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Good morning, everyone. We are ending the week with the exciting news of Saudi Arabia being selected to host the 2034 World Cup.
THE BIG STORY HERE AT HOME- Saudi Arabia has officially been awarded the right to host the 2034 Fifa World Cup after its bid went uncontested, receiving strong backing from the Football Association. Spain, Morocco, and Portugal will host the 2030 World Cup.
The Kingdom’s bid book (pdf) for the 2034 Fifa World Cup was released back in August, 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.
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.
The news received a lot of attention from the foreign press: AP | Bloomberg | Financial Times | BBC | New York Times.
HAPPENING TODAY-
The first round of GCC-Japan freetrade talks wrap today with Deputy Governor of the Saudi General Authority of Foreign Trade Farid Al Asali leading the Saudi team at the negotiations, state news agency SPA reports. The Kingdom’s delegation includes nine technical groups specializing in goods, services, e-commerce, intellectual property, and other areas. Saudi-Japanese trade hit USD 41 bn last year, with minerals and organic chemicals leading Saudi exports, while cars and machinery led imports from Japan.
We knew this was coming: The GCC and Japan arranged for talks to kick off this month after agreeing on terms of reference in October.
WEATHER- Riyadh is in for another cool day with a high of 23°C and a low of 8°C. Jeddah’s mercury will peak at 32°C before dipping to a low of 21°C. Meanwhile, Makkah will see a high of 32°C and a low of 18°C.
WATCH THIS SPACE-
#1- SNB Capital received the green light from the Capital Market Authority for the public offering of its GCC Petrochemical Sector Fund, according to a statement from the authority.
#2- Cambodia eyes rice export to the Kingdom: President of the Cambodian Senate Hun Sen called on Saudi investors to set up rice milling, storage, and packaging facilities in Cambodia as the country eyes expanding its rice export market in the region, with a focus on Saudi Arabia, according to Khmer Times. This came during Sen’s meeting with Abdullah Al Sheikh, chairman of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia.
#3 The Real Estate General Authority has granted licenses for five new sell-off plans, according to a thread on X. The projects include Yamama City Centre in Al Olaya, Al Saad project in Dhahran, Al Maha and Dana Al Janadriyah in Al Qadisiyah, and Yusr Village in Al Salama.
#4- SAB Invest has rebalanced its SAB Invest MSCI Tadawul 30 Saudi ETF to reflect the latest index constituents, it said in a disclosure to Tadawul.
CAPITAL MARKETS-
Digital Research (DRC) shares closed 1.2% down on its debut trading session yesterday on Tadawul’s parallel market Nomu to settle at SAR 82 a piece. The company will be subject to a price fluctuation cap of 30% during its first three trading sessions, before resetting to 10% on the fourth day.
REFRESHER- The market research, data analytics, and consulting firm listed a 22.5% stake (337.5k shares) on Nomu.
DATA POINTS-
#1- All aboard the Riyadh Metro: Some 1.9 mn passengers boarded the Riyadh Metro in its first week of operations, with the purple line being the most popular, CEO of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City Ibrahim Al Sultan was quoted as saying by Argaam. The Riyadh Metro kicked off its pilot run last week with three out of six lines going online.
#2- How much will a unit at Jeddah’s Trump Tower set you back? Apartments in Jeddah’s Trump Tower will go for SAR 2-10 mn, with units ranging from 70 to 365 sqm, according to Al Eqtisadiah. The project will have a price tag of SAR 2 bn.
#3- Saudi Arabia’s M3 money supply grew 9.2% y-o-y in October to reach SAR 2.9 tn, according to the October 2024 Statistical Bulletin (pdf) from SAMA. M3 increased by SAR 215 bn since the beginning of the year and was down SAR 7.5 bn from September. The largest contributors to the money supply were demand deposits (49%), time and savings deposits (33%), other quasi-cash deposits (11%), and cash in circulation outside banks (8%). Total liabilities were around SAR 5.1 tn.
SOUND SMART- M3 is the broadest measure of all the money in a country. It includes cash, current accounts, and other money that can be quickly mobilized (what econ-nerds call M2) as well as time deposits, money market funds and the like.
OIL WATCH-
Opec reappointed Kuwaiti oil chief Haitham Al Ghais as its sec-gen for a second three-year term continuing until 2028, according to a statement. Al Ghais has led Opec since mid-2022.
ALSO- Opec’s next meeting is scheduled for 28 May, 2025, the statement read.
Opec slashed this year’s oil demand growth forecast by 210k bbl / d to 1.6 mn bbl / d, after accounting for “recently received bearish data for 3Q 24” in its latest outlook report (pdf). The cuts mark the deepest reduction seen so far to the yearly outlook. The group has cut expectations for 2024 by 27% since July as it “belatedly recognizes the deteriorating market picture,” Bloomberg explained. Opec now sees global oil consumption averaging 103.8 mn bbl / d this year, and trimmed next year’s growth estimate by 90k bbl / d to 1.4 mn bbl / d.
The cartel’s growth forecasts for this year remain substantially higher than those of other analysts, standing at double the numbers cited by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs while also exceeding the International Energy Agency and Saudi Aramco’s estimates.
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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-
It’s a mixed bag in the global press this morning, with developments in Syria taking a backseat — for now at least — and a lack of any major business stories to take note of.
News of FBI Director Christopher Wray’s decision to step down from office is ranking high in the often US-centric global papers. The move to step down prematurely came not two weeks after the president-elect said he would fire Wray over the bureau searching his Florida home for classified documents in 2022 and replace him with Trump loyalist Kash Patel to lead the bureau — marking the second director of the bureau to be pushed out by Trump. (Financial Times | Wall Street Journal | Reuters | Associated Press | New York Times | Guardian)
The fallout from South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived declaration of martial law is continuing to receive ink, with the police’s attempt yesterday to search his office as part of a mounting criminal investigation against the head of the country for charges of insurrection. (Reuters)
CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-
The largest online real estate auction in the Kingdom is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 14 December, offering 103 properties across Riyadh, Eastern Province, Madinah, Qassim, and Asir. The auction will be organized by Al Joud Real Estate and hosted on the Saudi Auctions platform.
The two-day Impact Makers Forum (ImpaQ) is set to open its doors on 18 December, bringing together media influencers, industry experts, and digital content creators in Riyadh’s Mayadeen Hall.
The Future Hospitality Summit will take place between 14-16 April, 2025 at Mandarin Oriental Al Faisaliah hotel in Riyadh. The forum will bring together top executives and decision-makers in the hospitality sector to probe potential investments and partnerships.
The five-day Internet Governance Forum will take place on Sunday, 15 December at King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh. The UN forum aims to facilitate digital public policy discussions. The Riyadh agenda will tackle innovation and risk management, digital contribution to peace and sustainability, human rights, and digital governance. Register here.
The International Forum for Saudi Reef is scheduled for 16-18 December in the Intercontinental Al Ahsa, covering sustainable agriculture, rural entrepreneurship, and technology in farming, alongside a three-day exhibition of rural practices, handicrafts, and local work. Find the link to register on the event’s official website.
