3 minute read
Middle East news
Regional update
I am sure I echo the thoughts of many where I hope we return to events in a physical format soon, allowing us to meet up with faces old and new in an environment which will no doubt feel strange to begin Ryan McPherson with as we transition into the ‘new normal’. In the interim we have continued with our series of online webinars with our recent Qatar Market Update and GCC Project and Market Update attracting record numbers for the region, with over 100 attendees for each. We understand the continued need for market intelligence which we have looked to mirror with some business insights from the region in question to give you a comprehensive overview of what is happening at the moment. New members continue to join us from the region where we recently welcomed Al Gihaz and Worldwide Energy Logistics and look forward to welcoming many more throughout the course of the year. Further information on membership can be found by contacting anand.kumar@the-eic.com or dina.abieva@the-eic.com The recent announcement that the UK expects to sign multibillion-pound investment deals with the UAE in clean energy and infrastructure, as it looks to deepen its trade and investment ties, is tremendous news where investments into the technology sector may reach £1bn. I look forward to seeing this initiative develop further which should be of interest to EIC members. The Virtual Energy Exports Conference, taking place from 14-17 June 2021 has now also been launched with the agenda now live where you will see several exciting sessions relating to the Middle East and Africa which I would encourage you to join. This has become the number one event for global trade delegations to meet new and experienced UK exporters. We are also delighted to be running once again the UK pavilion at ADIPEC taking place from 15-18 November 2021. Stand space is currently 80% full, so don’t delay if you would like to join us. We hope that you and your respective families continue to stay safe during this period. Please continue to take advantage of the network, talk and help each other out where possible. We appreciate that this is a challenging time for UK businesses the world over and we want to remind you of the strong network at your disposal and that we are here to help in any way we can.
Ryan McPherson Regional Director, Middle East, Africa, Russia & CIS ryan.mcpherson@the-eic.com
Regional news
Saudi Aramco to sell 1% stake to major energy company
Saudi Aramco is in talks to sell 1% of the world’s biggest exporting oil company, to a leading global energy company. The potential sale to international investors may happen within the next one or two years, said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The stake sale could be worth about US$18.9bn, based on the company’s current market capitalisation of 7.11 trillion riyals (US$1.89tn). Privatisation is a key pillar of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 economic diversification agenda. In 2019, Aramco listed its shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange, Tadawul, in the world’s largest public offering, raising an initial US$25.6bn but later selling more shares, boosting the total to US$29.4bn. A total of 1.5% of the company, or about 3bn shares, were offered to retail and institutional investors at the time.
UAE and UK set to sign clean energy and tech investment deals
The United Kingdom expects to sign multibillionpound investment deals with the UAE in clean energy and infrastructure as it looks to deepen its trade and investment ties with the Arab world’s second-largest economy. The UK is also looking to finalise details of investments into its technology sector that may reach £1bn, according to Simon Penney, the UK Trade Commissioner for the Middle East. The potential deals follow the UK and UAE’s agreement for £1bn worth of joint investments in Britain’s life sciences industry under the Sovereign Investment Partnership signed in March.
