{"id":88335,"date":"2024-08-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2024\/08\/01\/saudi-releases-bid-book-for-2034-fifa-world-cup-with-opener-and-final-seen-unfolding-in-riyadh\/"},"modified":"2024-08-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01T00:00:00","slug":"saudi-releases-bid-book-for-2034-fifa-world-cup-with-opener-and-final-seen-unfolding-in-riyadh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2024\/08\/01\/saudi-releases-bid-book-for-2034-fifa-world-cup-with-opener-and-final-seen-unfolding-in-riyadh\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi releases bid book for 2034 Fifa World Cup with opener and final seen unfolding in Riyadh"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, wonderful people, and happy THURSDAY to you all. <\/strong>We have a data-heavy kind of morning for you to see you into the weekend, with 2Q snapshots of the economy (in contraction overall, but the private sector is growing), the banking sector (holding strong), and government spending (the deficit has widened). <\/p>\n

And: <\/strong>Can you it\u2019s the first day of August? We have only 41.8% of the year left in which to make budget \/ hit our business goals \/ deliver whatever your \u201cnorth star\u201d for \u201824 might be.<\/p>\n

THE BIG STORY here at home: Officials have released the Kingdom\u2019s <\/strong>bid book (pdf)<\/a><\/strong> for <\/strong>the 2034 Fifa World Cup<\/strong>, highlighting 15 stadiums across five cities, from Riyadh to Al Khobar, Jeddah, Abha, and Neom. The opening and final matches will be played in the capital city, Saudi Football Federation (SAFF) President Yasser Al-Misehal said<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Among the plan\u2019s highlights: The 46k Neom stadium<\/strong>, which is \u201cdesigned to stand out among the world\u2019s most iconic landmarks.\u201d Eight of the 15 tournament stadiums with 45k seats will be in Riyadh, the book says. Four of the 15 are existing facilities that will get extensive upgrades, including King Saud University Stadium, King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, King Khalid University Stadium and King Fahad Sports City Stadium.<\/p>\n

A total of eight stadiums are still on the drawing board<\/strong>, among them the 92k-seat King<\/a>Salman Stadium<\/a> we noted earlier this week, which will be home to the World Cup final. <\/p>\n

Ten cities will be home to 134 training facilities <\/strong>for participating teams, suggesting a big post-cup boom for domestic sports clubs could be in the offing.<\/p>\n

The pitch:<\/strong> \u201cShould Saudi Arabia be awarded the FIFA World Cup 2034, the competition would serve as a unique opportunity to celebrate the country\u2019s commitment to environmental sustainability and human rights alongside its passion for football.\u201d<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND- <\/strong>Saudi is the sole bidder for the 2034 World Cup after Australia backed out. Fifa said last October it would accept bids only from countries in Asia and Oceania.<\/p>\n

HAPPENING TODAY-<\/p>\n

<\/a> Opec+\u2019s joint ministerial monitoring committee is expected to leave its oil output policy <\/strong>unchanged when it meets today<\/strong>, despite recent steep drops in oil prices, Reuters<\/a> reported, citing five unnamed sources from the group. Last week<\/a>, the newswire reported separately that the meeting would be a \u201cpulse check\u201d for the market after the oil cartel agreed to an extension of cuts at its last meeting in June.<\/p>\n

REMEMBER-<\/strong> In its June meeting, the cartel left in place<\/a> current production cuts of 3.66 mn barrels per day (bbl \/ d) until the end of this September, before beginning to phase out the cuts of 2.2 mn bbl \/ d over the course of a year from October 2024 to September 2025.<\/p>\n

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WATCH THIS SPACE-<\/p>\n

<\/a> #1- Jeddah\u2019s Talal Attieh is getting ink in the <\/strong>Wall Street Journal<\/a><\/strong> after his New York-based <\/strong>Steel Atlas venture capital firm<\/a><\/strong> raised its maiden USD 10 mn fund.<\/strong> It will \u201cmatch US and European startups with funders and deployment opportunities in Saudi Arabia,\u201d the report says. The firm\u2019s existing portfolio is heavy on climate-tech and industrial companies. <\/p>\n

Among the LPs writing tickets: <\/strong>Entrepreneur Christian Angermayer\u2019s private investment firm, Aperion; a fund of Tetra Pak\u2019s Magnus Rausing; and investors with a focus on Saudi Arabia, per the Journal. <\/p>\n

In the investment pipeline:<\/strong> \u201cDevelopments in the nuclear and supply chain space\u201d that Porter says the firm will announce \u201cin the near future.\u201d <\/p>\n

Attieh is from the family that owns Attieh Steel. <\/strong>His personal track record includes investments in Flexport, Project44, General Fusion, and Alice Technologies. He ran the the venture arm of a multi-bn USD investment advisory firm in Los Angeles before founding Steel Atlas with Cameron Porter. <\/p>\n

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#2- JBS will open this fall a chicken nugget plant in Jeddah<\/strong>, the company said in a<\/a>statement<\/a>. Brazil\u2019s JBS, a longtime investor in Saudi and one of the world\u2019s largest meat processors, met with Industry and Mining Minister Bandar Al Khorayef during the minister\u2019s tour of Brazil and Chile over the past two weeks. <\/p>\n

What we know: <\/strong>The USD 50 mn plant will open in November and create some 500 jobs when it reaches full production capacity. It will ultimately quadruple JBS\u2019 production capacity in the Kingdom. The company\u2019s recently opened Dammam poultry plant employs 250 people and produces c. 10k tons of chicken meat each year. JBS also has eight distribution centers across the nation. <\/p>\n

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#3- M&A WATCH- Spanish telecom player Telefonica \u2014 in which <\/strong>STC owns a 9.9% stake<\/a><\/strong> \u2014 is looking to sell its Colombian unit <\/strong>Coltel<\/a><\/strong> for USD 400 mn<\/strong>, Bloomberg<\/a> reports. Telefonica is planning to offload Coltel to Millicom International<\/a>, according to the business information service. It has also created a joint fiber-optic broadband operator in its home country with smaller rival Vodafone Spain. <\/p>\n

REMEMBER-<\/strong>Stc\u2019s acquisition of a stake in Telefonica prompted the Spanish government to embark on a plan<\/a> to increase its stake in the telecom operator to 10% to ensure stc doesn\u2019t become Telefonica\u2019s single largest shareholder.<\/p>\n

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CAPITAL MARKETS-<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a> Ashmore gets regulatory nod to list Shariah-complaint fund: <\/strong>Ashmore Investment Saudi Arabia, the Saudi arm of UK\u2019s Ashmore Group<\/a>, has received the green light from the Capital Market Authority for the public listing of its Sharia-compliant equity fund, according to a statement<\/a> from the authority.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Ashmore? <\/strong>The London-based investment management firm has a focus on emerging markets and has USD 49.5 bn in assets under management, according to its website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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TRADE TALKS-<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a> Turkey wants to finalize trade talks with the GCC trade by the end of the year<\/strong>, the Turkish Trade Ministry was quoted as saying by Reuters<\/a>. Talks earlier this week saw the two sides discuss goods trade, rules of origin, contracting, tourism and health, as well as services trade and steps to boost investments.<\/p>\n

The next in-person meeting will be in Riyadh:<\/strong> \u201cThe sides have agreed to continue the talks through online meetings and to meet in Riyadh in the second half of the year for a second round of negotiations,\u201d the Turkish ministry said. <\/p>\n

BACKGROUND- <\/strong>The GCC embarked on talks with Turkey for a trade agreement earlier this<\/a>week<\/a>, headed by Saudi Arabia, after agreeing in March<\/a> to initiate trade liberalization talks.<\/p>\n

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OLYMPICS-<\/p>\n

Saudi Olympic swimmer Zaid Al Sarraj secured the first spot in the third heat of the <\/strong>100-meter race<\/strong>, with a time of 51.21 seconds, according to the state news Agency (SPA)<\/a>. The 16-year-old still fell short of qualifying for the semi-finals, having ranked 53rd out of 79 swimmers. This was Al Sarraj\u2019s first appearance at the Olympics. <\/p>\n

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD- <\/p>\n

The US Federal Reserve\u2019s signal that it plans to cut interest rates in September is leading <\/strong>most front pages<\/strong> of the business press, as more earnings<\/strong> and escalations in regional tensions<\/strong> dominate others. <\/p>\n

#1- The Fed <\/strong>held rates steady<\/a><\/strong> following its two-day meeting<\/strong>, in line with expectations, but Chair Jerome Powell set the stage for a September rate cut, saying it is on the table if inflation continues its downward trajectory and growth remains strong. (Reuters<\/a>) <\/p>\n

ALSO- Japan\u2019s central bank hiked rates for the second time this year<\/strong>, in a bid to boost its currency and ease prices of imports. (CNBC<\/a>) <\/p>\n

The Bank of England will meet later today<\/strong>, capping a big week for rate-watchers. The expectation is that it will go for a quarter-point cut to 5%. <\/p>\n

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#2- Facebook parent Meta <\/strong>beat revenue expectations<\/a><\/strong> on the back of robust digital ad <\/strong>sales<\/strong>, which it said will help cover the rising costs of AI \u2014 flipping the script after Microsoft and Alphabet\u2019s earnings and capital expenditure projections raised concerns around the commercial viability of AI. <\/p>\n

IN OTHER BUSINESS NEWS- Boeing named aerospace veteran Kelly Ortberg as its new <\/strong>CEO <\/strong>as it looks to rebound from a series of losses and high-profile scandals amid an ongoing quality crisis. (Reuters<\/a>)<\/p>\n

MEANWHILE- The region is holding its breath following the killing of Hamas\u2019 top political <\/strong>leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Iran early yesterday morning<\/strong>, with fears that it will jeopardize ongoing ceasefire negotiations and spark retaliation from Hamas. (Reuters<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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OLYMPICS-<\/p>\n

We\u2019re nearing the halfway mark of Olympics 2024<\/strong>, with day six of the competition seeing Simone Biles<\/strong> look to clinch her gold medal for the women\u2019s all-around final<\/strong>; the athletics <\/strong>program kicks off; and four more swimming finals<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

Highlights from yesterday:<\/strong> Novak Djokovic<\/strong> and Carlos Alcaraz<\/strong> have each made it through to the quarter-finals <\/strong>in the men\u2019s singles, potentially setting themselves up for a golden showdown, while Rafael Nadal is out of the competition<\/strong> after losing alongside Alcaraz in the men\u2019s doubles yesterday. In swimming: <\/strong>The US\u2019 Katie Ledecky<\/strong> brought home another gold<\/strong> for the 1.5k meters freestyle; while French Leon Marchand<\/strong> brought home two golds<\/strong>, putting France second to the top on the medals table. <\/p>\n

The medal standings now at the Paris Olympics:<\/strong><\/p>\n