Irish businesses. Irelands’s minister of state for business, employment, and retail, Neil Richmond, attended.

What Ireland wants: Richmond told attendees that Irish companies are openly interested in investing in KSA — and called on Saudi companies to look at Ireland as a prospective partner.

CALENDAR

NOVEMBER

19-21 November (Sunday-Tuesday): The Global Entrepreneurship Week, Taif Chamber, Al Taif, KSA.

19-23 November (Sunday-Thursday): Transport and Logistics Week, Riyadh, Khobar, Jeddah, and Medinah, KSA.

21-23 November (Tuesday-Thursday): ARABAL 2023 Conference, Hilton Riyadh Hotel & Residences, Hilton Riyadh Hotel & Residences, Riyadh, KSA.

23-25 November (Thursday-Saturday); Saudi International Football (SAIF): Expo, Jeddah Center For Forums & Events, Jeddah, KSA.

26-28 November (Sunday-Wednesday): Reliability & Maintainability Conference & Exhibition 2023, Grand Hyatt Hotel, Al Khobar, KSA.

26-28 November (Sunday-Tuesday): NCT Middle East, Riyadh, KSA.

27-29 November (Monday-Wednesday): Saudi HORECA, Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center, Riyadh, KSA.

30 November (Thursday): Start of Noor Riyadh show, King Abdullah Financial District, Riyadh, KSA.

DECEMBER

4-7 December (Monday-Thursday): FIABCI Global Leadership Summit, Riyadh, KSA.

5 December (Tuesday): Taxcom Middle East, Riyadh, KSA.

5-6 December (Tuesday-Wednesday): Education Investment Saudi, Riyadh, KSA.

6-7 December (Wednesday- Thursday): Collection and Recovery Middle East Summit, Riyadh, KSA.

16 December (Saturday): end of Noor Riyadh show, segment “The Bright Side of the Desert Moon, Riyadh, KSA.

18-20 December (Monday-Wednesday): Smart Grid Conference, Riyadh, KSA.

19-20 December (Tuesday- Wednesday): Saudi Airport Exhibition, Riyadh, KSA.

19-21 December (Tuesday-Thursday): International Digital Signage Expo 2023, Riyadh, KSA.

2024

JANUARY

9-11 January (Tuesday-Thursday): Future Minerals Forum, Riyadh, KSA.

14-17 January (Sunday-Wednesday): The International Exhibition for construction and building materials (Saudi Projects), Jeddah, KSA.

28-31 January (Sunday-Wednesday): Saudi Franchise Expo 2024, Jeddah, KSA.

FEBRUARY

4-6 February (Sunday-Tuesday): SIMEC International Expo, Riyadh, KSA.

5-7 February (Monday-Wednesday): Saudi HORECA 2024, Jeddah, KSA.

12-14 February (Monday-Wednesday): The International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC), Riyadh, KSA.

22 February (Thursday): Founding Day, a national holiday.

26-29 February (Monday-Thursday): Big 5 Construct Saudi, Riyadh, KSA.

26-29 February (Monday-Thursday): FM EXPO SAUDI, Riyadh, KSA.

26-29 February (Monday-Thursday): Stone and Service Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, KSA.

MARCH

2 March (Friday): end of Noor Riyadh show, segment “Refracted Identities, Shared Futures”, Riyadh, KSA.

4-6 March (Monday-Wednesday): International Conference on Sand and Dust Storms in the Arabian Peninsula, Riyadh, KSA.

4-7 March (Monday-Thursday): LEAP 2024, Riyadh, KSA.

11 March (Monday): Flag Day, a national holiday.

Signposted to happen sometime in March:

Ramadan

APRIL

Signposted to happen sometime in April:

Eid Al-Fitr

MAY

19-21 May (Sunday-Tuesday): Saudi Energy Convention, Riyadh, KSA.

21-23 May (Tuesday-Thursday): The Saudi Food Show, Riyadh, KSA.

Signposted to happen sometime in May:

Global Trade Review (GTR): KSA
Saudi Energy Convention

JUNE

5 June (Wednesday): World Environment Day, KSA.

Signposted to happen sometime in June:

Eid Al-Adha

SEPTEMBER

11-12 September (Wednesday-Thursday): The Saudi Event Show, Riyadh, KSA.

23 September (Monday): National day, a national holiday.

DECEMBER

2-13 December (Monday-Friday): Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Riyadh, KSA.

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