Good morning, folks. We’re inching closer to the weekend with a significantly reduced newscycle. Still, today’s issue has a few debt and IPO updates from Saudi and UAE, as well as the latest on Egypt’s textile exports push. Shall we?

HAPPENING TODAY-

The Saudi Warehousing & Logistics Expo is on its second day and will run through Thursday, 29 May in Riyadh. The second edition of the expo will host over 18k supply chain industry professionals and more than 400 exhibitors to explore over 3.5k solutions.

The International Conference on Logistics and Supply Chain Management will kick off today and run until Friday, 30 May in Casablanca. The conference will cover scientific research, technologies, and environmentally friendly digital solutions in the logistics, transport, and supply chain sectors.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Jordan + Syria eye ramped up trade, economic collab: Jordanian and Syrian Chambers of Commerce have agreed on working on a roadmap to chart joint future investments with a focus on key sectors, including transport, shipping, trade, agriculture, food, and construction, Syrian public news agency Sana reported. The announcement came during the Jordanian-Syrian Economic Forum and Exhibition, which took place in Damascus this week with the attendance of 42 representatives from different sectors in Jordan, Zawya reports, citing President of the Jordanian Chamber of Commerce (JCC) Fathi Jaghbir. The forum marked the first meeting between both countries' chambers of commerce in over 14 years.

REMEMBER- Jordan took a few steps to resume trade and economic ties to Syria in the last few months, including through resumed operations of the Syrian-Jordanian Freezone and the reactivation of their bilateral freetrade agreement. Jordan also resumed agriculture trade with Syria last month following a 13-year hiatus due to civil unrest.

The bigger context: Other regional backers of Syrian reconstruction efforts include Turkey and Qatar — both pitching in with energy exports — and Saudi Arabia, which led a lobbying push to lift sanctions. Saudi-based Al Jouf Cement Company and Mohammed Shahi Al Ruwaili Contracting were among the first private sector players supporting early reconstruction efforts after inking a SAR 38 mn (c. USD 10.1 mn) contract last January to export cement and clinker goods to Syria.

You can read more about what the recent lifting of sanctions means for investors in our explainer from yesterday.

IN OTHER TRADE DIPLOMACY NEWS- The UAE and the Philippines plan to sign a trade and economic partnership agreement next month, Philippine news agency PNA reports, citing officials. An agreement would mark the Philippines’ first trade pact in the Middle East, officials confirmed last week.

#2- DoE taps Presight, AIQ to advance Abu Dhabi’s digital energy infrastructure: The Abu Dhabi Energy Department (DoE) signed an MoU with Presight and AIQ to boost AI integration and digital transformation in the UAE’s energy sector, according to a press release. The agreement includes the development of a new AI-powered control center platform that will provide live data analytics for energy and utility operations across Abu Dhabi. The platform will enable real-time insights and sector-wide performance monitoring, according to a separate filing (pdf).

An “AI Lab-as-a-Service” model will also be developed under the agreement, enabling local energy firms to test, validate, and implement AI solutions across various applications, tailored to use across the energy value chain. The agreement also mandates the creation of the AD e-data hub — a sovereign data infrastructure that will serve as the central repository for all data governed by the DoE and affiliated sector companies.

Presight is tapped for multi-sector push: The UAE’s National Media Office (NMO) awarded a contract to Presight last week to develop an AI-powered platform, consisting of a cloud-based data lake that consolidates media insights across institutions into a unified data hub. Adnoc signed a USD 340 mn agreement with AIQ last March to deploy AI solutions across Adnoc’s value chain.

#3- DAE’s USD 2 bn Nordic Aviation takeover gets Philippines thumbs up: The Philippine Competition Commission cleared Dubai Aerospace Enterprise’s (DAE) takeover of Irish aircraft leasing company Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC), concluding that the move won’t harm competition in the local aircraft leasing market, it said in a news release. The USD 2 bn transaction, backed by the Government of Dubai and Nordic parent company NAC Holdings, wrapped up earlier this month.

MARKET WATCH-

#1- Oil prices went up this morning after the US license for Chevron to export Venezuelan oil expired on Tuesday, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures rose by USD 0.25 to reach USD 64.34 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose by USD 0.24 to hit USD 61.13 a barrel by 03.45 GMT.

Some context: The US extended an authorization for Chevron allowing it to keep ownership of its assets in Venezuela, but the authorization did not include an export license. The company’s license to export Venezuelan crude — issued by former US President Joe Biden over two years ago — expired on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

Meanwhile, Opec+ advanced its key meeting for deciding July oil production levels by one day to 31 May, Bloomberg reports. The date change was simply a reflection of scheduling issues, not a policy shift, an unnamed delegate told the business news service. The oil cartel is also due to hold a set of virtual meetings today to review group-wide output quotas.

Expectations are all pointing to a hike: The cartel could approve a further 411k bbl/d increase in July for the third consecutive time, after announcements for increasing May and June’s outputs. The predictions for a production surge have weighed on oil prices market over the last few days.

#2- Baltic index on a downward spiral: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — was down 3.3% to 1,296 points on Tuesday. The capesize index fell 4.8% to 1,809 points, while the panamax index decreased 3% to 1,208 points. The smaller supramax index slipped nine points to 974.

DATA POINTS-

#1- Oman saw its non-oil exports rise by 8.6% y-o-y to OMR 1.6 bn (USD 4.2 bn) in 1Q 2025, accounting for 28.6% of the country’s total exports, BNA reported on Saturday. The growth came on the back of private sector engagement, growing domestic sectors, and foreign investments.

#2- The UAE’s federal export credit company Etihad Credit Ins. (ECI) saw its insured turnover reach AED 16.2 bn in 2024, up 15.7% y-o-y, according to a press release citing its annual report. The federal insurer saw strong demand from UAE exporters across 17 sectors, with over 60% of beneficiaries being SMEs. Key destinations for ECI-backed exports included Saudi Arabia, which accounted for 7% of total exports, alongside MENA countries, India, and Singapore.

PSA-

CMA CGM to roll out new PSS: French giant CMA CGM will implement a Peak Season Surcharge (PSS) of USD 500 for every 20 ft container and USD 1k per 40 ft and 45 ft ones — to be applied for all cargo incoming from China, North East Asia, and South East Asia to the Mediterranean and North Africa, according to a statement. The PSS is applicable starting 7 June 2025.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Egypt will host the Propak MENA from Monday, 2 June to Wednesday, 4 June in Cairo. The event will feature solutions, talks and workshops for F&B and consumer goods manufacturers to source global packaging, processing and logistic solutions.

Turkey will host the Eurasia Rail from Wednesday, 18 June to Thursday, 19 June in Istanbul. The event will host 7.7k visitors interested in Turkey’s railway sector or are railway technology buyers, and will feature engineering, products and services from both private and public sectors.

The UAE will host Middle East Rail from Tuesday, 24 June to Thursday, 25 June in Dubai. The conference at Dubai World Trade Center will host over 250 speakers and a multi-brand exhibition for transport solutions.

Check out our full calendar at the bottom of this email for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events and news triggers.

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