by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Events, Muslim World, Social Round-up
Kuwait : The 38th annual summit of the Gulf Arab heads of state will convene here on Tuesday and Wednesday, officials said, despite an ongoing dispute between some members of the group.
A rift between the Gulf Cooperation Council members Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on one side, and Qatar on the other has put this year’s annual meeting in doubt, Al Arabiya reported.
The crisis, which began in June, revolves around allegations by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt that Qatar supports terrorism, a charge Doha denies. Qatar says the four countries were trying to force Doha to fall in line with their own foreign policy views.
Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met his Gulf Arab counterparts on Monday ahead of the summit, one of the highest official encounters since some of them cut diplomatic, trade and travel links with Doha.
Al-Thani said that Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani would attend the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting, despite the dispute within the group.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Markets, Muslim World, Networking, Technology
Riyadh : A new smartphone application for citizens to provide feedback on government services will be launched in early 2018.
Hussam Al-Madani, acting director general of the National Center for the Measurement of the Performance of Public Agencies (CMPPA), revealed the launch of the app, Makkah newspaper reported.
The app will help measure the performance of public and semi-official agencies and convey public complaints and suggestions directly to relevant officials, as well as follow up the messages received by different authorities. The center would act based on the result of the measurements of these authorities. Al-Madani said the CMPPA is designing an electronic platform for international performance to follow the capability of Saudi Arabia compared to more than 200 other countries.
The platform would give an overview of the performance of Saudi Arabia based on more than 250 international measurement indices, through 12 measurement axes, and would also represent a reference for international classifications. The aim was to achieve comprehensive stability in a positive way, and help decision-makers come to the right choices based on performance reports.
—OIC-UNA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Saud Mohammed Al-Sati
New Delhi : Saudi Ambassador to India Saud Mohammed Al-Sati on Wednesday said that the Palestine issue should be resolved through the Arab Peace Initiative espoused by his country.
“The Arab countries have clearly expressed their interest in reaching a peaceful solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on international legitimacy, the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative that was proposed by Saudi Arabia more than 15 years ago, and was subsequently adopted by the Arab Summit held in Beirut in 2002 as well as by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation,” Al-Sati said in a speech at an event to mark International Day of Solidarity with the Palestine People organised by the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) at the Sapru House here.
“This peace plan, as you know, received wide support from the international community,” he stated.
The Arab Peace Initiative, proposed by Saudi Arabia, calls for normalising relations between the Arab region and Israel, in exchange for a full withdrawal by Israel from the occupied territories (including East Jerusalem) and a “just settlement” of the Palestinian refugee problem based on UN Resolution 194.
“We believe that the Arab Peace Initiative provides a solid basis for resolving the conflict, and that it has all the elements for a final settlement that can achieve lasting, comprehensive and just peace in the Middle East,” Al-Sati said.
“As Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia Adel Al-Jubeir said at UN General Assembly on September 23, 2017, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the most protracted in the region’s history and had led to a great deal of human suffering. Nothing could justify the continuation of this conflict, particularly when there was wide-spread agreement over the two-state solution. International determination was needed to make that solution a reality.”
The Ambassador called upon Israel to “stop its continuous defiance of the will of the international community by building the apartheid wall and illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories in a clear violation of all relevant UN resolutions”.
“The Israeli authorities must also halt their attempts to Judaize Al-Quds city (the Arabic name for Jerusalem), obliterate its Arab identity, and change its demographic character and the historical status of Al-Aqsa mosque.”
On Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also reiterated India’s support for the Palestinian cause.
In 1977, the UN General Assembly called for the annual observance of November 29 as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. On that day, in 1947, the Assembly adopted the resolution on the partition of Palestine.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Employment, Overseas
New Delhi : Saudi Arabia continues to be among the most preferred destinations for Indians seeking jobs abroad, resulting in the Gulf kingdom becoming among the highest sources of remittances to India, according to official data.
According to figures provided by the Embassy of India in Riyadh, the number of expatriate Indians in Saudi Arabia shot up from 3,039,193 in March this year to 3,253,901 in October, a rise of over 200,000 within seven months.
They not only comprise blue-collar workers but a growing number of doctors, engineers, oil technologists, IT experts and other technocrats who are increasingly seeking opportunities in the Kingdom’s reforming economy and growing liberal atmosphere for expatriates.
According to Pew Research Center data, India continues to be the top recipient of migrant remittances, with nearly $69 billion coming in in 2015 alone.
Of the nearly $69 billion that came into India, Saudi Arabia accounted for over $10.5 billion alone – about a sixth of the total remittances.
However, in 2016, remittances to India went down by over $6 billion compared to 2015, brought about by falling oil prices and slow economic growth in the Gulf.
But after falling to a low of $25 a barrel last year, oil prices have now gone over $60 a barrel, indicating that the Gulf will remain a primary source of remittances for India with oil-rich Saudi Arabia among the leaders.
The dramatic rise in the number of expatriate Indians in Saudi Arabia vindicated the World Bank’s predictions that remittances among countries will rise in 2018 to touch $615 billion. Of this, $460 billion will be received by developing countries, a rise of over $30 billion compared to 2016.
According to World Bank estimates, $575 billion in remittances were sent globally in 2016. Of this, $429 billion was received by developing countries such as India.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
London : Saudi Arabia wants to be the top global destination for Muslim tourists by the end of the decade, according to a top official.
“We want to beat Dubai, Malaysia, and Turkey to the top spot,” said a senior official at the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCNH) in an interview on the sidelines of the World Travel Market in London.
“We have different projects in the pipeline, and we are developing our pilgrimage sites. We are opening up our historical sites, we have five UNESCO sites, and we are aiming to have ten by 2020. “We have everything in Saudi Arabia. Our history gives us a competitive advantage. We have a beautiful natural landscape and thousands of years of Islamic and pre-Islamic history. We are open to all,” said the spokesman. “For Muslims, we have the advantage that everything is already halal here.”
It comes amid a massive push to develop the Kingdom’s Red Sea coastline and maximize tourism spending among the millions of Muslims who already visit the Kingdom each year as part of Hajj and Umrah, Arab News reported.
Saudi Arabia is planning to develop hundreds of kilometers of its Red Sea coastline as a global tourism destination and has enlisted the help of Virgin Group chief Richard Branson to advise on the ambitious project, which is a key plank of ongoing economic reforms.
The Kingdom is in the “final stages” of ratifying its much-anticipated tourist visas, which would grant unrestricted leisure travel in the country, the spokesman confirmed.
“We expect the tourist visa to be in issuance within six months.”
Currently, Saudi Arabia issues two-week visas for those on business, pilgrimage or visiting resident family members but they can be difficult to obtain. A specific visa for tourists would open up the country to foreign visitors and allow access to destinations beyond the holy sites of Makkah and Madinah.
The tourism official said that the Saudi government is working on ratifying tourist visas for visitors from 165 countries, including 66 Muslim countries.
He said the Kingdom would welcome all nationalities, all religions, and female visitors.
“For women, they may not need to wear a headdress, but it is thought an Abaya will be necessary. The details of the new regulations will be confirmed with the coming months.”
He added, “Many people will be surprised by the heritage and landscapes that Saudi has. We have skiing, diving and beautiful beaches stretching across two seas.”
Dr. Yazeed Al-Shammari, the founder of Arabian Nights, a major KSA tour operator, told Arab News he was looking forward to the new tourist visa “widening and developing” his business.
“People are very curious about Saudi Arabia. Some people think that all we’ve got is sand and camels, but the reality is we have much more variety and texture than that. I’ve already had many inquiries from European agents.”
Caroline Bremner, head of travel and tourism at Euromonitor, said: “It will be interesting to see what Saudi does now as previously the focus was only on the Hajj. Saudi Arabia is a beautiful country with a lot to offer. There have been developments lately that make the country seem more attractive to visitors, such as allowing women to drive.
“It will also need to pay attention to the quality of its hotels and tourist experiences as it enters the world as an emerging tourist destination.”
—SM/OIC-UNA
