The Middle East

Visits to Jeddah are on the rise, and this is expected to continue amid efforts to promote domestic tourism and position the wider industry as a significant contributor to economic development. According to the Tourism Information and Research Centre (MAS), the statistical arm of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, domestic...

With Saudi Arabia aiming to significantly increase the number of pilgrims visiting Makkah and Medina each year, the issue of providing sufficient housing for the cities’ permanent residents has been a cause for growing concern. To take pressure off both Makkah and Jeddah – cities that have seen substantial population increases over the past...

As the second-largest city in Saudi Arabia, Jeddah plays a central role in the Kingdom’s non-oil economic growth, largely due to a combination of its roots in shipping and trade, and its importance as a transit point for millions of visitors travelling to the holy cities of Makkah and Medina each year.

Due to the importance of Makkah and Medina in the Muslim world, and the millions of pilgrims they attract, the two holy cities form a major component of Saudi Arabia’s non-oil economy. The pilgrimages of Hajj and Umrah are performed each year, with worshippers’ fees, food, transport and accommodation totalling some $12bn in revenues.

Saudi Arabia’s introduction of short-selling to its stock exchange was a regionally historic moment. Despite the elevation of Qatar and the UAE to MSCI Emerging Market status in 2013, none of the exchanges in the Gulf had introduced the concept before the beginning of 2017. The issue has been on the developmental agenda of exchange authorities...

With Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 placing a strong emphasis on innovation and technology, the Kingdom’s tech start-up sector is beginning to come of age. The past decade has seen the ecosystem evolve quickly, and the recent launch of a range of new funding programmes should see it gain momentum in the coming years.