Good morning ladies and gents, and a Happy Founding Day.<\/b> EnterpriseAM Saudi will be off on Sunday, 23 February, but will be back in your inboxes right on Monday with the latest in business and finance. We have a packed issue for you today, so let's dive in.<\/p>\n
HAPPENING TOMORROW-<\/p>\n
#1- The t<\/strong>hree-day <\/strong>Saudi Media Forum<\/a><\/strong> at the Hilton Riyadh is set to conclude <\/strong>tomorrow<\/strong>.<\/strong> The event gathers leading local and international media professionals to discuss strategic partnerships, digital media, green technology in media, podcasting, the 2034 World Cup, and the impact of AI on media.<\/p>\n #2- The t<\/strong>wo-day <\/strong>Saudi Cup<\/a><\/strong> weekend kicks off tomorrow at Riyadh\u2019s King Abdulaziz <\/strong>Racecourse<\/strong> and will wrap up by Saturday. The horse racing tournament will see upwards of USD 38.1 mn in prize money, while cuisine and cultural events will also be taking place off the track. Book your ticket here<\/a>, but be sure to come decked in national or formal attire.<\/p>\n \n PSAs- <\/p>\n #1- <\/strong>WEATHER- \u26a0\ufe0f Brace for thunderstorms: <\/strong>The General Directorate of Civil Defense issued red<\/a><\/strong>alerts<\/a><\/strong> for severe rainfall<\/strong> affecting Riyadh, Al Qasseem, Hail, Eastern, and Northern Borders provinces, according to separate posts on X<\/a>. A rainy Riyadh is looking at a high of 23\u00b0C and a 12\u00b0C low, while a windy Jeddah will see its mercury peak at 30\u00b0C and hit a low of 20\u00b0C. Meanwhile, Dammam will see thunderstorms and a high of 23\u00b0C and a 13\u00b0C low.<\/p>\n #2- <\/strong>The amend<\/strong>ed labor law went into effect yesterday<\/strong>, according to a statement<\/a> from the Human Resources and Social Development Ministry. The amendments<\/a>, published in August, introduced changes to the rules on resignation and termination procedures, extended maternity leave, added new rules for calculating overtime, and updated policies for foreign workers' contracts.<\/p>\n WATCH THIS SPACE-<\/p>\n <\/a> #1-<\/strong> Donald Trump delivered an address at the first day of the PIF\u2019s <\/strong>FII Priority summit<\/a><\/strong> in <\/strong>Miami, Florida <\/strong>this morning<\/strong>, calling Saudi Arabia \u201ca special place with special leaders.\u201d The US president thanked The Kingdom and the Crown Price Mohammed bin Salman for a \u201cgreat job\u201d on hosting Ukraine talks and releasing Americans detained on Russia, while blasting Ukraine\u2019s Zelensky and promising more sweeping tariffs.<\/p>\n Who else was there: <\/strong>Elon Musk, richest man in the world and Trump\u2019s close confidant, was in the audience next to Saudi ambassador to the US, Princess Reema Bandar Al-Saud. Attendees also included National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, White House Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as prominent Saudi and US business leaders, including PIF Governer Yasir Al Rumayyan and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.<\/p>\n IN CONTEXT- <\/strong>The three-day summit brings together global financiers and tech executives, who are flocking to Florida to make the most of Crown Prince\u2019s earlier pledge to increase the Kingdom\u2019s investment and trade portfolios with the US by USD 600 bn<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n <\/a> #2- T<\/strong>otal investments at \u0650Aramco\u2019s Jafurah gas field are expected to exceed USD 100 <\/strong>bn over the next 15 years,<\/strong> while the gas production hub is expected to contribute some USD 23 bn to the Kingdom\u2019s GDP every year, state news agency SPA<\/a> reports, citing statements by Aramco CEO Amin Nasser at Al-Ahsa Investment Forum 2025. Production is expected to kick off this year at the rate of 200 mn mscf\/day, to reach 2 bn mscf\/day by 2030, Nasser added.<\/p>\n ALSO- <\/strong>The fir<\/strong>st <\/strong>phase of King Salman Energy Park (Spark) in Al Ahsa is now complete<\/strong>, with over 60 local and international investors contributing upwards of SAR 12 bn, Nasser added. The first and largest privately owned dry port is also being developed in the Eastern Province, set to begin operating in phases starting 2Q 2025, with a final capacity of 10 mn ton capacity once all stages are complete. <\/p>\n \n <\/a> #3- PIF\u2019s Scopely <\/strong>in talks to acquire Pok\u00e9mon Go developer: <\/strong>US-based game developer Scopely<\/a> \u2014 wholly-owned by PIF\u2019s Savvy Games Group<\/a><\/strong> \u2014 is reportedly close to acquiring Niantic<\/a> \u2019s video game division under a USD 3.5 bn transaction, Bloomberg<\/a> reports citing unnamed sources. An agreement could be announced \u201cin coming weeks\u201d and would include the Pok\u00e9mon title among other mobile games, the sources said.<\/p>\n Savvy is scaling up its gaming portfolio:<\/strong> PIF\u2019s gaming arm snapped up Scopely for USD 4.9 bn last year<\/a> in the \u201clargest investment Savvy has made to-date,\u201d CEO Brian Ward at the time. Savvy also signed an MoU with SBI Holdings last month<\/a> to introduce Japanese gaming companies into its Esports ecosystem.<\/p>\n \n DATA POINTS-<\/p>\n #1-<\/strong> Cons<\/strong>umer spending via point-of-sale (PoS) transactions in the Kingdom dropped <\/strong>3.0% <\/strong>w-o-w for the week ending February 15 to just under SAR 13.3 bn<\/strong>, according to the Saudi Central Bank\u2019s (Sama) report (pdf)<\/a>. The number of weekly transactions also declined by 1.3% to 216.7k.<\/p>\n The details:<\/strong> Food and beverages, as usual, made up the biggest chunk of spending in terms of value during the week, falling 2.9% w-o-w to some SAR 1.98 bn, with restaurants and cafes coming in second place at just over SAR 1.95 bn, marking a 1.5% drop from the previous week. Riyadh had the highest value of PoS transactions at SAR 4.74 bn, followed by Jeddah at SAR 1.92 bn.<\/p>\n \n #2- <\/strong>Saudi <\/strong>Arabia's holdings in US Treasury bills and bonds were up 4% <\/strong>y-o-y at USD 137.5 <\/strong>bn <\/strong>in December 2024<\/strong>, with purchases worth USD 5.5 bn made during last year, according to US Treasury data<\/a>. Investments were up 1.4% m-om in December. The uptick was driven by expectations that interest rates will remain higher for a longer period due to new inflationary policies from the new Trump administration, thereby supporting bond yields, Aleqtisadiah<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n \n OIL WATCH-<\/p>\n Brazil <\/strong>is one step closer to joining Opec+:<\/strong> Brazil\u2019s National Council for Energy approved joining the Opec+ Charter of Cooperation (CoC), according to a statement<\/a> from Opev. Brazil will only participate in the CoC \u2014 a permanent forum for Opec and Opec+ countries to discuss oil related issues \u2014 and will not be party to binding obligations, the Associated Press<\/a> reports citing Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira as saying. Brazil will also not participate in the group\u2019s decision-making. <\/p>\n The roundup of news and trends that move your markets and shape corporate agendas delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n Subscribe here<\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n ***<\/strong>You\u2019re reading EnterpriseAM Saudi<\/strong>, your essential daily roundup of business, economics, and must-read news about Saudi, delivered straight to your inbox. We\u2019re out Sunday through Thursday by 7am Riyadh time.<\/p>\n EnterpriseAM Saudi is available without charge <\/strong>thanks to the generous support of our friends at Tas\u2019heel.<\/p>\n Want to send us a story idea<\/strong>, request coverage, ask for a correction, or otherwise get in touch? Reach out to us on saudi@enterpriseAM.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n DID YOU KNOW <\/strong>that we also cover Egypt<\/a>, the UAE<\/a>, the MENA logistics<\/a> and climate<\/a> industries?<\/p>\n Were you forwarded this email? <\/strong>Tap or click here<\/a> to get your own copy of EnterpriseAM Saudi delivered every weekday. \n THE BIG STORY ABROAD- <\/p>\n Trump and Zelensky\u2019s war of words is dominating the front pages this morning<\/strong>, as analysts fear it signals a dramatic shift in US foreign policy on Russia and a pivot away from the EU.<\/p>\n Move it or lose it: <\/strong>US President Donald Trump again slammed his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday for misusing USD 350 bn aid from the US, saying he \u201cbetter move fast\u201d on reaching an agreement with Russia, or the \u201cdictator\u201d \u2014 as Trump called him \u2014 might not have a nation to lead. Zelensky had remarked earlier in the day that the US president \u201cis living in this disinformation space\u201d created by the Kremlin. (Associated Press<\/a> | Washington Post<\/a> | Reuters<\/a> | FT<\/a>)<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s executive orders are not slowing down: <\/strong>The president said on Tuesday he will impose tariffs on autos \u201cin the neighborhood of 25%\u201d on 2 April, as well as similar tariffs on semiconductors and pharma imports with no clear timeline. The White House announced more executive orders will be signed in a few hours. (Reuters<\/a> | Washington Post<\/a>)<\/p>\n OVER IN TECH- <\/strong>Microsoft is out with \u201cMajorana 1,\u201d its first quantum chip. The multinational giant claims it had to create a new state of matter called the \u201ctopological state\u201d to develop the chip, whose components were manufactured in the US. (CNBC<\/a> | NY Times<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PLUS: Investments at \u0650Aramco\u2019s Jafurah gas field to exceed USD 100 bn over 15 years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94614,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2540],"tags":[10,1151,4032,3957,9],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-94613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-what-were-tracking-today","tag-enterpriseam-ksa","tag-public-investment-fund-pif","tag-summit","tag-trump","tag-what-were-tracking-today","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"09a4ddd2-26c9-4879-8206-a8bbd5e5127d","order":"2","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"4","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2025\/2\/1770.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"THIS MORNING: Trump speaks on PIF\u2019s FII Priority summit in Miami + PIF\u2019s Scopely in talks to acquire Pok\u00e9mon Go developer","related_issue":[94611],"teaser":"PLUS: Investments at \u0650Aramco\u2019s Jafurah gas field to exceed USD 100 bn over 15 years","voice_url":"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/ent.news\/audio\/2025\/2\/.398d7ff8-4e2e-4287-8b80-fd84d53f2e5e.mp3"},"yoast_head":"\n
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