Good morning, friends. The second and final day of the World Economic Forum’s special meeting in Riyadh will get underway in just a few hours, with some 200 heads of state and government and other public figures joining more than 1k industry leaders in the capital city for the gathering, headlined “Global Collaboration, Growth, and Energy for Development.”

On the agenda today:

  • Investment Minister Khalid Al Falih will join BlackRock chief Larry Fink and Olayan Group’s Lubna Olaya to talk about “investing amid global fracture”;
  • Industry and Mineral Resources Minister Bandar Al Khorayef will join Gecko Robotics CEO and Co-founder Jake Loosararian for talks on risks and chances of growth for technology in the manufacturing sector;
  • The energy ministers of Tanzania and Indonesia along with Aramco CEO Amin Nasser, Nuveen CEO Jose Minaya and the chairman of Schneider Electric will chew over the tradeoffs of the “business case for the energy transition.”
  • Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, along Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, and Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Al Safadi will discuss the war on Gaza and other regional issues;
  • Economy and Planning Minister Fasial Alibrahim will join Pakistan’s prime minister and WEF President Borge Brende, among others, to talk about the national and global policies needed to “lift economic prospects.”

THE BIG ONE? US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on stage at 12:45 for a 30-minute interview. Blinken was in town for the WEF as well as meetings with Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman and other Arab and Saudi officials. He next heads to Israel and Jordan in a swing through the region set to wrap on Wednesday.

Watch public sessions live {here} or check out the full agenda {here}.

WEATHER- Riyadh will be mainly cloudy with a high of 34°C and a low of 22°C. There’s a chance of rain later today, setting the stage for two days of occasional rain and thundershowers through Wednesday. Meanwhile, AlTaif is expecting heavy thundershowers with a high of 24°C and a low of 17°C, and Makkah with a high of 37°C and a low of 26°C.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- IPO WATCH- Water treatment firm Miahona will release an indicative price range for its Tadawul IPO today as bankers kickstart the bookbuilding process. The company plans to sell a 30% stake on the main market.

#2- Qualified investors started placing orders for the Nomu IPO of Mohammed Hadi Al-Rasheed yesterday, with the subscription period running until Monday, 6 may. The Riyadh-based construction and mining firm is gearing up to sell as 12% stake. Al-Rasheed is guiding on a price range of SAR 22-28 per share.

#3- Al Khabeer Capital’s Alkhabeer Diversified Income Traded Fund 2030 opened to subscriptions yesterday for investors in the Kingdom and the wider GCC region and will wrap up Thursday, 6 May, it said in a statement. Investors can subscribe for a minimum of SAR 1k per unit. Meanwhile, the asset manager is targeting a SAR 1 bn capital, and up to 8% in annual returns.

The fund will invest in multiple asset classes including sukuk, trade finance, Ijara transactions, asset backed loans, structured income tools, income funds and Murabaha, the statement reads.

Receiving agents: Aljazira Capital, Alkhabeer Tadawul, SNB Capital, Riyad Bank, Arab National Bank, Alrajhi Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi, and Alinma Bank as receiving agents.

#4- Another Chinese airline cleared to fly here: Chinese state-owned airline China Airlines will operate regular flights between Beijing and Riyadh starting Monday, 6 May, the General Authority for Civil Aviation (Gaca) said in a statement. It will start with three weekly flights in May, with flights set to rise to seven starting Tuesday, 2 July, according to the statement.

And one water salute to another: China Eastern Airlines’ first flight to Riyadh from Shanghai arrived yesterday, state news agency SPA reported.Gaca had previously cleared China Eastern Airlines to run three weekly flights between Shanghai and Riyadh starting this week. It also approved earlier this month launching passenger and air cargo flights by China Southern Airlines connecting Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen and Riyadh.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Two big regional stories are setting the tone this morning in our corner of the world:

#1- A Hamas delegation is due in Cairo today to discuss a proposal by Egyptian negotiators that would see the Palestinian group release 20 Israeli hostages in return for a three-week ceasefire.

#2- Israeli officials are spooked by the prospect that the ICC could be readying arrest warrants, reports the New York Times. Netanyahu could be among those named in a warrant on charges of preventing the delivery of aid and the country’s “excessively harsh” assault on Gaza.

It’s a quiet morning in the global business press, but don’t expect that to continue into the rest of the week:

  • The US Federal Reserve will discuss interest rates Tuesday and Wednesday (see Planet Finance, below) — pundits will scour Jay Powell’s every utterance after the meeting on Wednesday;
  • Earnings seasons continues (Amazon.com, Apple, HSBC are among the bold-face names releasing this week);
  • England holds local elections on Thursday (look for mayoral elections in London, Birmingham, and Manchester);
  • We’ll get growth estimates for the EU, France, Germany, Italy and Spain tomorrow.

SPEAKING OF SPAIN- We should know in the next few hours whether Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will step down. He went into seclusion last week, saying he was debating whether to call it quits after a far-right group brought what most observers agree are trumped-up court proceedings against his wife. “I urgently need to answer a question that I keep asking myself: Is it worth it for me to remain [in office] in spite of the right and far-right’s mudslinging?”

All of Europe is waiting with baited breath to see whether the continent’s fifth-largest economy enters a “new period of political instability,” Politico writes in a must-read piece.

ALSO- Elon is in China trying to drum up business, authorities in the US continue to crack down on pro-Palestine protests on university campuses, and Israel may delay its assault on Rafah if hostages are released. At least 13 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes yesterday.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Riyadh will host this year’s edition of the World Investment Conference from 25-27 November, according to a statement. The flagship event by the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) will bring together leading investors, leaders and stakeholders for talks on global investment trends and avenues of growth.

Automechanika Riyadh will open on Tuesday, 30 April till Thursday, 2 May at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center.The annual trade fair will showcase the automotive industry’s latest advances and innovations.

Saudi Smash will open on Saturday, 4 May until Saturday, 11 May at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah. The smash event is Saudi’s first World Table Tennis (WTT) Grand Smash.

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