Good morning, friends, and welcome to a busy issue with which to start the workweek. And there’s lots more to come: We expect the pace of news to accelerate in the coming weeks as we hurtle toward the Eid Al Adha holiday in mid-June.

BUT FIRST- The Friday premier of “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” in Riyadh got lots of ink over the weekend. It was Saudi’s first Hollywood premier and was attended by the film’s headliners, actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. The Associated Press has more, and odds are good if you’re in Riyadh that he’s all over your IG / TikTok / whatever.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Goldman Sachs is inching closer to setting up its regional shop in the Kingdom after it received a license from the Ministry of Investment, Bloomberg reports citing unnamed sources it says are familiar with the matter. There’s no publicly available information about the planned size or scope of the bank’s activities at its Saudi office, or the number of employees it plans to hire here. Others including BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, and HSBC have ramped-up their hiring in the Kingdom.

AND- KKR Saudi, the local arm of global investment firm KKR, has added fund and investment management services to its license, the Capital Market Authority said in a statement.

#2- Saudi is looking to attract some USD 3 tn in investment by 2030, Saudi Gazette reported Investment Minister Khalid Al Falih as saying China-GCC investment conference in China. The event saw a high-profile Saudi delegation, led by Al Falih, descend on Xiamen. Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman was due to lead both the Xiamen mission and an earlier one to Japan, but reportedly called off travel plans plans due to the King’s health, Reuters reported. King Salman continues to undergo medical treatment at Jeddah’s Al Salam Royal Palace for inflammation in the lungs.

#3- PIF-backed EV maker Lucid is set to reduce its workforce by 6%, cutting 400 jobs before the end of 3Q as it looks to cut costs amid a slowdown in electric car sales, the company said in a disclosure. The plan is expected to set the company back some USD 21-25 mn in the current quarter. Lucid reported a net loss of USD 685 mn in 1Q 2024.

REMEMBER-Lucid plans to ramp up its capex spending to about USD 1.5 bn as it launches production of the Gravity, invests in its Arizona facility, and builds out its plant in Saudi. The PIF committed USD 1 bn to Lucid in a follow-on investment back in March.

In other EV news: “Saudi Arabia” is in talks with California-based electric flying car manufacturer Archer Aviation for potential partnerships in Riyadh and Jeddah, along with some of the mega projects across the Kingdom, Reuters reports, citing remarks by Archer’s company’s chief commercial officer, Nikhil Goel. The newswire didn’t name the Saudi company involved in the talks.

It’s the second mention of flying cars this month: US-based electric aircraft maker Joby Aviation plans to expand into the local market after it signed a MoU with Aramco aviation subsidiary Mukamalah. Mukamalah, which operates the world’s largest fleet of corporate aircraft, plans to introduce Joby’s eVTOL to the Saudi market. “Since we made our first several announcements in the UAE that has piqued interest” across the region.

#4- Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman has reportedly accepted an invitation to visit Tehran, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported yesterday. Saudi officials have yet to confirm the invitation, which Mehr says was extended by Iran’s interim president, Mohammad Mokhber.

State news agency SPA confirmed that the Crown Prince and Mokhber had had a call, but stopped short of mentioning a visit.

In context: Tehran and Riyadh have taken cautious steps in the past 12 months or so to patch up relations. The visit, if it goes through, would be the first by a Saudi royal in more than two decades.

#5- The Saudi Air Connectivity Program is expected to announce “big news” in the first week of June on a new route connecting Asia to the Kingdom, CEO Majid Khan told Asharq Business (watch, runtime: 5:38). He expects another announcement on a destination “from the west” after the summer, Khan said, refusing to disclose further details. “We are working on a pipeline not only for 2024 but from now on towards 2030 because we need to make sure [we reach] the 70 mn inbound travelers [target],” he said.

In context- The program, which was launched in 2021, aims to boost connectivity to the Kingdom from Europe, Asia and the Americas. It has attracted three new Chinese airlines and three European carriers to launch flights to Saudi this year, according to Khan.

#6- Five investors and a local firm were hit with SAR 4.8 mn in fines and orders for repayment after an appeals committee by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) upheld findings that they had engaged in market manipulation as well as insider trading.

DATA POINTS-

#1- The Kingdom aims to boost its daily water desalination capacity to 16.2 mn cubic meters, up from the current 9.4 mn cubic meters by 2030, Aleqtisadiah reports quoting Environment Minister official Saud Al-Murshed.

#2- Some 54 industrial licenses for projects worth a combined SAR 1 bn were issued in March 2024 by the Industry and Mineral Resources Ministry, it said in a statement on X. The authority said it issued nine licenses for “non-metal products,” eight licenses for food businesses, and seven for metal products.

OIL WATCH-

Opec+ is expected extend voluntary oil cuts well into 2H 2024 when it meets next week, Bloomberg reports. The group of oil-producing nations is scheduled to review and decide on output policy during an online meeting on Sunday, 2 June, instead of the usual in-person meeting previously planned on 1 June. They will decide on whether to extend oil-market-balancing production cuts of 2 mn barrels per day into the second half of the year.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Is the G7 angling for a trade war with China? Finance ministers meeting in Italy yesterday warned that they are upset with the role China is playing in global business — and could move to take action. “While reaffirming our interest in a balanced and reciprocal collaboration, we express concerns about China’s comprehensive use of non-market policies and practices that undermines our workers, industries, and economic resilience. We will continue to monitor the potential negative impacts of overcapacity and will consider taking steps to ensure a level playing field.” Bloomberg has more.

MEANWHILE- Israel continues to attack Rafah despite the International Court of Justice (ICJ) order to immediately cease all military operations in Rafah on Friday. The court also ordered Israel to open the Rafah crossing to aid and allow investigators into the area. The court’s non-binding rulings come days after the ICJ chief prosecutor requested arrest warrants for a number of Israeli and Hamas officials.

Another round of talks ahead? Mediators are expected to return to the negotiating table this week, one official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Negotiations will reportedly discuss “new proposals led by the mediators, Egypt and Qatar and with active US involvement,” the official said. Israeli, Qatari, and US officials met in Paris over the weekend for preliminary discussions.

Not working: The USD 320 mn pier built by US forces, who are not allowed by White House policy to set foot in Gaza to help distribute aid. The equivalent of 71 truckloads of aid made it in through the pier last week — far short of the 90 per day US officials were hoping for. The Wall Street Journal has a deep dive.

AND IN AI NEWS- Google’s AI Overview is under fire for being extremely flawed. AI Overview shows users quick summaries when they Google a question, supposedly saving users a lot of scrolling, but it has become the subject of scrutiny online for its complete nonsense results. AI Overview has suggested users use glue to ensure their cheese sticks to their pizza base or recommended users consume “at least one small rock a day.” Google is taking swift action to tackle the issue, a company spokesman told CNBC — an approach that right now involves taking down some of the dumbest suggestions by hand.

Not seeing AI Overview on your search results page? The feature is only widely available in the US right now.

ALSO worth knowing about this morning:

A WARNING from the Wall Street Journal: I regret to inform you that sweatpant-jeans are sweeping America.

Expect a quiet news day out of the USA today and tomorrow: Our American friends are off through Monday for a three-day weekend in observance of Memorial Day.

PSAs-

#1- The next round of e-invoicing: Companies that had more than SAR 10 mn in revenues subject to VAT in 2022 or 2023 will have to “integrate their e-invoicing solutions with Zatca’s Fatoora platform from 1 December 2024,” Zatca said in a post on X. It’s the latest phase of a e-invoicing rollout that began in late 2021.

#2- The Hajj and Umrah Ministry is mulling a one-day Hajj package solely for Makkah residents in a bid to curb illegal pilgrimage, Al Watan reported. The package would include transportation to Arafat and Mina but would not bundle-in accommodation in the holy sites. Individuals who qualify must be Saudi citizens or expats with residency in Makkah provided who have not performed Hajj before.

WEATHER- Expect clear skies in Riyadh with a daytime high of 42°C and a low of 29°C. Makkah is on the windy side with a high of 43°C and a low of 30°C, with Jeddah seeing a similar weather with a high of 37°C and a low of 28°C.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Demo day for the final round of the Sanabil 500 MENA seed accelerator will take place on Wednesday, 29 May, in Riyadh with seven finalists. Applications for the next batch are now open and will close on 6 August 2024.

The Global EV and Mobility Tech Forum will open its doors on Wednesday, 10 July to Thursday, 11 July at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center. The event will bring together policymakers, NGOs, and startups.

Saudi will host the UN Trade and Development Global Supply Chain Forum in 2026, according to a statement by Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani).

Saudi Arabia will host the eleventh World Water Forum, which is set to be held in 2027 under the theme “Together for a better tomorrow,” state-run news agency SPA reports.

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