{"id":83066,"date":"2024-02-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2024\/02\/05\/blinken-due-in-saudi-arabia-this-morning-as-he-kickstarts-fifth-tour-since-october\/"},"modified":"2024-02-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T00:00:00","slug":"blinken-due-in-saudi-arabia-this-morning-as-he-kickstarts-fifth-tour-since-october","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2024\/02\/05\/blinken-due-in-saudi-arabia-this-morning-as-he-kickstarts-fifth-tour-since-october\/","title":{"rendered":"Blinken due in Saudi Arabia this morning as he kickstarts fifth tour since October"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, wonderful people<\/strong>, and welcome to what\u2019s shaping up to be a diplomacy (Blinken is due in town) and defense (it\u2019s day two of the World Defense Show) kind of news day.<\/p>\n

UP FIRST- It looks like US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be in Saudi today<\/strong>. <\/strong>Blinken is on his fifth tour of the region since Israel\u2019s invasion of Gaza in October. The State Department said on Friday<\/a> that he would visit Saudi, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and the West Bank between yesterday and Thursday. <\/p>\n

Blinken boarded an aircraft at Joint Base Andrews <\/strong>late yesterday afternoon, with a Reuters photographer reporting that he was \u201cen route to Saudi Arabia.\u201d The war in Gaza and disruptions to shipping in the Red Sea were at the top of the agenda when he spoke yesterday<\/a> with UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron.<\/p>\n

Blinken touched base with Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud <\/strong>ahead of the trip, emphasizing<\/a> the importance of a \u201cmore integrated, peaceful region\u201d and pushing for a \u201chumanitarian pause that includes the release of hostages held by hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n

MEANWHILE- <\/strong>Reuters<\/a><\/strong> is reporting that officials in Riyadh are pushing to close a US <\/strong>defense pact <\/strong>before Joe Biden heads into election day in November. The report relies on three unnamed sources, and officials at the Foreign Ministry have said nothing official on the matter. <\/p>\n

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<\/a> AND- The Riyad Bank Saudi Arabia PMI is due out at 7:15am KSA. <\/strong>Tap or click here<\/a>to find it<\/a> after it\u2019s released \u2014 or check back with us tomorrow morning for coverage. A reading above the 50 mark indicates growing business activity.<\/p>\n

<\/a> DATA POINT- <\/strong>Consumer spending via Mada cards jumped 7% to SAR 1.3 tn in 2023<\/strong>, Argaam<\/a> reported yesterday. This includes total withdrawals from ATMs, POS transactions, and e-commerce through the domestic payment network. POS transactions rose 10% y-o-y to c. SAR 614 bn last year, while withdrawals from ATMs dipped c. 1% to SAR 548.8 bn. E-commerce through Mada grew 28% y-o-y in the same period to SAR 156.9 bn.<\/p>\n

<\/a> PSA- <\/strong>The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (Zatca) is reminding businesses to submit <\/strong>their tax returns before Sunday, 30 June<\/strong> if they want to benefit from its tax fine waiver program, it said in a statement<\/a> yesterday.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s on the exemption menu?<\/strong> Exemptions apply on fines for late registration, late payment, late filing of tax returns, and a correction for value-added tax returns among others. Tax <\/strong>dodgers need not apply for an exemption, nor should folks who paid fines before the exemption program began. <\/p>\n

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WEATHER- It\u2019s a cloudy day in Riyadh and Makkah<\/strong> today with a lot of wind in Jeddah.<\/p>\n