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RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s National Debt Management Center has received more than $27 billion in bids for its dollar-denominated sukuk and bonds issuance, as it announced the completion of receiving investor requests for this year’s first international issuance.
The issuances were made under the Kingdom’s Global Trust Certificate Issuance Program and Global Medium Term Note Issuance Program, NDMC said in a statement.
This was oversubscribed by five times of the total issuance of $5 billion, which was divided into two tranches — $2.5 billion for a six-year sukuk maturing in 2028, and $2.5 billion for a 10-year bond maturing in 2032.
Also, NDMC, on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, announced its arrangement of the first partial repurchase offer for the Kingdom’s dollar-denominated bonds maturing in 2023, 2025 and 2026. 
The tender offers are being made as part of the Kingdom’s debt management exercise, which includes the pro-active management of its refinancing risk and debt maturities of the debt portfolio, the statement added. 
The repurchase amounts will be announced upon completion of the offers’ window on Oct. 24, it added.
Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Nishimura Yasutoshi held a video meeting with the Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman on Sunday, where they agreed to strengthen their ties in the energy sector.
During the meeting, both ministers stressed the importance of supporting the stability of global oil markets by encouraging dialogue between producing and consuming countries, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of of Energy tweeted.
 
عقد سمو ⁧#وزير_الطاقة⁩، اجتماعًا عبر الاتصال المرئي مع معالي وزير الاقتصاد والتجارة والصناعة الياباني نيشيمورا ياسوتوشي،ناقشا خلاله تعزيز العلاقات الثنائية في مجالات الطاقة؛ وأكدا أهمية دعم استقرار أسواق البترول العالمية، عبر تشجيع الحوار بين الدول المنتجة والمستهلكة. pic.twitter.com/yRzEyoxUZj
 
Nishimura expressed Japan’s keenness to strengthen the cooperative relationships between the two countries in the field of energy, according to a tweet by the Japanese ambassador to Saudi Arabia Iwai Fumio.
 
لقد عقد معالي وزير الاقتصاد والتجارة والصناعة الياباني أ. ياسوتوشي نيشيمورا مع نظيره السعودي صاحب السمو الملكي الأمير عبدالعزيز بن سلمان بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود لقاءً مرئيًا تضمن فيه حرصهما على تعزيز العلاقة بين بلديهما الصديقين في مجالات الطاقة pic.twitter.com/vThWZniuWM
 
This reaffirms the importance of the country’s relationship with Saudi Arabia in terms of maintaining energy security, and its reliance on energy supplies from Arab sources, particularly in the absence of imports from Iran and Russia due to sanctions enforced by the US
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority, also known as Monsha’at, has announced Sami bin Ibrahim Al-Husseini as its new governor, according to the Saudi Press Agency. 
With an advanced diploma in leadership from the Swiss-based Institute for Management Development, a bachelor’s degree in public relations from King Saud University, and multiple specialized and leadership certificates, Al-Husseini has worked in several leadership positions in both the private and public sectors.
Prior to this new role, between 2019 and 2022, Al-Husseini held the position of deputy governor for Planning and Developments in Monsha’at. 
Between 2018 and 2019, Al-Hussein was CEO of Riyadh Airports Co., having served as executive vice president of the firm’s commercial sector between 2017 and 2018.
He took up his role at Monsha’at in August, although it has only just been publicly confirmed.
Monsha’at is keen on upgrading and further elevating the Kingdom’s SMEs, with the sector set to play a significant role in achieving Saudi Arabia’s objectives of lowering the unemployment rate from 11.6 percent to 7 percent, increasing women’s participation in the workforce from 22 percent to 30 percent, and expanding SME contribution to 35 percent of gross domestic product by 2030.
Monsha’at’s objectives also fall in line with the Saudi vision to create suitable job opportunities for its citizens by supporting SME entrepreneurship, privatization, and investments in new industries.
 
RIYADH: Sharjah Airport witnessed a passenger growth rate of 141 percent at the end of the third quarter as the aviation sector shows strong signs of rebounding after the negative impacts caused by the pandemic. 
The number of passengers stood at 9.5 million, compared to 3.9 million in the same period last year, according to a press release.
Aircraft movement at the airport also rose 81.65 percent, with 64,780 flights by the end of September, as compared to 35,662 flights at the end of the third quarter of 2021. 
The press release further noted that the total cargo handled by Sharjah Airport since the beginning of the year amounted to 135,038 tons, marking a growth rate of 38.71 percent. 
“With this, the airport not only has achieved a remarkable position in terms of statistics and numbers, but also provided high-quality services and achieved customer satisfaction through its smart travel services, digital services, and smart solutions,” said Ali Salim Al-Midfa, chairman of Sharjah Airport Authority. 
DMCC signs MoU with Logis
Dubai Multi Commodities Center has signed a memorandum of understanding with Logis, an agri-logistic free trade zone that is being constructed in Panama. 
According to a statement from the Dubai government, Logis is expected to become the largest free trade zone of its kind in Central and Latin America. 
The MOU was signed by Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman and CEO of DMCC, and Sandro Salsano, president of Salsano Group and majority shareholder of Logis. 
“Panama stands as the gateway between Central and South America and Logis is perfectly positioned to host the largest free zone of its kind in the region, especially where agriculture commodities trade is concerned,” said Bin Sulayem. 
RIYADH: US-based electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid Group Inc., in which Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund holds a 60 percent stake, has promoted Faisal Sultan to vice president and managing director in the Middle East.
According to a press release, Sultan will directly report to Lucid’s CEO and Chief Technology Officer Peter Rawlinson. 
Sultan’s appointment comes as Lucid plans the construction of a plant in the Kingdom that will produce 150,000 electric vehicles per year.
“Our mission is to inspire the adoption of sustainable energy by creating the most captivating electric vehicles in the world, and the Middle East is a strategic region in fulfilling that mission, for both manufacturing and retail,” said Rawlinson. 
He added: “This requires deep knowledge of the area along with business acumen, and we are very fortunate to have Faisal leading our team here in the Middle East.” 
Sultan has 23 years of combined automotive experience with Lucid, Industrial Clusters, FCA, Magna, Ford, and GM, where he held leadership positions spanning industrial development, manufacturing, operations, engineering, and program management. 
In August, Sultan, who was then the managing director of global operations at Lucid, said the PIF was supportive of Lucid when it faced a supply crunch. 
During an interview with Bloomberg, Sultan noted that supply chain issues will be righted soon, and things will get back to normal by the end of this year. 
He also lauded the Saudi Arabian government for changing the atmosphere of the Kingdom, making it suitable for the roll-out of EVs. 
“The government is very serious and they’ve been working very hard with us to make sure the environment is ready,” Sultan said. 
The government plans to ensure 30 percent of all vehicles in the capital city Riyadh run on electricity by 2030.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabian Mining Co., known as Ma’aden’, saw its shares price hitting its highest level since the company went public on the back of its plans to expand production capacity.
Ma’aden’s share price, which opened at SR39.25 ($10.5) in 2022, climbed to SR80 on Oct. 24, surging 104 percent.
In March, the state-owned firm announced plans to increase production capacity and invest in exploration to tap into the Kingdom’s $1.3 trillion mineral reserves — something economist Ali Alhazmi believes made Ma’aden shares lucrative, further leading to high performance.
Speaking to Arab News, Alhazmi explained that one of the reasons could be attributed to Ma’aden turning into a profitable company last year, reaching SR5.2 billion, compared to SR280 million in losses in 2020.
“By the end of 2022, Ma’aden will achieve SR9 billion in profit, a growth of 50 percent from 2021,” Alhazmi predicted.
The other reason could relate to its plan to double its capital by distributing one bonus share for each share to shareholders, which has attracted investors to buy Ma’aden shares.
“The beginning of the third line of its ammonia production also helped the company’s fortune, especially when there was a considerable shortage of raw materials for fertilizer,”  CEO of Rassanah Capital Abdullah AlRebdi told Arab News.
The ammonia plant expansion is set to increase capacity by over 1 million tons, with total production reaching 3.3 million tons. This will make Ma’aden one of the largest ammonia producers east of the Suez Canal.
The company’s net profit increased over threefold to SR6.2 billion in the first half of 2022, from SR1.9 billion a year earlier.
Analysts expect Ma’aden to maintain its solid performance throughout 2022, owing to its expansion plans and gold mining projects in Mansoura and Masarrah.
As one of the fastest-growing mining companies worldwide, Ma’aden has a market capitalization of over SR100 billion and is one of the Kingdom’s 10 most prominent players.

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