{"id":83856,"date":"2024-02-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2024\/02\/28\/wherein-the-nyts-dealbook-unleashes-its-inner-orientalist\/"},"modified":"2024-02-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T00:00:00","slug":"wherein-the-nyts-dealbook-unleashes-its-inner-orientalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2024\/02\/28\/wherein-the-nyts-dealbook-unleashes-its-inner-orientalist\/","title":{"rendered":"Wherein the NYT\u2019s Dealbook unleashes its inner Orientalist"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a busy morning for the Kingdom in the international business press. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The New York Times\u2019 flagship business newsletter, Dealbook, <\/strong>took note of the Future<\/a><\/strong>Investment Initiative conference in Miami<\/a><\/strong>, which has so far largely made headlines for remarks by PIF boss Yasir Al-Rumayyan about (a) the Kingdom\u2019s AI ambitions and (b) the fund\u2019s goal of investing a bit more abroad in the coming years. <\/p>\n

Dealbook unleashed its inner Orientalist<\/strong>, writing that \u201clots of big names showed up\u201d and \u201ceveryone wanted everything to look normal. \u2026 Attendees mingled over wine, which is banned in Saudi Arabia, and Carbone\u2019s spicy rigatoni. But everything isn\u2019t entirely normal.\u201d Why? One guest said \u201cthe real test of Saudi\u2019s makeover is the level of her family\u2019s concern when she visits the country.\u201d <\/p>\n

God forbid:<\/strong> \u201cSome guests whispered that the Saudis expect private equity firms to set up offices there and make sure their CEO makes at least one annual visit as part of any deal.\u201d Shocker, right?<\/p>\n

Quick memo to Andrew Ross Sorkin:<\/strong> Y\u2019all can do better than this. <\/p>\n

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MEANWHILE- The CEO of PIF-backed EV maker Lucid says the company is \u201ccrucial\u201d to <\/strong>Saudi<\/strong> as one of the cornerstones of the Kingdom\u2019s economic diversification program. \u201cWe\u2019re in this together for the long run. Nobody wants this more than Saudi Arabia,\u201d Peter Rawlinson said in an interview with Bloomberg<\/a>. \u201cThis is like a marriage.\u201d Bloomberg takes note of the company\u2019s sliding valuation and a perception in some quarters that the global EV market may be cooling. <\/p>\n

Also worth knowing about:<\/strong><\/p>\n