Good morning, wonderful people. It’s a mixed bag this morning with a handful of regulatory news, as well as bits and pieces on retail, aviation, financial services — and a touch of golf.

HAPPENING TODAY-

The talked up tech event LEAP 2024 and its co-located AI-focused offshoot Deepfestkick off in 3 hours at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Center. The gathering wraps up on Thursday, 7 March. The four-day event is expected to attract more than 1k top executives, investors and industry insiders. It will also provide a pitch and exhibition platform for 600 startups and 1.8k tech exhibitors. Investments worth USD 9 bn were announced during last year’s event, setting the stage for a promising meeting this year. As many as 172k visitors are expected to attend.

Today’s lineup features some of the biggest industry names including IBM Chairman Arvind Krishna, Zoom Video Communications CEO Eric Yuan, Google Managing Director for Global AI Caroline Yap, Airbus Senior VP Grzegorz Ombach, Ericsson President & CEO Borje Ekholm, Plug and Play CEO Saeed Amidi, and Aramco President & CEO Amin Nasser. Sessions include panels and firechats to discuss everything from healthtech and space, to media, smart cities, 4IR, the creative economy, and startups.

ALSO TODAY- A handful of us are in Dubai for EFG Hermes’ One on One, which kicks off today and will run through Thursday. The event will see some 670 investors from 250 global institutions meet face-to-face with senior execs from more than 215 companies in industries spanning from food and fintech to banking and petrochemicals. Companies from 29 countries will be attending.

** If you’re in Dubai and want to have coffee or pitch us on an interview, hit us up on 1×1@enterprisemea.com.

^^ We’ll have coverage of Leap and the One on One starting tomorrow and continuing into next week.

MEANWHILE- Commerce Minister Majed bin Abdullah Al Qasabi will hold talks with his Egyptian counterpart Trade Minister Ahmed Samirin Riyadh today on the sidelines of the Egypt-Saudi Joint Committee meeting, Riyadh Daily reports. The committee will discuss bilateral cooperation in industry, housing, oil, education, and tourism.

WEATHER- Expect clear skies in Riyadh today, with lots of sun in Makkah and Madinah.

  • Riyadh: 27°C daytime / 16°C overnight
  • Makkah: 33°C daytime / 22°C overnight
  • Madinha: 30°C daytime / 17°C overnight

DATA POINTS-

#1- Tadawul outperformed its GCC peers last month, according to a Kamco report (pdf) yesterday. The index gained 7% last month, followed by Qatar Stock Exchange (3.8%) and Dubai Financial Market (3.4%). TASI reported the best monthly return among its peers in GCC, ending the month at its highest close (12.6k points) since June 2022.

Tadawul came in third in terms of YTD gains, rising 5.4% since the start of the year behind DFM and Boursa Kuwait, which topped rankings for YTD gains in the GCC.

#2- The number of SMEs in the country reached 1.3 mn by the end of 2023, according to the latest data from Monshaat (pdf).

Micro-sized firms were king of SMEs in 4Q:

  • Micro-enterprises accounted for 1.14 mn of all SMEs (up from 1.1 mn in the previous quarter;
  • Small-sized companies came in at 150.8k (down from 151.2k);
  • Medium-sized enterprises were at 18.7k (up from 18.2k).

#3- The digital economy contributed 14% to GDP in 2022, according to the latest General Authority of Statistics data (pdf). 48% of companies purchased cloud computing services, with ICT firms accounting for 68% of companies buying the services.

#4- Our date exports to 119 countries grew by 14% y-o-y to SAR 1.5 bn in 2023, Arab News reported yesterday.

OIL WATCH-

The government will extend voluntary oil cuts until June 2024 in a bid to boost prices, an unnamed Energy Ministry source told state news agency SPA yesterday. The source said Saudi would extend its voluntary oil curbs of 1 mn barrels per day (bpd) applied from July last year to June 2024, maintaining production at 9 mn bpd. The move was agreed with several OPEC+ countries, the source said, adding that the voluntary cuts would be scaled back gradually depending on market conditions.

Russia deepens cuts: Russia plans to slash output by an additional 471k bpd until June, according to a statement by Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. It will lower output by 350k bpd in April, 400k bpd in May and 471k bpd in June.

The extension-line up: Other OPEC+ members announcing the extension of cuts include Iraq, UAE, and Kuwait, including to a statement by OPEC. It said the extension aims to support and balance oil markets.

PSAs-

#1- Charity iftar tables will be allowed in designated areas at mosques across the Kingdom, with imams banned from collecting donations for the communal meals, a circular posted on X by the Islamic Affairs, Dawah and Guidance Ministry said.

#2- Applications for new educational posts from the Education Ministry will opentomorrowthrough unified employment platform Jadarat, Okaz reported yesterday.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Chile’s Joaquin Niemann won LIV Golf Jeddah in a four-stroke victory, according to a statement yesterday. This is the 25-year-old Australian Open title holder’s second title this year, placing him on top of the season-long Individual Championship standings.

#2- On the lookout for emerging Saudi comedians: The General Entertainment Authority will back a new initiative aimed at supporting new local comedian talents, state news agency SPA reported yesterday. The initiative, dubbed Comedy Factory, will offer workshops, training sessions and competitions geared towards ramping up the local entertainment scene. (You can find the registration link here.)

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Jeddah will host the Bloomberg Power Players Summit on Thursday, 7 March. The summit, sponsored by Bloomberg in Saudi with Asharq Business, will be held against the backdrop of the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. It will bring together industry leaders in sports, entertainment and technology to identify potential multi-USD investments.

Tickets are on sale for the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, scheduled for Jeddah from 7-9 March.

Riyadh will host a World Economic Forum special meeting on 28-29 April.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

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