Good morning, friends. The newsflow has relatively slowed down from a hectic start to the week, though there are some interesting updates coming out of Iraq and Iran.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY- Iran has completed construction work on road upgrades and a transit and export terminal at its southern Shahid Rajaee Port. Over in Iraq, the government has approved plans to build a new residential city and airport, as the country continues to develop its infrastructure.

^^ We have everything on this story and more in the news well, below.

BUT FIRST-

COUNTDOWN- There are just 13 days until the Enterprise Finance Forum, taking place at the St. Regis Hotel in the Nile Corniche. This flagship forum is the latest in our must-attend series of invitation-only events, where CEOs, bankers, investors, and founders will meet to discuss the trends shaping the future of banking, finance, NBFIs, and fintech.

You won’t want to miss our lineup and agenda: Join Todd Wilcox (CEO and deputy chair, HSBC Egypt), Akef El Maghraby (vice chairman, Banque Misr), Mariam El Samny (head of consumer banking, FAB Misr), Amr Allam (Co-CEO, Hassan Allam Holding), Nivanne Mortagy (North Africa lead, upstream, financial institutions group, IFC), Mounir Nakhla (Founder and CEO, MNT Halan), Leila Serhan (group country manager and senior VP for North Africa, Levant and Pakistan, Visa) and much more for in-depth discussion on everything from investing in uncertain times, to the coming of AI and digital banks. Tap or click here to register or view the agenda.

We are honored to count some of the region’s most important financial institutions as our partners for this special event. The Enterprise Finance Forum could not take place without support from: Banque Misr, Al Baraka Bank, FAB Misr, HSBC, Mashreq, CI Capital, Global Corp, Visa, Hassan Allam Utilities, and the IFC.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY ABROAD- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signaled hope for the restoration of the Black Sea grain pact, during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reports. Erdogan said the initiative could continue if the sides worked to eliminate “its shortcomings,” according to the newswire. Turkey has prepared a package of suggestions in consultation with the UN, and is hopeful that they could reach a solution “in a short time,” Erdogan is quoted as saying.

REMEMBER- Russia pulled out in July of the Black Sea grain pact, which allowed Ukraine to export grain and other food commodities via its Black Sea ports, threatening to provoke a fresh global food crisis.

Ukraine has partially restricted railway cargo shipments to its Danube Port Izmail as of Sunday, following the second recent Russian drone attack against Ukrainian port facilities on the Danube River in Odessa, Reuters reports, citing Ukrainian Railways. The latest attack hit warehouses, production buildings, and civilian infrastructure buildings, Reuters adds, citing regional authorities. The Danube has become Ukraine’s principal gateway for grain exports after the collapse of the UN-brokered Black Sea grain agreement with Russia.

DATA POINTS-

The Qatar Civil Av iation Authority (QCAA) saw a 20.1% y-o-y rise in aircraft movement during July,according to preliminary data from Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority. Air cargo and mail, however, fell 1.2% y-o-y during the same period.

Overall merchandise exports in Saudi Arabia fell 31.8% y-o-y in 2Q 2023 to SAR 291.6 bn, according to General Authority for Statistics figures (pdf). The drop is primarily attributed to a significant decline in oil exports, which fell 33.4% y-o-y to SAR 227.7 bn. Non-oil exports — including re-exports — also fell by 25.9% y-o-y. Merchandise imports, however, rose 2% in 2Q 2023 to SAR 178.9 bn, but fell 7.8% q-o-q.

MARKET WATCH- The Saudi oil cuts continued in August: Saudi Arabia's crude oil shipments fell to 175.2 mn barrels in August, down 31 mn barrels m-o-m, according to Refinitiv shipping data cited by Zawya. Saudi Arabia implemented a production cut of 1 mn barrels per day (bpd) in July, in addition to its existing 1.5 mn bpd output reduction.

NON-LOGISTICS REGIONAL HEADLINES-

• UAE: The UAE could be the first Gulf state to allow casinos after setting up a commercial gaming authority, dubbed the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA), which will be chaired by former MGM Resorts International CEO, Jim Murren. (Statement)
• Saudi Arabia : Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power is set to begin operations in China next year in a bid to expand into countries that are looking to boost their exposure to renewable technologies by developing desalination plants, power plants, green hydrogen and solar and wind energy.(Bloomberg)

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Sustainable Maritime Industry Conference kicks off today and continues until tomorrow at the Ritz Carlton in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The conference will bring together some 2k participants and 50 speakers to dive into topics of innovation and digitization, capacity building, new technologies, and sustainability in the maritime industry.

The Logistics and Transport Management conference starts today and continues until Friday, 8 September in Dubai, UAE. The event, hosted by EuroMaTech, will teach attendees how to utilize modern purchasing management techniques, enhance their negotiation skills, manage inventories more efficiently, and improve control over warehouse and transportation operations.

The Leaders in Logistics KSA Summit is taking place tomorrow at the Crowne Plaza Al Waha in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The summit will cover the kingdom’s national transport and logistics strategy, technology, sustainability, and building a global trade network. The summit will take a deep dive into market trends and challenges as well as Saudi Arabia’s initiatives for developing the logistics sector and diversifying its economy. The summit will also look at how the logistics and supply chain industry can achieve net-zero emissions by 2060 through the Saudi Green Initiative.

T he Belt and Road Summit will be taking place on 13-14 September at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Emirati news agency WAM reports. The event, hosted by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Hong Kong Trade Development Council, will bring together government officials and business leaders from countries and regions along, and beyond, the Belt and Road to cooperate and explore potential business avenues. The summit will have Middle East-focused sessions with the aim of exploring cooperation in urban transport, infrastructure projects, renewable energy, logistics, and technology.

The Sustainable Transportation and Legacy for Generations Conference and Exhibition, which is organized by Qatar’s Transport Ministry and sponsored by Qatar Airways Group, Mwani Qatar, and QNB, will take place on 17-18 September at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre, Gulf Times reports. The event will cover transportation sector trends, strategies for eco-friendly transit systems, and Qatar's role in global aviation. The conference will include six panel discussions featuring over 20 speakers from various transportation entities.

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