It’s a brisk morning for Saudi in in the global business press, with two stories driving the conversation.

#1- Tennis after the Kingdom snagged the rights to host the Women’s Tennis Association global finals for the next three years with an offer of a record USD 15.25 mn purse. The story is getting coverage everywhere from the Independent and the Financial Times to the Associated Press and the BBC.

#2- Neom after Bloomberg report that the planners have scaled back their estimate for how many people will live in The Line by 2030. The new figure, the business information service says, is a bit under 300k compared to the original 1.5 mn, suggesting a slower buildout. The story has legs, having been picked up by Business Insider. Bloomberg is also suggesting that the Kingdom’s USD 100 bn foreign investment target may take a bit longer to hit — and that (hardly shocking) high oil prices are key to Saudi’s economic diversification program.

AND- A bit from Planet Startup and AI. The Information, the California-based tech daily, picks up on the Public Investment Fund’s plan for a world-scale fund to invest in AI as well as a push to have startups establish a direct presence in Saudi.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *