Good morning, wonderful people, and happy THURSDAY to you all. We hope you’re looking forward to the weekend as much as we are — and offer you a nice, compact little issue this morning to send you on your way.

HAPPENING NOW: Commerce Minister Majed Al Qasabi is in Thailand through tomorrow to talk trade and the economy, state-run SPA reports. Al Qasabi is expected to sign an MoU with the Thai Commerce Ministry to develop trade relations between the two countries. The Saudi-Thai Business Council will also convene during the minister’s visit.

WEATHER- There’s a chance of rainfall in Riyadh, which is looking at a daytime high of 34°C and a low of 22°C. Meanwhile, the mercury in Makkah is rising further still to peak at 43°C, with a low of 24°C, although the National Center of Meteorology said on X to expect strong winds in the city. Al Taif will be nice and sunny with a high of 32°C and a low of 17°C.

DATA POINTS-

#1- Some 260k Saudi citizens are employed in the Kingdom’s ride hailing sector, Al Arabiya reported yesterday, citing sources it says have knowledge of the figure. Around 190k ride hailing trips are made daily across the country, Al Arabiya quotes the sources as saying.

REMEMBER- Recently introduced rules for ride-hailing apps now ban non-Saudi drivers from working with ride-hailing companies.

#2- Total cement sales rose 13.2% y-o-y to 3.1 mn tons in April, according to Mubasher. Sales to the local market accounted for 2.9 mn tons during the month, up 12.5% y-o-y, while exports rose 25% y-o-y to 180k tons. Yamama Cement sold the highest volumes last month, with 358k tons sold, up 14% y-o-y, while Northern Cement sold the lowest volumes at 28k tons, down 66.7% y-o-y.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Saudi Coffee Company now has a construction license for Jazan’s first coffee factory, after receiving approval from the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, it said in a post on X. The PIF-owned coffee company will build a 30k sqm facility to produce and export “the finest types of Saudi coffee” from the facility, it said, without providing details on the construction timeline or the cost of the facility.

#2- More air travel options to Belarus could be coming: The General Authority of Civil Aviation is in the process of formalizing a bilateral agreement with the Belarusian Transport and Communications Ministry to boost air transport services between the two countries, the authority said on X. No further information was provided.

PSAs-

Residents of the Bahamas, Barbados and Grenada can now get visas to Saudi online, the Foreign Affairs and Tourism ministries said in a joint statement yesterday. The addition brings the total number of countries under the Kingdom’s e-visa scheme to 66.

KUDOS-

The Kingdom’s competition regulations were given a perfect score in the 2023 Competition Law Index (pdf) from the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The index is a gauge of the overall strictness of the regulatory framework that guided business operations in a country. They are categorized according to the maturity of eight criteria, including anti-monopoly laws. Saudi’s competition laws were scored as “very strong” in the 2023 edition, moving up from “strong” in 2020, “demonstrating an enhanced and more comprehensive framework that targets multiple competition policies and unfair practices,” according to the report.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

The war in Gaza and a dysfunctional global EV market are two of the big stories that you need to know this morning.

#1- Joe Biden has warned Israel that he will cut off shipments of offensive weapons (we’re … not sure what weapon isn’t offensive?) to Israel “if they go into Rafah.”

In his own words: “I made it clear that if they go into Rafah — they haven’t gone in Rafah yet — if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities — that deal with that problem,” he said in an {exclusive with CNN}.

The story is leading front pages around the world: Politico | Financial Times | Wall Street Journal | Bloomberg | Reuters.

#2- The global EV market is a mess. Sales of EVs are up sharply at BMW — and the Bavarian carmaker saw its margins collapse in 1Q as a result, reports Germany’s Handelsblatt. The culprit? Competition is rising in a softening market in which many players have tons of excess product, forcing it to cut selling prices.

A lot of that oversupply is coming from China, where companies are now pushing EVs on other markets — including here in the Middle East. That has even friendly trade partners on edge and saw the European Union this week threaten to impose sanctions on Chinese EVs unless Beijing takes action in the short term, Bloomberg notes. EC boss Ursula von der Leyen said China is “flooding our market with massively subsidized electric cars,” Reuters adds.

Chinese companies could look to start producing EVs in other countries in a bid to ease tensions — much as Japanese automakers did to smooth-out economic relations with the US back in the 1980s. Two cases in point: EV leader Byd as well as Neta Auto plan to start producing EVs in the lucrative Indonesian market, with Byd saying it will invest USD 1 bn in its plant, the Financial Times reports.

AND- Top French business daily Les Echos reports that European officials are worried about deep fakes and disinformation campaigns heading into the 6-9 June European Parliament elections.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Are you subject to withholding tax? You have until Sunday, 12 May to submit and pay withholding taxes for April, according to a Zatca statement. Late payers will face a fine equivalent to 1% of unpaid fees for every 30 days of delay.

The Saudi Giga Projects Summit will open next Monday, 13 May at the Hilton Riyadh Hotel and Residences. The Meed event will showcase Saudi’s USD 870 bn giga projects drive. It brings together contractors, suppliers and relevant stakeholders from the region and elsewhere for discussions on potential investments.

The MENA Construction Summit will kick off next Tuesday, 14 May at the Hilton Riyadh Hotel & Residences. Also organized by Meed, the one-day event will bring together developers, contractors, key executives and others to discuss the latest innovations in the construction industry.

Red Sea Fashion Week will make its debut on Thursday, 16 May and run until Saturday, 18 May at theSt. Regis Red Sea Resort, according to state news agency SPA. The event, organized by the Saudi Fashion Commission, will feature an opening show on the first day, followed by two days of runway shows showcasing collections from both Saudi and international designers.

The Future Aviation Forum will get underway on Monday, 20 May and run until Wednesday, 22 May at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh. The event, organized by the General Authority of Civil Aviation, will see the Kingdom showcasing some USD 100 bn worth of investment options in the aviation and logistics sector at large.

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