The 966

1:16 - Richard’s one big thing is a recent item by Ali Shihabi for the Hoover Institution, The Saudi Succession And The Sociocultural-Religious Reforms Of Mohammed Bin Salman.

4:43 - Lucien's one big thing is Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has created a new hospitality company called The Boutique Group that will transform palaces into ultra-lux hotels.
The Boutique Group will convert iconic historic and cultural palaces into luxurious boutique hotels in Saudi Arabia, and then manage them.

8:11 - Natural gas production in Saudi Arabia is booming. The hosts discuss the how and the why of the Kingdom's natural gas production boom.
Natural gas production is up 30% since 2010, according to the US Energy Information Agency.
What is significant about Saudi Arabia ramping up gas output is not only the increase itself, but the type of increase it is seeing, and why.
The EIA released a report on Saudi Arabia’s natural gas production, noting that it is standalone natural gas wells growing the industry, instead of associated natural gas production (natural gas produced as a by-product of oil production).

“Oil production cuts related to the December 2016 OPEC+ agreement have reduced Saudi Arabia’s associated natural gas production (natural gas produced as a by-product of oil production). However, the country’s total natural gas output has steadily grown over the past two decades because of the development of non-associated, or stand-alone, natural gas fields,” the EIA said.

Natural gas is also an important factor in the Kingdom's hydrogen goals and in its overall energy mix. 

17:50 - Yallah! The hosts begin their segment covering six other storylines from the week to get you up to speed for the weekend.
•Per the AP, Thailand’s prime minister arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for the first high-level meeting since relations between the nations soured three decades ago over a sensational jewelry heist that led to a diplomatic row and string of mysterious killings.
•The Saudi General Authority for Statistics reported that non-oil exports in November 2021 totaled $6.9 billion, up from $5.5 billion in November 2020. An increase of 26.1%. Non-oil exports also increased 9% from October to November 2021.
•ESL Gaming and FACEIT merge, with the companies bought by Saudi-backed PIF for $1.5bn. 
•Elm Co., a digital security firm owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, is seeking to raise as much $820 million from an IPO.
•Lebanon's leading Sunni Muslim politician Saad al-Hariri said on Monday he would not run in a forthcoming parliamentary election and was suspending his role in political life, urging his political party to do the same....
•The Saudi cabinet just met for the first time in person since the covid era began, and it was chaired by King Salman.

3:15 - Richard's One Big Thing this week is fintech startup Tamara's big Series A investment.

Riyadh-based buy now pay later platform Tamara has raised $110 million in a Series A round led by leading global payment processor Checkout.com. The hosts discuss this in the context of the Kingdom's growing venture capital ecosystem and the importance of startups for the Kingdom's Vision 2030 economic and social reforms. 

6:20 - Lucien's One Big Thing this week is Saudi Arabia's first ever delegation to the Winter Olympics, starting February 4th, 2022 in Beijing.
Cool Runnings 2: Saudi Arabia? The Kingdom's first winter olympian will bear the Saudi flag at the upcoming Winter Olympic games in Beijing, China, starting February 4th. Two Saudis qualified for the games, Salman Al-Howaish and Fayik Abdi, both in skiing.
The hosts and guest discuss this and the forthcoming Mall of Saudi that will boast a massive indoor winter and ski complex under the heat of the Saudi sun. 

8:46 - The Circular Carbon Economy in Saudi Arabia and the global energy transition.
The Circular Carbon Economy concept has gained momentum in recent years as the best way for individual nations to combat climate change.
It is a holistic approach that uses all the tools in the toolbox to reduce emissions. The CCE introduces a fourth "R" in the reduce, reuse, recycle framework --- and that is to "remove." This includes removal of carbon from the air - carbon capture, as well as other methods.
The G20 endorsed the CCE in 2020.
One of KAPSARC's many ongoing research projects is the Circular Carbon Economy (CCE) Index project, which is a tool for governments and other climate change policy stakeholders to evaluate progress in support of domestic planning and decision making in the nexus of energy, emissions, and the economy.
Saudi Arabia and Aramco have now adopted the circular carbon economy framework as a way to reduce their carbon footprints.
The hosts ask guest Adam Sieminski what Saudi Arabia is doing now and is planning to do to in order to achieve a fully circular carbon economy nationally.

34:49 - Renewable energy in Saudi Arabia - getting to 50% renewable energy in Saudi Arabia by 2030 and a look at solar's role in achieving that milestone.
Saudi Arabia plans to generate 50% of its electricity from clean sources by 2030.
After COP 26, and the Kingdom's first utilities-scale solar plant launched in June, Sakaka, the Kingdom has some momentum in this critical space.
The Kingdom has 7 independent power producer schemes in the pipeline for approximately 3 GW of PV projects coming online soon.
But the Kingdom's total electrical capacity right now is 70 GW, so there's a long way to go to get to Saudi Arabia's stated goal.
Is the 50% goal of renewables by 2030 realistically achievable?

1:01:44 - Yallah! 🐪  The 966's finishing segment to get you informed before the weekend.

•According to an OECD report, India, Saudi Arabia, France and Turkey are leading the bounceback from COVID-19 across the G20 forum of the world’s major economies. The report estimates that in the third quarter of 2021, India’s GDP grew 12.7% followed by Saudi Arabia at 5.8%.

•Of the ocean’s seven known species of sea turtles, five can be found in the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf surrounding Saudi Arabia. These five species are the Olive Ridley, Loggerhead and Leatherback which are classified as vulnerable by the World Wildlife Fund and the Green and Hawksbill which are classified as endangered. The Saudi National Center of Wildlife is working to identify and protect their nesting sites and has also s established a safe haven for these turtles near Waqadi Island which is an area protected by the Red Sea Development Company.

•Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud has declared the Kingdom’s intention to harness uranium as an alternative energy source. The announcement came during the recent Future Minerals Forum. He stressed that uranium mining and the development of a nuclear energy program will anchor the Kingdom’s clean energy initiative. The minister confirmed that Saudi Arabia holds a vast quantity of natural uranium, emphasizing that the government “will deal with the uranium reserves with the utmost transparency”

•Later this month Newcastle United players will travel to Saudi Arabia for the first time since the club was purchased by the country's Public Investment Fund. The trip is designed to give the magpies, a chance to enjoy a warm-weather training camp while also giving the club the chance to take part in some media duties in an attempt to raise their profile in Saudi Arabia.

•After a one-year hiatus in 2021 due to the pandemic, 16 international teams will compete in the Saudi Tour cycling event held February 1-5 in Al-Ula. The course will be in 5 stages and will take riders through heritage sites and the challenging desert terrain of AlUla.

•Golf Saudi has produced a five-episode documentary that follows Saud Al Sharif and Faisal Salhab, two young Saudi golfers who will participate in the star-studded Saudi International being played February 3-6. The ‘See it All’ series will follow the two as they practice, train and spend time on the golf course and with their families. It will also include ‘inside the ropes’ self-shot footage from actual Saudi International tournament.

0:45 - Richard's one big thing this week is Saudi Arabia in 2021 continued its exponential growth as a theatrical box office market.
According to reports. Revenue totaling $238 million for the year, a 95% increase compared with 2020 when the total intake had been $122 million, according to figures provided by Comscore. Interesting news for the bourgeoning cinema industry in Saudi Arabia with an ongoing pandemic.

5:10 - Lucien's one big thing this week is (again?) Saudi golf.
A new podcast from Golf Digest focuses on the history behind Greg Norman’s quest to shake up the sport of golf, backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund’s LIV Golf Investments.

In the podcast Local Knowledge: Greg Norman vs. the PGA Tour, host Dan Rapaport provides context to the move by Norman and LIV Golf Investments to provide an alternative to the PGA Tour in which players receive guaranteed money for big, new events around the world. The podcast discusses the history of the World Golf Tour’s failure, and includes comments from Norman himself, talking about why the move is in the best interest of the sport – namely, that a competing league will help grow the game globally and reward players who participate in events that increase interest in the game.

17:13 - Our guest wrote a great piece recently for the AGSIW on Saudi Arabia's Patriot buys and the Political Aspects of Missile Defense.
Des Roches wrote in the article, Saudi security conditions are "continuing to deteriorate...Over 300 attacks have been launched into the kingdom in the last year alone."
And the current problem is that the kingdom is running out of missiles to defend itself against attacks from Iran and the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.
The hosts ask Des Roches to provide an update on the U.S.-Saudi security relationship and discuss the topic in-depth.

48:30 - The hosts and David Des Roches talk about the aspirations for a homegrown defense industry in Saudi Arabia.
The Kingdom has long been a big time buyer of foreign military weapons and equipment, especially from the U.S. But under Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia has said it is seeking to localize 50% of its military expenditure.
In 2021, the Kingdom spent 190 billion riyals on the military ($50 billion) - but has decreased its budgeted spending for this year, 2022, to 171 billion riyals ($46 billion).
That may be of course good news for Saudi Arabia, if and when it is achieved, but potentially concerning for U.S. defense contractors.
The United States is by far the largest exporter of weapons globally. The US was responsible for 37% of the exports of major conventional weapons worldwide between 2016-2020.
The hosts tap into Des Roches deep understanding of the space and talk about the homegrown defense industry in Saudi Arabia, and the challenges and opportunities presented therein.
An upcoming defense industry event held in Saudi Arabia will be the first of its kind there - the World Defense Show begins March 6th in Riyadh.

1:08:30 - Yallah! The hosts discuss six other storylines from this week to get you informed headed into the weekend...
•Foreign ministers from four Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain and the secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) arrived in Beijing on Monday for a five-day visit in a "positive" push to the negotiations over the China-GCC Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and strengthening China's economic ties with the bloc.

•Authorities in Saudi Arabia are preparing to launch the 2022 census, which will be the fifth in the Kingdom’s history.

•The 2021 Spanish Super Cup kicks off this week in Riyadh with four sides competing for the title, they include 2020-21 LaLiga winners Atletico Madrid plus league runners-up Real Madrid. The sides from the Spanish capital will be joined by 2020-21 Copa del Rey winners and runners-up in Barça and current Super Cup champions Athletic Club.

•According to a report this week in Reuters, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have halted efforts at the WTO to resolve a dispute over the alleged piracy of content produced by Doha-owned sports and entertainment channel beIN.

•In 2021 Saudi Arabia seized more than 37 tons of illegal drugs as well as 190 million pieces of the highly addictive Captagon pills.  The haul included hashish, heroin, cocaine, qat and other narcotics. In addition, authorities seized more than 234,000 bottles and 4,155 litres of smuggled alcohol.

•The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs financial tracking services showed that Saudi Arabia ranked sixth among the world’s most generous donors, providing 3% of global humanitarian aid.

***

The 966 is a podcast that focuses on all things Saudi Arabia and beyond. 

Episode 20! The 966 Hosts discuss Gaussin's hydrogen-powered Dakar Rally truck in partnership with Aramco, why Saudi coffee is so delicious and how 2022 is "The Year of Saudi Coffee," the mining and minerals sector in Saudi Arabia, a discussion oil in 2022, and much more in the program's "Yallah" final segment.

1:00 - Richard's one big thing this week is the first hydrogen-powered truck to take part in the legendary Dakar Rally set off Saturday from the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah. 

Produced by the French automotive startup Gaussin SA and sponsored by the state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco, the H2 Racing Truck ran the first 12-mile stage of the race as a demonstration vehicle.

Gaussin also plans to install a temporary hydrogen-powered tent at the end of the race.

9:15 - Lucien's one big thing this week is Saudi coffee.

Saudi Arabia is launching a new publicity drive called "The Year of Saudi Coffee" as part of a drive to create awareness of the unique brew of one of the world's favorite drinks and perhaps create a larger market for the export of Saudi coffee. Lucien talks about how Saudi coffee is one of his favorite things about Saudi Arabia, and how it represents the famous Saudi hospitality and culture. In the past few years, coffee bean farms in Jazan have been given special attention as support for farmers has increased, and special care has been given to the Khawlani bean.

14:16 - The first topic the hosts tackle today is the mining and minerals sector in the Kingdom. 

Saudi Arabia has the largest mineral deposits in the Middle East. And now, the government is looking to build on its resource endowment with a “new, modern and responsible mining industry in a new and emerging mining hub.” And the Kingdom wants to offer the opportunities in this sector to investors. In the west of the country, the Arabian Shield is a major source of precious and basic minerals such as gold, silver, copper, zinc, chromium, manganese, tungsten, lead, tin, Aluminum and iron.

The upcoming Future Minerals Forum, an event focusing on the mining and minerals sector in the Kingdom, starts Monday, January 11-13 at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

25:33 - Topic 2, Oil's Price in 2022: a Bumpy year ahead?

We're looking at a likely volatile year for oil in 2022. Oil is off to a strong start to 2022. Brent crude on Tuesday jumped to $80 a barrel, its highest since November, as OPEC+ agreed to stick with its planned increase for February. 

Oil is what Saudi Arabia wants to diversify away from, but still remains key in the short and medium term the Kingdom. The hosts discuss the oil market at the start of 2022. 

39:05  - Yallah, the big finish for the 966 includes a quick discussion of six other top storylines to keep you informed heading into the weekend.

•The Traffic Police of Saudi Arabia recently updated its list of fines due to the high rate of Traffic Violations. Fines range from Category 8 fines of SR100-150 all the way up to Category 1 with fines of SR20,000 to SR 60,000.

•The Saudi International Festival of Motoring (Autoville) is coming to Dirab Motor Park in Riyadh January 8 to 14. Autoville promises to be a wholly experiential and immersive festival, bringing an action-packed experience with stunt shows, driving experiences such as Tokyo drift ride-along, Suzuki Swift track experience, and sprint tracks, and a dedicated after-sales pavilion.

•Saudi Aramco has awarded contracts worth more than $4.5 billion for five key packages meant for its giant Zuluf offshore oilfield expansion project in the Persian Gulf. Zuluf is currently said to be producing between 550,000 and 600,000 bpd of Arabian Medium crude and Aramco is targeting as much as 600,000 barrels per day in additional volumes from the Arabian Heavy reservoir in its next expansion phase.

•Dolce & Gabbana is bringing its lavish Alta Moda, Alta Sartoria and Alta Gioielleria shows to Saudi Arabia for the first time on January 27.
"Known for staging large-scale, theatrical events that fuse emotion with high fashion, Dolce & Gabbana has previously shown its Alta Moda collections in a temple in Sicily, the storied houses of Milan and even inside New York's Metropolitan Opera House. Its last outing in August was in Venice's famed St Mark's Square, where the thunderstorms added to the theatrical beauty of the clothes."
•Jahez IPO'd this week in Saudi Arabia, listing on Nomu, Saudi Arabia's Parallel exchange. The Saudi food delivery firm became the first Saudi tech startup to list on a public exchange in the Kingdom.

The hosts kick off each each with their “one big interesting thing this week in Saudi Arabia.” Richard highlights a forthcoming conversation The 966 has with energy expert Kate Dourian and discusses dwindling new oil supplies coming on-line in 2021. Lucien notes that, while not a done deal, a PIF takeover of Inter Milan would be a big deal for Saudi Arabia’s global sports ambitions and would be a strong blue chip global football brand to add to the powerful investment fund’s portfolio. Chris Johnson weighs in on both of these topics before the group discusses Nitaqat, a concerning letter from the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, and then discuss Chris’s work in Riyadh with MECACC and as a lawyer navigating the Kingdom’s changing legal landscape.

2:00 – Oil and gas firms are having “their worst year for new fossil fuel discoveries in decades and reserves are dwindling. The oil and gas industry is on track to discover just 4.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) by the end of 2021, its worst performance in 75 years, according to the research firm Rystad Energy,” Quartz reports. Richard discusses the implications of this news and highlight a forthcoming interview the hosts have publishing on Monday with energy expert Kate Dourian.

8:25 – Saudi Arabia’s PIF is reportedly close to acquiring another major European soccer team.
The PIF is reportedly looking to buy a controlling stake in Inter Milan for an estimated $1 billion, and of course if it goes through, would be the second major soccer club in the PIF portfolio, having recently closed its deal to buy Newcastle United. The club’s got some money problems. An IBT report this week said it was losing $15 million bucks a month, and has had to sell off some of its star players recently. Currently owned by the Suning Holdings Group Co., Ltd, a private Chinese company, the club was founded in 1908 and since its debut in 1909, Inter is the only Italian team to have always competed in the top flight of Italian football.

13:00 -Nitaqat, also known as Saudization, is a policy in Saudi Arabia aimed at increasing Saudi citizen participation in the workforce – especially the private sector workforce. The policy dates back to 2011 and over the last decade has grown into a series of policies aimed at reforming the country’s labor market and lowering the Kingdom’s chronically high unemployment rates and also increasing female employment.

Nitaqat uses a rating system which classifies companies into four zones; platinum, green, yellow and red. Nitaqat requires employers in the private sector with over nine employees to hire a certain percentage of Saudi nationals, depending on the company’s industry and the number of employees in the company. Companies with less than 10 employees are exempt from the zoning system, but are still required to hire at least one Saudi national.

December 1st, the latest version of the Nitaqat program comes in effect and contains several new features, and has a goal of creating 340,000 jobs by 2024 as well as simplifying the compliance rules for businesses.

The hosts discuss: how is Nitaqat going?

25:52 – The environment for U.S. business in Saudi Arabia.
Per a Bloomberg report in November, The U.S. embassy in Riyadh criticized Saudi Arabia’s tax authorities and warned that disputes with foreign companies risk discouraging investment in the country. “Numerous multinational enterprises” operating in Saudi Arabia “have experienced tax issues exhibiting a lack of transparency, consistency and due process compared to what they have come to expect from other nations,” the U.S. embassy in Riyadh said in a letter to the Saudi Ministry of Investment.

The hosts unpack this challenge to securing additional foreign investment and discuss the current business climate in Saudi Arabia.

39:37 – The hosts ask Chris Johnson about his work in Riyadh as an attorney. Mr. Johnson also publishes the Saudi Business Continuity updates for Sharif Law, and discuss his work with the AmCham Saudi Arabia (once ABGR) as well as his efforts with the MECACC and the latest Door Knock.

52:10 – ‘Yallah,’ The 966 podcast’s finish which includes a range of quick-hit topics to get you up to speed on more going on in Saudi Arabia before the weekend. The hosts and Chris Johnson react to, and discuss, each one. The topics this week:

•Saudi Arabia has reintroduced mandatory wearing of face masks and maintaining social distancing indoors and outdoors effective from Thursday, in a new move to curb the rapid increase in cases of COVID-19 variants.

•A new Law of Evidence was just approved by the Council of Ministers.  This is the first of the four key judicial reform legislations that includes a new Civil Status Law, Civil Transactions Law, and Penal Code for Discretionary Sentences.

•The real estate sector provided 40,000 job opportunities in 2021, increasing the private sector’s participation to more than $103 billion, said Majid Al-Hogail, minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing.

•Diriyah in Saudi Arabia has announced the first 14 of its 38 hotels which will be opened in coming years at the development north-west of Riyadh.

•American cinema giant AMC which partners with Saudi Entertainment Ventures was an early mover after cinemas were re-opened in 2018.  AMC had hoped to open 20 cinemas by the end of 2020 but currently only runs 10 with 65 screens.

•Saudi police have arrested three people who destroyed a traffic monitoring device at Umwah governorate in the southwestern region of Asir. Dozens of motorists had been criminally charged in the past for destroying Saher cameras when the monitoring scheme was first introduced in Saudi Arabia in the past few years.

•Saudi Arabia has delayed the launch of a major development strategy for the city of Riyadh up to 2030 until next year due to some “incomplete elements”, the state news agency SPA reported on Tuesday.

Today - with the holiday season fast approaching and Christmas on Saturday, The 966 features a special episode for today's weekly podcast.

3:35 - Lucid is building a factory in Saudi Arabia:
Lucid has recently announced that the USA-based electric car manufacturer will be producing vehicles in Saudi Arabia by 2024. Lucid will be competing against its rival Tesla and hopes to outperform the Tesla Model S in the Saudi market.

8:14 - Saudi Arabia plans airport takeovers privatizations for at least some of them.
Earlier this week, Reuters and Asharq Alawsat said the kingdom’s 22 airports will be set up as airport holding companies, which will oversee construction, operation and management. They will then be transferred to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) to ‘put on the market at a later time.’

10:55 - The top 7 companies in Saudi Arabia to work for
Novo Nordisk Saudi, Manga Productions, Foodics, Tamkeen Technologies, Roshn, International Maritime Industries and Saudi Arabian Packaging Industry are recognized as the top 7 best places to work in Saudi Arabia for 2021, according to the annual “Best Places to Work” certification program.

13:50 - EDM festival Soundstorm wrapped in Riyadh, with 700,000 attending the 4-day outdoor rave. DJ David Guetta played a unique set, and gave an interesting interview with the AP on Saudi reforms.
Guetta said “I was happy to be part of this. Of course there’s more things to be done to improve the country but I think they are opening and really going to the right direction…Four years ago women couldn’t drive, and now they can come to a David Guetta concert and dance, you know it’s a huge evolution.”

19:58 - Dakar Saudi Arabia 2021
Two Saudi women, Mashael Al-Obaidan and Dania Akeel, will be the first female drivers from Saudi Arabia to compete in the Dakar Rally next month, Reuters reports. The announcement marks a significant about-face for Saudi Arabia, which only recently allowed women to legally drive in the Kingdom.

23:23 - The Saudi-backed golf tour and the PGA will avoid a confrontation over player loyalties --- for now.
The PGA granted waivers for Golf's biggest stars to play in the upcoming Saudi International in KAEC.
PGA kicked the can down the road - avoiding preventing players from playing in the Saudi tournament, which takes place Feb. 3-6, 2022.

29:36 - Omicron comes to Saudi Arabia.
The first confirmed case of the Omicron variant was December 1st. This past week confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia more than doubled in the past two days, from 104 on Sunday to 222 on Tuesday. The Health Ministry urged all residents to avoid traveling outside the country and new arrivals to avoid social contact for five days.

33:50 - According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi militant group against Saudi Arabia have more than doubled this year from their pace last year.
The WSJ cited a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which found the Houthi group launched 78 attacks a month this year (or 702 in total)
That compares with 38 a month last year.

40:48 - Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched the Jeddah Central project, another huge outlay of investment to make Saudi Arabia's second largest city a more attractive tourism and entertainment destination.
The plan was launched with a price tag and main features by the Crown Prince.
The Jeddah Central Development Company is a PIF Subsidiary. Includes a marina, opera house, stadium, revitalized beaches...

43:35 - Saudi Startups record the best ever funding quarter in Q3 2021.

According to data platform Magnitt, Start-ups in Saudi Arabia recorded their best ever quarter for fund-raising in the three months ending September 30, attracting $205 million in 34 deals. Total venture capital investment reached $376m year-to-date in 2021 — more than double the funding invested during the full year of 2020.

**

The 966 wishes happy holidays to all our listeners. 

The 966 features an exclusive, two-part interview with Fahad Nazer, spokesperson for the Saudi embassy in Washington. In Part 2 of the interview, the hosts ask Mr. Nazer about a wide range of issues, including about Saudi Arabia's students in the United States, Iran, Saudi Arabia's relationship with Israel. The hosts also ask Fahad a little bit about growing up in the United States, including how he became a fan of the NFL's New York Jets.

Nazer, who has been a contributor to SUSTG.com as well as Arab News and other publications in the region and United States, has served in the role since January 2019. Previously, Nazer served as a political consultant to the Embassy. He has held positions with JTG, Inc., Array Information Technology, Inc., and the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

1:00 - The Saudi Ministry of Culture hosted the Riyadh Philosophy Conference with a virtual talk from professor Michael Sandel.
A major international conference on philosophy has been held in Saudi Arabia aimed at encouraging critical thinking, according to the BBC and other local sources.
In a virtual appearance, Harvard professor Michael Sandel - who's been described as having the global profile of a rock star - "told the organizers that he didn't want to give a lecture, but instead sought to engage directly with young Saudis, including women," the BBC reports.
The hosts discuss the importance of the rare event in Saudi Arabia.

6:14 - Expo 2030 in Saudi Arabia?
Saudi Arabia has officially submitted a bid to host Expo 2030 in Riyadh, with the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) CEO Fahd Al-Rasheed submitting the Kingdom’s bid while addressing a virtual gathering of 170 member countries assembled to kickstart the five-stage bidding process that will conclude with voting in November 2023.

According to the local english daily Saudi Gazette, the Kingdom’s dossier submission came in its participation in the virtual meeting of the Bureau of International Exhibitions (BIE) General Assembly, which was held Tuesday in Paris.

Saudi Arabia has four rivals to fend off in hopes of securing the bid: South Korea, Italy, the Ukraine, and Russia are in the running for the six-month long event organized by the BIE.
“The 2030 World Expo in Riyadh will coincide with the culmination of Vision 2030, and it will be an extraordinary opportunity to showcase the achievements of the Vision and share valuable lessons from this unprecedented transformation,” Al-Rasheed said in announcing the plan.

10:44 - Saudi Arabia's art and culture industry is blossoming.
Saudi Arabia’s inaugural Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, which is underway and runs until March, is getting praise from critics and visitors alike. The ongoing event overlapped briefly with another cultural milestone in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom's first ever major film festival in Jeddah. Writing in Artnet.com, Nadine Khalil called displays and performances in Riyadh as part of the Biennale "paradigm-shifting moments"
On one performance, Khalil said, "People seemed compelled not just by the visceral choreography of women performing live, but by the act of witnessing this historic moment in the artistic life of a country."
The Art Newspaper, another strong source in the industry, said the inaugural Diriyah Biennale and the opening of Hayy Jameel "are the latest in a series of initiatives helping the kingdom emerge from artistic isolation."
The Art Newspaper goes on to say, "while the dusty Riyadh air was thick with pronouncements of “game-changing” and even “world-changing,” the hyperbole was not far off. For the relatively isolated Saudi art scene, 2021/22 will be a moment of decisive shift."

29:23 - Saudi Arabia's 2022 budget - it's final. And the Saudi economy has a head of steam going into 2022.
Saudi Arabia released its budget for the 2022 fiscal year following the endorsement by the Council of Ministers on December 12th, with a few changes from the preliminary budget released earlier in September this year.
As expected, Saudi Arabia is expected to register its first fiscal surplus since 2013.
Despite the Kingdom's strong position, the budget notes that it will not spend more. Total expenditure for 2022 is set to be $254.56 billion, that's 6 percent lower than actual expenditure this year in 2021.
The budget announcement earlier this week comes on the back of mounting evidence of a Saudi economy that could have a big near next year.
Saudi Arabia's economy expanded 7% in Q3, the highest rate since 2012.
Riyadh said on Sunday it expected the economy to grow 2.9% this year and 7.4% next year.

40:53 - 'Yallah: Saudi in a Minute'
A new weekly segment for The 966 is launched. Yallah: Saudi in a Minute includes a quick rundown of other top storylines in Saudi Arabia to get you caught up before the weekend. 

1:04 - The UAE weekend is changing.
The United Arab Emirates is changing its workweek to have half days on Fridays and a Saturday-Sunday weekend.

8:46 - The hosts discuss their first time visiting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - and how perceptions differed from reality on the ground.
The 966 recently interviewed the Saudi Embassy in Washington's top spokesperson Fahad Nazer. One of his answers to a question from the hosts prompted a new discussion on the importance of visiting Saudi Arabia and seeing the ongoing changes for yourself.

15:50 - Saudi Arabia's Ever More Ambitious Investment Strategy
Attracting investment is pivotal to the Kingdom's economic transformation plans. Late last month, our guest host today, Robert Mogielnicki, wrote about the Kingdom's investment drive in an excellent piece for the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington's blog.
"There is still time for Saudi Arabia to accomplish many of Vision 2030’s foreign investment objectives, but the window of opportunity is closing quickly...Saudi Arabia’s recent FDI figures are not overly promising, but the low investment levels offer plenty of room for growth..."
The hosts discuss the article and the investment climate in Saudi Arabia, as well as the challenges in reaching stated goals.

36:08 - Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's GCC Tour and Regional Diplomacy
The tour began in Oman. MBS was awarded a top honor by the Sultan. MBS then arrived in Dubai on Tuesday and visited Expo 2020.
Wednesday, the Crown Prince visited Qatar - his first trip there since the diplomatic standoff between the two nations which lasted several years.

47:28 - The PIF is selling shares in STC. It's the latest in a privatization push by the Saudi government.
In the latest privatization push from the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the PIF plans to raise as much as $3.1 billion through the sale of shares in Saudi Telecom Co. (STC).
The PIF is offering a 5% stake in STC. That's 100 million shares.
The STC is the Middle East’s most profitable mobile-phone operator, and the Kingdom's largest telecom company.
The price will be offered at between 100 riyals ($26.70) to 116 riyals starting Dec. 10.
This could be the biggest secondary offering of the year in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. A secondary offering is A secondary offering is the sale of new or closely held shares of a company that has already made an initial public offering (IPO).
The Saudi Arabia telecom market is expected to register a CAGR of over 10% through 2026, according to a forecast by mordorintelligence.com.

***