Good morning, wonderful people. It’s the last full work week before Eid Al Fitr, and you can feel the onset of the pre-Eid news slowdown in this morning’s issue.

Think it’s slow here at home? It’s one of the quietest mornings for global business news that we can recall in a very long time — and it’s no surprise, really: Huge swaths of the business world are either taking time off this weekend for Easter or are in the final days of Ramadan.

MORNING MUST-READ: “Successful entrepreneurs are middle-aged, not young.” It’s not a myth that there are successful in their 20s — hello, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg — but US research on company data from 2007 through 2014 shows that:

  • The average age of a founder: 41.9
  • The average age fo the fastest-growing companies in the cohort: 45
  • Fifty-year-old founders were nearly 2x as likely as a 30-year-old counterpart to achieve “major success”
  • The least-likely to succeed: Founders in their 20s.

READ- He turned 55. Then he started the world’s most important company, the lead story in this morning’s Wall Street Journal, which looks at what middle-aged entrepreneurs can learn from Morris Chang, who was 55 when he created the world’s largest and most important chipmaking company.

AND- Age and high-growth entrepreneurship (pdf), in the American Economic Review, the 2020 paper the Journal cites.

CATCH UP QUICK on business headlines from the weekend:

PSA- Most of us are now just nine days away from Eid break. Businesses will be off for Eid Al Fitr from Tuesday, 9 April through Friday, 13 April, while banks and the stock market will be closed from Friday, 5 April, through Saturday, 13 April.

WEATHER- it’s gray clouds in the capital today with temperatures with a high of 27°C and a low of 17°C. Showers are in the cards for later tonight and the long-range forecast suggests a chance of isolated thundershowers on Wednesday.

It’s more of the same in Jeddah, though with a lower chance of rain today. Look for a high of 34°C and an overnight low of 28°C. Thunderstorms are likely tomorrow through Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, Dammam is looking at some sun through high clouds, with no chances of rain today. Temperatures will hit a high of 29°C and a low of 19°C.

So, when do we eat? Maghrib prayers are at 6:10 pm in the capital city, and you’ll have until 4:27 am tomorrow to hydrate and caffeinate ahead of fajr. Today is day 21 of Ramadan.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Companies with VAT-liable revenues exceeding SAR 25 mn in 2022 or 2023 will have to “integrate their e-invoicing solutions with the Fatoora platform from 1 October 2024,” Zatca said in a statement. It’s the latest phase of a rollout that began in late 2021.

#2- The first meeting of the GCC-EU chamber of commerce is slated for May 2024 in Riyadh, EU Special Representative for the Gulf region Luigi Di Maio told Aleqtisadiah. Over 350 European companies taken out licenses making Riyadh their regional headquarters. Some 1.3k European companies have invested in Saudi Arabia insectors including energy, manufacturing, transportation, and infrastructure, said Di Maio.

Fast fact: Trade between Saudi and the EU hit EUR 88 bn in 2022, a 30% year-on-year increase.

#3- The Transport General Authority (TGA) has ordered the shut-down of two ride-hailing and four order-delivery apps, saying in a post on X that they lacked the licenses they needed to operate legally. The TGA didn’t name the companies

In context- TGA warned earlier this month that it would be cracking down on unlicensed passenger transportation.

#4- Riyadh Air will take delivery of its first aircraft in 1Q 2025 and will launch commercial operations in the first half of 2025, Osama Al-Nuwaiser, vice-president of marketing and corporate communications told Aleqtisadiah.

Some 39 787-9 Dreamliners — out of 72 ordered — will be delivered next year, Al-Nuwaiser added. The arline, a unit of the Public Investment Fund, will unveil its list of destinations in the first half of 2025.

Background: The PIF’s flagship carrier has a target of serving 100 destinations by 2030. PIF is said to be looking to acquire 100% of Saudia, the current national flag carrier, raising the possibility of a merger with Riyadh Air.

#5– The first international flight into Red Sea International Airport (RSI) will touch down next month. Operated by flydubai, the Thursday, 18 April, landing will be the first on a new twice-weekly route linking Dubai International (DXB) to RSI, according to a Red Sea Global statement. State-owned airline Saudia has been running domestic flights to RSI since September 2023. “RSI will serve 1 mn guests a year at full capacity,” said RSG CEO, John Pagano.

DATA POINTS-

#1- Net FDI inflows fell 59% y-o-y to USD 11.4 bn in 2023, Reuters reports. On a quarterly basis, net inflows grew 16% q-o-q to SAR 13.1 bn in 4Q 2023, according to the latest data by the General Authority for Statistics (pdf)

#2- Unemployment has dropped to 4.4% in 4Q 2023 — down from 4.8% 4Q 2022 —moving closer to achieving the 4% target set under Vision 2030, GASTAT reports. This is 70 basis points lower than the 5.1% global average posted last year.

#3- Spending by inbound tourists rose 42.8% y-o-y in 2023 to a record high of SAR 135 bn, the Tourism Ministry said in a post on X yesterday, citing data (pdf) by the Saudi Central Bank (Sama). Meanwhile, Spending by Saudi tourists abroad rose 45.6% y-o-y in 2023 to SAR 86.9 bn.

#4- Sama’s assets dropped 7.6% y-o-y in February 2024 to SAR 1.78 tn, down from SAR 1.92 tn in the corresponding period a year earlier, the central bank’s monthly bulletin (pdf) showed. Assets fell 2.2% m-o-m in February from SAR 1.82 tn in January.

SPORTS-

The Saudi Pro League is back after a two-week hiatus. Here are the results from the weekend matches:

  • Al-Nassr vs. Al-Tai (5-1).
  • Al-Hilal vs. Al-Shabab (4-3);
  • Al-Taawoun vs. Al Hazm (4-0);
  • Al-Khaleej vs. Damac (1-0);
  • Al Raed vs. Al Akhdoud (3-1);
  • Al-Ittihad vs. Al Feiha (3-1);
  • Al-Ettifaq vs Al Ahli (2-2).
  • Al Fateh vs. Al-Wehda (3-2);
  • Al-Riyadh vs. Abha (1-2);

Tomorrow’s matches (all times KSA):

  • Al-Hazm vs. Damac (10 pm);
  • Al-Raed vs. Al-Khaleej (10 pm);
  • Al-Ahli vs. Al-Ittihad (10 pm).

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