Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to a new week. We have a tight but meaty issue for you with which to begin the final work week of August, leading with the Kingdom’s latest trade figures.

HAPPENING TODAY-

#1- The five-day Tourism Week organized by Monsha’at will get underway in a few hours at the Enterprise Support Centers in Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar, and Madinah. The event — designed to give the national tourism industry a shot in the arm — will include workshops and other events to help entrepreneurs and investors in the industry. You can check out the agenda here, and register here.

#2- Team Falcons is set to be crowned the 2024 Esports World Cup club champions today at Boulevard Riyadh City, clinching a USD 7 mn purse. Before wrapping up today, the World Cup will see the SEF Arena host the grand finals of StarCraft II, EA Sports FC 24, and Call of Duty. The tournament saw top esports clubs compete for a pool of USD 60 mn, the largest purse in esports.

#3- The New Global Sport Conference 2024 concludes today, having brought together 1,200 global delegates from esports, gaming, business, and entertainment for a two-day summit. The event focused on discussing the “transformative integration of esports into the Olympic movement,” according to a press release.

#4- A new competition for geospatial apps kicks off today. The initiative, led by the General Authority for Survey and Geospatial Information, aims to improve national geospatial infrastructure by inviting innovative applications that use national geospatial data. The competition will run for a month from today. To participate or inquire, send an email to ngc@geosa.gov.sa.

⚠️WEATHER WARNING- Severe thunderstorms and rain across the Kingdom until Tuesday: The General Directorate of Civil Defense issued warnings for heavy rain, flooding, and strong winds between Friday and Thursday in Makkah, Madinah, Al Baha, Asir, Jazan, and Najran. Lighter showers will hit Jeddah, Riyadh, and the Eastern Province, while flash floods have already struck Madinah.

PSAs-

#1- Saudi nationals can visit Sri Lanka without a visa starting Tuesday, October 1, under a new six-month pilot program designed to boost tourism, Reuters reports. This program also grants a 30-day visa upon arrival to tourists from 35 countries, including the UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain.

#2- The General Authority for Competition fined 14 contracting firms a total of SAR 6.5 mn for collusion on government projects and violation of Competition Law, according to a post on X.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- The Saudi economy is projected to recover in 2H 2024, with GDP expected to grow 1.7% this year and 4.7% in 2025, Zawya reports citing a report by research firm CreditSights. “To a large extent this recession was self-inflicted, with the authorities deliberately reducing oil production by 8.5% to support global prices — as well as the Kingdom’s public finances,” said Regis Chatellier, head of EM sovereign strategy at CreditSights. The external surplus is likely to remain slightly positive if oil prices stay around USD 80 per barrel, though a drop in prices could widen fiscal deficits. “We maintain our ‘Outperform’ call on Saudi Arabia’s sovereign bonds,” Chatellier added.

#2- M&A WATCH- Liva Ins. and Malath Cooperative Ins. signed a non-binding MoU to consider a potential merger, according to a disclosure to Tadawul. Under the agreement, both companies will conduct financial and legal due diligence. If the transaction goes through, one of the companies would fully take over the other in a transaction that would see the buyer issue new shares for the shareholders of the seller.

#3- AlBabtain Food eyes chocolate factory to capitalize on rising domestic demand: AlBabtain Food is set to make an investment into a local chocolate factory, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul. The move is pending financial and technical studies to determine the scope of investment. It’s unclear whether this is a greenfield or brownfield investment.

#4- REGULATION WATCH- Saudi Arabia is exploring incentives for the nonprofit sector, such as exemptions from labor and expat fees, zakat, and customs duties, Saudi Gazette quotes Human Resources and Social Development Minister Ahmed Al Rajhi as saying. A committee is reviewing 21 proposed incentives and will deliver its recommendations by October.

#5- Over 700k private sector facilities inspected in 1H 2024 for labor law violations: Inspections from the Human Resources and Social Development Ministry led to 88.8k warnings and found 107.3k establishments in violation of various labor regulations, the ministry said in a statement. Key issues included failure to raise wages (60k cases), unpaid salaries (16.3k cases), and unauthorized employment of foreigners (7.7k cases).

DATA POINTS-

#1- King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh set a new record for passenger traffic in July, with 3.5 mn visitors, up from a previous high of 3.1 mn in June, news state agency SPA reported. Seat occupancy rates at the airport logged 91% during the month.

#2- Saudi Arabia attracted 13 international education companies to its private K-12 education sector over the past 14 months, Aleqtisadiah reported, citing an unidentified source.

#3- Saudi Arabia’s robo-advisor assets under management grew 236% y-o-y in 1Q 2024 to SAR 980mn, Aleqtisadiah reported, citing data from the Capital Market Authority. Meanwhile, the number of investors joining robo-advisor platforms grew 282% to 172k.

SPORTS-

New transfers: Al Shabab signed Wes Hoedt and made him team captain, while the club’s women’s team signed ex-PSG star Kheira Hamraoui. Meanwhile, Johann Berg Gudmundsson joined Al Orobah, and Dieng will move to Al-Kholood on loan for the 2024/2025 season.

WHISPERS- Al Ittihad has shown serious interest in acquiring FC Barcelona’s center-back Íñigo Martínez, according to Fichajes.

Results of the Saudi Pro League matchday 1 of 34:

  • Al Nasr vs. Al Raed: 1-1
  • Al Hilal vs. Al Akhdoud: 3-0
  • Al Ittihad vs. Al Kholood: 1-0
  • Al Ahli vs. Al Orubah: 2-0
  • Al Qadisiyah vs. Al Fateh: 3-0
  • Al Ettifaq vs. Al Shabab: 1-0
  • Al Riyadh vs. Al Wehda: 3-3
  • Al Khaleej vs. Damac: 1-0.

Tickets for the Riyadh Season Card Wembley Edition have sold out, according to state news agency SPA. The boxing match, slated for 21 September, features a heavyweight title bout between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois as the main event.

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OIL WATCH-

OPEC+ faces a difficult decision on whether to boost oil production next month or keep it steady, given “concerns” about the fuel consumption outlook and increased output from other nations, according to Reuters. Last month, the group opted to maintain current production levels while assessing the effects of existing cuts, and had earlier agreed to ease the cuts starting October 2024.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

As is often the case on Sundays, it’s relatively quiet in the international business press, but NASA choosing Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring back two of its astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS) is making the rounds.

The US space agency decided to bring Boeing’s Starliner capsule back to earth without its two crew members, NASA boss Bill Nelson said yesterday, after the Starliner saw technical failures that resulted in the two astronauts being stuck in space for months longer than expected. The astronauts will now remain on the ISS until late September, at which point they will board a SpaceX capsule with two other astronauts. The SpaceX spacecraft will be starting a six-month mission, meaning the stranded astronauts will return to Earth in February. (Reuters | Bloomberg | Wall Street Journal | Financial Times | Washington Post | CNBC)

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The EFG Hermes London Conference returns: EFG Hermes will hold its annual conference in London on 9-12 September, giving investors “unique and unparalleled access to leading equities in MENA and key frontier emerging markets.”

The Crown Prince Camel Festival runs until Tuesday, 10 September at the Taif Camel Racing Track, featuring 610 rounds of racing and a purse of SAR 56 mn.

The New Global Sport Conference 2024 is happening on Saturday and Sunday, 24-25 August, bringing together top figures from sports, esports, gaming, entertainment, and technology. This year’s theme is the Future of Fandom, highlighting fans’ role in building brand equity and revenue.

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 Data Center Xpo summit will kick off in Riyadh on Tuesday, 3 September.

The two-day Kingdom Business and Luxury Travel Congress will kick off on Wednesday, 25 September, at the Crowne Plaza Riyadh RDC Hotel and Convention.

The three-day Global Logistics Forum will kick off on Saturday, 12 October at Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District.

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