Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It’s a quiet morning as the weekend inches closer, but there some updates trickling in from the UAE, Oman, and Saudi Arabia to delve into. Shall we?

HAPPENING TODAY-

The Global EV & Mobility Tech Forum will open its doors today in Riyadh and wrap tomorrow. The forum brings together international policymakers, institutions, NGOs, corporations, and companies to explore the future of green urban mobility, market trends, and regulatory issues to be tackled.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Oman’s Dibba-Khasab-Lima road link is 15% complete: Construction works on Oman’s Dibba-Khasab-Lima road are 15% complete and slated to be finished by September, Oman Observer reports, citing a press briefing by Oman’s Transport Minister Technology Said Hamoud Al Maawali. The ground preparations to build the Dibba-Lima road are complete with 60 km of the 72 km road works paved. Some 12 km of the 22 km of road linking Lima to Khasab — reportedly the most difficult part — is complete, Al Maawali added.

Background: Oman inked the agreement for the design and implementation of the road link project back in December. The project plans to develop 11 bridges and 350 container points along the road, which will have 14 meter lanes going in each direction.

#2- Riyadh Air eyes flights to Australia, New Zealand: The Public Investment Fund’s new flagship carrier Riyadh Air plans to run direct flights to Australia and New Zealand once it stocks up on aircraft and passenger flow picks up, CEO Tony Douglas told Executive Traveller. Riyadh Air, which plans to debut its commercial flights next year, is eyeing adding eight cities in Australia — including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide — and three in New Zealand.

Riyadh Air will rely on partners in the meantime: The carrier is considering leveraging Singapore Airlines’ network, which it recently signed an MoU with, to offer interline flights to Australia and New Zealand, Douglas said. “In the early stage of building our network, we’re more likely to put on a ‘thick route’ into Singapore,” Douglas said. “Giving people a wonderful guest experience on Riyadh Air... and the final leg [to Australia or New Zealand] on an equally incredible product and experience with Singapore Airlines.”

In context- Only Emirates and Singapore Airlines currently fly to all five major Australian cities, according to Executive Traveller.

#3- Progress on UAE-Philippines trade talks: The UAE and Philippines conclude their second round of negotiations on a trade and economic agreement today in Manila, the Manila Times reports. The discussions commenced on Monday. The countries are looking to finalize the agreement by October or November, Assistant Secretary for Industry Development and Trade Policy at the Department of Trade and Industry Allan Gepty said.

Background: The two countries agreed to initiate talks in December in a bid to boost trade and investment by facilitating the export of goods and services between the Philippines, the UAE, and the broader Gulf region.

MARKET WATCH-

#1- Oil prices have bounced back after three days of declines on the back of US stockpiles reportedly falling last week due to steady demand, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures settled at USD 84.87 a barrel by 00.55 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude traded at USD 81.67.

#2- Baltic index sees weekly fall: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — was down 1.3% to 1,940 points, hitting a two-week low, Reuters reports. The capesize segment dipped 1.9% to 3,276 points, while the panamax index fell 0.9% to 1,531 points. The smaller supramax segment inched down 0.1% to 1,334 points.

#3- Russia’s crude exports dipped by some 360k barrels per day (bpd) between March and June, reaching their lowest point since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022, Bloomberg reports. The country’s production cuts in May set its output target at 8.978 mn bpd until the end of September 2024, but will rise at a monthly rate of 39k bpd until September 2025. Russia’s biggest crude exporters Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC plan on cutting their combined shipments from Novorossiysk in Russia by about 20k bpd following the June level, the outlet said.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Saudi Arabia will host the Saudi Warehousing and Logistics Expo on Monday, 2 September to Wednesday, 4 September in Riyadh. The event will bring together leaders in the supply chain, warehousing and logistics industry from across the Kingdom to discuss investments, trade, geopolitical risks, and localized manufacturing.

Egypt will host the Egypt International Airshow on Tuesday, 3rd September to Thursday, 5 September in El Alamein. The event will host a range of discussions touching on industrialization, digitalization, and globalization in the regional commercial aviation sector. During the event, aircrafts and innovative aerospace products, and services will be showcased.

Saudi Arabia will host SkyMove MENA on Tuesday, 10 September and Wednesday, 11 September in Riyadh. The event will gather global industry stakeholders, experts, and service providers to discuss challenges in the regional aviation industry.

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