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.
These have been profitable times for the Saudi insurance sector, although bumpy ground in the economy overall has made the growth of premiums more challenging. The sector is undergoing a significant overhaul as a stronger regulatory framework is progressively implemented and enforced, and moves to consolidate the market are in progress....
Within the global Islamic financial services (IFS) industry, Saudi Arabia occupies a prominent position. The professional services firm EY identifies the country as one of the nine core markets that is driving the growth of Islamic banking, along with Bahrain, Qatar, Indonesia, Malaysia, the UAE, Turkey, Kuwait and Pakistan. Together, these...
Increasing Saudi Arabia’s attractiveness as an investment destination is a broad effort, involving a number of government entities and alterations to the regulatory frameworks. Almost all of the ministry-level strategies found in the National Transformation Programme (NTP) 2020 have a bearing on the issue of investment, and their success will...
Subdued oil prices deflated investor sentiment across the GCC throughout most of 2017. However, mid-2017 brought some encouraging developments: news of a possible MSCI reclassification resulted in a spike in the main index of the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) in the summer of 2017. In 2016 the government launched the National Transformation...
Stay updated on how some of the world’s most promising markets are being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and what actions governments and private businesses are taking to mitigate challenges and ensure their long-term growth story continues.
Register now and also receive a complimentary 2-month licence to the OBG Research Terminal.
Register Here×