by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Riyadh : Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh will host on Wednesday the first meeting of foreign ministers of the Arab and African countries bordering the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The meeting will discuss means of joint coordination to protect and secure navigation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden as well as maximizing the economic and commercial benefits of this vital international shipping corridor.
At the end of the meeting, a press conference will be held to announce the results of the discussions, where the ministers are expected to come up with a permanent mechanism for joint coordination among the Arab and African countries bordering the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
—AB/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Events, Muslim World
Riyadh : Leaders and heads of delegations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries began arriving in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to attend the 39th session of the GCC Supreme Council in Riyadh.
Deputy Prime Minister for Oman’s Cabinet Affairs Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum were greeted, upon their arrival at King Salman Air Base Airport, by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, who welcomed them and their accompanying delegations in the Kingdom.
—AB/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Commodities, Commodities News, Muslim World
By Mahmut Geldi,
Riyadh: Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed at a meeting Wednesday in Riyadh to cooperate to help stabilize oil markets.
“Saudi Arabia and Russia play an historic role in the stability of the oil market,” Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said at a joint press conference with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak after they met.
Al-Falih said Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud has called on all parties to maintain stability in oil prices.
Oil prices have been fluctuating widely since the beginning of the year, hitting their highest levels in more than three years in January but recently posting their biggest weekly losses in two months in line with production and industry developments such as fluctuating U.S. oil rig counts.
Novak said Russia’s coordination with Saudi Arabia supports stability in oil prices and there are many joint projects with Saudi Arabia’s national oil company Saudi Aramco.
Al-Falih said Saudi Arabia is also working with Russia on nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, adding the issue of climate change was also discussed.
Earlier today, King Salman received Novak in Riyadh. Following their meeting, a memorandum on energy cooperation was signed.
Novak said that during the meeting, bilateral relations in all fields were discussed and productive discussions were held on energy.
He added that Russia is supporting Saudi Arabia’s ‘Saudi Vision 2030’ economic plan with direct investments.
—AA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Events, Muslim World
Riyadh : The Saudi capital Riyadh will host on Tuesday the A-list of global corporate leadership in the most keenly awaited business gathering of the year.
Dozens of the biggest names in global business have arrived in the Kingdom for the Future Investment Initiative (FII), which is being hosted by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the body that is spearheading a slew of economic reforms. Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, will inaugurate the investment summit.
The high-profile FII is being held under the patronage of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Christine Lagarde and BlackRock boss Larry Fink are among those attending the event, which is being called the “Saudi Davos” a reference to the Swiss town that hosts the main World Economic Forum meeting each year, Arab News reported.
“We see FII as a unique opportunity for the global community to bring together aspirational thinking around the future of the world economy,” said Pedro Oliveira, Oliver Wyman’s regional managing partner.
Saudi Arabia is undergoing unprecedented economic and social reforms as the Kingdom seeks to reduce reliance on oil and gas revenues while creating thousands of new jobs for a youthful population.
The FII will see “internationally-renowned business leaders and influencers discuss … how the challenges of the future can be addressed,” said PIF Managing Director Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan.
Bankers and fund managers in the audience will be especially interested to hear about the planned initial public offering (IPO) of Saudi Aramco, the national oil company.
Aramco CEO Amin Nasser will be among the homegrown business heavyweights at the conference. On Monday, he quashed market rumors about possible delays to the planned IPO, which could raise $100 billion from investors.
“We have always said that we will be listing in 2018, and to be more specific, in the second half of 2018,” he told CNBC in an interview.
He added: “The IPO is on track. The listing venue will be discussed and shared in due course.”
The Aramco IPO is being seen as a touchstone for wider financial reforms that is drawing interest from the world’s biggest money managers — many of them attending the three-day event in Riyadh.
It has spurred interest from several international banks and rating agencies have set up operations in the kingdom in anticipation of a flood of new deals.
One of them is S&P Global Ratings, a credit ratings agency that assesses the creditworthiness of companies and countries seeking to raise debt.
S&P said on Monday it has opened a branch in Riyadh, making it the first international credit rating agency to be fully licensed to operate in Saudi Arabia.
Companies in Saudi Arabia have typically used bank loans to meet their financing needs, but that is expected to change. “As Saudi Arabia’s capital markets evolve to match the size of the country’s economy, there is a prime potential for greater debt issuance,” said Meshari Al-Khaled, the newly appointed S&P office head in Riyadh.
—OIC-UNA/IINA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Employment, Media, News
RIYADH: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s close aide Zafar Sareshwala, who is also the chancellor of Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) in Hyderabad, said Indian Muslim community must get itself involved in a political dialogue with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to find an amicable solution to its problems.
Addressing a conference on “Educational Empowerment of Indian Muslims — Challenges and Future Road Map” organized here by the Riyadh chapter of the India Islamic Cultural Center (IICC) on Thursday, Sareshwala said: “Over the years, we have been used by various political parties as a vote bank, but they failed to deliver in redressing our grievances.”
He added that these secular parties compounded difficulties for the community by banking on a legal rather than a dialogical approach to settle religious disputes as manifested in the Babri Mosque issue and minority character of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
“Instead of involving in a debate that polarize the political atmosphere, it is fruitful to involve in dialogue with the Modi government and find an amicable solution to our important issues,” said Sareshwala.
He noted that on many issues, “the prime minister is not fully aware of the facts and we need to tell our side of the story through constructive dialogue.”
Referring to the AMU’s minority character, he said that after the IICC meet in Dubai, “I discussed the issue with the prime minister and explained to him the story as to how and why its founder, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, established the institution and he was convinced that the 19th century reformer set up the institution for Indian Muslims.”
Sareshwala also assured to stand with the great cause of restoring AMU’s minority character.
He said, “There are people involved in negative campaign against me saying, I am a Modi man. Let me tell you the fact that neither I am a member of the BJP nor have interest in the ministry. In fact, it was my petition to the State Department, acting on which, the US refused visa to Narendra Modi for several years. But then I realized that such things can have temporary impact. Hence, I decided to meet him when he was coming to Britain for the Vibrant Gujarat summit and now I am friendly with him and in a position to solve problems related to the Muslim community.”
Speaking on the occasion, Abul Hasan Siddiqui, former pro-vice chancellor of AMU, highlighted the historic aspects of AMU’s minority character, while NRI businessman Rashid Ali Sheikh urged Sareshwala to communicate with the government to ensure inclusive growth by putting aside divisive elements.
Prominent NRI philanthropist Nadeem Tarin said, “There might be ideological differences, yet we can work together on common agenda, which is development for all irrespective of differences based on caste, creed and gender.”
IICC convener Murshid Kamal called for educational empowerment of Indian Muslims. Other keynote speakers and guests included senior journalist Ghazanfar Ali Khan and community leaders Qamruddin Jugnu, Mohammed Quaiser, Akhtarul Islam Siddiqui, Anisur Rahman, Zaki Haider, Mohammad Rahbar, Zakir Aazmi and Syed Muneer.
(reference:http://www.arabnews.com)
