Good morning, wonderful people, and happy THURSDAY to you all. We have a data-heavy kind of morning for you to see you into the weekend, with 2Q snapshots of the economy (in contraction overall, but the private sector is growing), the banking sector (holding strong), and government spending (the deficit has widened).

And: Can you it’s the first day of August? We have only 41.8% of the year left in which to make budget / hit our business goals / deliver whatever your “north star” for ‘24 might be.

THE BIG STORY here at home: Officials have released the Kingdom’s bid book (pdf) for the 2034 Fifa World Cup, highlighting 15 stadiums across five cities, from Riyadh to Al Khobar, Jeddah, Abha, and Neom. The opening and final matches will be played in the capital city, Saudi Football Federation (SAFF) President Yasser Al-Misehal said.

Among the plan’s highlights: The 46k Neom stadium, which is “designed to stand out among the world’s most iconic landmarks.” Eight of the 15 tournament stadiums with 45k seats will be in Riyadh, the book says. Four of the 15 are existing facilities that will get extensive upgrades, including King Saud University Stadium, King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, King Khalid University Stadium and King Fahad Sports City Stadium.

A total of eight stadiums are still on the drawing board, among them the 92k-seat King Salman Stadium we noted earlier this week, which will be home to the World Cup final.

Ten cities will be home to 134 training facilities for participating teams, suggesting a big post-cup boom for domestic sports clubs could be in the offing.

The pitch: “Should Saudi Arabia be awarded the FIFA World Cup 2034, the competition would serve as a unique opportunity to celebrate the country’s commitment to environmental sustainability and human rights alongside its passion for football.”

BACKGROUND- Saudi is the sole bidder for the 2034 World Cup after Australia backed out. Fifa said last October it would accept bids only from countries in Asia and Oceania.

HAPPENING TODAY-

Opec+’s joint ministerial monitoring committee is expected to leave its oil output policy unchanged when it meets today, despite recent steep drops in oil prices, Reuters reported, citing five unnamed sources from the group. Last week, the newswire reported separately that the meeting would be a “pulse check” for the market after the oil cartel agreed to an extension of cuts at its last meeting in June.

REMEMBER- In its June meeting, the cartel left in place current production cuts of 3.66 mn barrels per day (bbl / d) until the end of this September, before beginning to phase out the cuts of 2.2 mn bbl / d over the course of a year from October 2024 to September 2025.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Jeddah’s Talal Attieh is getting ink in the Wall Street Journal after his New York-based Steel Atlas venture capital firm raised its maiden USD 10 mn fund. It will “match US and European startups with funders and deployment opportunities in Saudi Arabia,” the report says. The firm’s existing portfolio is heavy on climate-tech and industrial companies.

Among the LPs writing tickets: Entrepreneur Christian Angermayer’s private investment firm, Aperion; a fund of Tetra Pak’s Magnus Rausing; and investors with a focus on Saudi Arabia, per the Journal.

In the investment pipeline: “Developments in the nuclear and supply chain space” that Porter says the firm will announce “in the near future.”

Attieh is from the family that owns Attieh Steel. His personal track record includes investments in Flexport, Project44, General Fusion, and Alice Technologies. He ran the the venture arm of a multi-bn USD investment advisory firm in Los Angeles before founding Steel Atlas with Cameron Porter.

#2- JBS will open this fall a chicken nugget plant in Jeddah, the company said in a statement. Brazil’s JBS, a longtime investor in Saudi and one of the world’s largest meat processors, met with Industry and Mining Minister Bandar Al Khorayef during the minister’s tour of Brazil and Chile over the past two weeks.

What we know: The USD 50 mn plant will open in November and create some 500 jobs when it reaches full production capacity. It will ultimately quadruple JBS’ production capacity in the Kingdom. The company’s recently opened Dammam poultry plant employs 250 people and produces c. 10k tons of chicken meat each year. JBS also has eight distribution centers across the nation.

#3- M&A WATCH- Spanish telecom player Telefonica — in which STC owns a 9.9% stake — is looking to sell its Colombian unit Coltel for USD 400 mn, Bloomberg reports. Telefonica is planning to offload Coltel to Millicom International, according to the business information service. It has also created a joint fiber-optic broadband operator in its home country with smaller rival Vodafone Spain.

REMEMBER-Stc’s acquisition of a stake in Telefonica prompted the Spanish government to embark on a plan to increase its stake in the telecom operator to 10% to ensure stc doesn’t become Telefonica’s single largest shareholder.

CAPITAL MARKETS-

Ashmore gets regulatory nod to list Shariah-complaint fund: Ashmore Investment Saudi Arabia, the Saudi arm of UK’s Ashmore Group, has received the green light from the Capital Market Authority for the public listing of its Sharia-compliant equity fund, according to a statement from the authority.

What’s Ashmore? The London-based investment management firm has a focus on emerging markets and has USD 49.5 bn in assets under management, according to its website.

TRADE TALKS-

Turkey wants to finalize trade talks with the GCC trade by the end of the year, the Turkish Trade Ministry was quoted as saying by Reuters. Talks earlier this week saw the two sides discuss goods trade, rules of origin, contracting, tourism and health, as well as services trade and steps to boost investments.

The next in-person meeting will be in Riyadh: “The sides have agreed to continue the talks through online meetings and to meet in Riyadh in the second half of the year for a second round of negotiations,” the Turkish ministry said.

BACKGROUND- The GCC embarked on talks with Turkey for a trade agreement earlier this week, headed by Saudi Arabia, after agreeing in March to initiate trade liberalization talks.

OLYMPICS-

Saudi Olympic swimmer Zaid Al Sarraj secured the first spot in the third heat of the 100-meter race, with a time of 51.21 seconds, according to the state news Agency (SPA). The 16-year-old still fell short of qualifying for the semi-finals, having ranked 53rd out of 79 swimmers. This was Al Sarraj’s first appearance at the Olympics.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

The US Federal Reserve’s signal that it plans to cut interest rates in September is leading most front pages of the business press, as more earnings and escalations in regional tensions dominate others.

#1- The Fed held rates steady following its two-day meeting, in line with expectations, but Chair Jerome Powell set the stage for a September rate cut, saying it is on the table if inflation continues its downward trajectory and growth remains strong. (Reuters)

ALSO- Japan’s central bank hiked rates for the second time this year, in a bid to boost its currency and ease prices of imports. (CNBC)

The Bank of England will meet later today, capping a big week for rate-watchers. The expectation is that it will go for a quarter-point cut to 5%.

#2- Facebook parent Meta beat revenue expectations on the back of robust digital ad sales, which it said will help cover the rising costs of AI — flipping the script after Microsoft and Alphabet’s earnings and capital expenditure projections raised concerns around the commercial viability of AI.

IN OTHER BUSINESS NEWS- Boeing named aerospace veteran Kelly Ortberg as its new CEO as it looks to rebound from a series of losses and high-profile scandals amid an ongoing quality crisis. (Reuters)

MEANWHILE- The region is holding its breath following the killing of Hamas’ top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Iran early yesterday morning, with fears that it will jeopardize ongoing ceasefire negotiations and spark retaliation from Hamas. (Reuters)

OLYMPICS-

We’re nearing the halfway mark of Olympics 2024, with day six of the competition seeing Simone Biles look to clinch her gold medal for the women’s all-around final; the athletics program kicks off; and four more swimming finals.

Highlights from yesterday: Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz have each made it through to the quarter-finals in the men’s singles, potentially setting themselves up for a golden showdown, while Rafael Nadal is out of the competition after losing alongside Alcaraz in the men’s doubles yesterday. In swimming: The US’ Katie Ledecky brought home another gold for the 1.5k meters freestyle; while French Leon Marchand brought home two golds, putting France second to the top on the medals table.

The medal standings now at the Paris Olympics:

  • China (9 gold, 19 overall)
  • France (8 gold, 26 overall)
  • Japan (8 gold, 15 overall)
  • Australia (7 gold, 16 overall)
  • Great Britain (6 gold, 17 overall)

Want to see when your favorite sport is on? Check out the official schedule here.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Crawford vs Madrimov boxing showdown will take place on Saturday, 3 August at the Los Angeles BMO Stadium. The event is the highlight of the Los Angeles Riyadh Season Card which features five other bouts. You can check them out here.

Aramco is set to release its 1H 2024 results on Tuesday, 6 August, according to its website. You can tune into the audio webcast of its earnings call here. The oil giant’s net income dipped a bit more than 14% in 1Q 2024 to SAR 102.3 bn.

Small and medium enterprises regulator Monsha’at will hold a franchise tour of five cities on 12-13 August (Monday and Tuesday). The tour, which starts in Khobar and includes stops in Abha, Qassim, Hail and Jeddah, will showcase success stories in the sector. The tour then picks up with seven stops scheduled for an installment next year.

Cybersecurity training event SANS Riyadh Cyber Leaders August 2024 will run from Sunday, 18 August to Thursday, 22 August at the Hyatt Regency Riyadh Olaya.

The eight-week Esports World Cup runs until Sunday, 25 August Riyadh’s Boulevard City. The world’s top esports clubs are competing for a pool of USD 60 mn — the largest purse in esports.

The two-day Middle East LPG Expo – Saudi Arabia 2024 will open on Tuesday, 10 September, bringing together upwards of 4k liquified petroleum gas (LPG) experts to discuss the future of the fuel gas in clean energy. Saudi accounts for 50% of demand for LPF in the Middle East and Africa.

The TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup Final 2024 between Egyptian rivals Al Ahly and Zamalek will be held in Riyadh on Friday, 27 September. The venue and kick-off time of the match will be announced at a later date.

This year’s edition of security-focused expo Intersec Saudi Arabia will run from Tuesday, 1 October to Thursday, 3 October at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center.

International food and beverage expo InFlavour is returning to Riyadh on Tuesday, 1 October. The three-day event — which will be organized in collaboration with the Environment, Water and Agriculture Minister, Tahaluf, Pepsico, Al Rabie, Arasco and Nadec — will take place in Riyadh’s Front Exhibition and Conference Center.

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