3:31 - Richard's one big thing is a new agreement between IBM and Saudi Arabia’s IT authority that will upskill 100,000 young Saudis in the digital sector. The MoU to implement eight initiatives seeks to “bolster the Kingdom’s position as a hub of technology and innovation in the Middle East and North Africa region,” according to SPA.

9:32 - Lucien's one big thing is a look at the latest data coming out on the Saudi economy in 2022, which is one of the fastest-growing globally. Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Statistics (GAStat) said that Saudi Arabia’s economy expanded 11.8% in the second quarter of this year, year-on-year, maintaining the fastest pace of growth since 2011. High oil prices and output have powered that growth. But beyond oil, Saudi Arabia is seeing positive signs in the non-oil economy as well, which is key for the Kingdom Vision 2030 economic and social reforms. Non-oil GDP gained 5.4% while the oil economy grew 23.1% compared to last year, according to preliminary estimates.

Separately, Standard and Poors (S&P) released its headline seasonally adjusted S&P Global Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the whole economy this week. Though the trend for July was down from June, falling to 56.3 in July from 57.0 in June, it remained well above the neutral 50.0 mark that separates growth from contraction.

17:31 - The 966 speaks with Faisal Durrani, Partner and Head of Middle East Research at Knight Frank, the London-based global real estate consultancy. Knight Frank just released two reports on Saudi Arabia’s commercial and residential real estate sectors, providing unique insights into one of the world's fastest growing real estate markets. Faisal joins The 966 from Dubai to discuss the reports and much more. 

1:04 - Yallah! 6 top storylines to get you up to date heading into the weekend. 

US to extend visa validity for Saudis to 10 years starting Aug. 1

Last month, the US announced it would be extending visit visas for Saudi nationals from five to 10 years. The announcement came a day after US President Joe Biden arrived in Saudi Arabia for a two-day official visit as part of his first Middle East tour as president, during which he met King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other senior Saudi officials.

 

Saudi women now comprise 33.6 percent of the Saudi workforce as of March 2022, according to the General Authority for Statistics. That figure is up from 17.4 percent just five years ago. The unemployment rate of women was the lowest in 20 years as of the first quarter of 2022, falling to 20.2 percent from 22.5 percent during the fourth quarter of 2021.

 

The Biden administration on Tuesday approved and notified Congress of possible multibillion-dollar weapons sales to both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The notice of the approval comes just weeks after President Joe Biden met with the leaders of each nation in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as he sought to improve relations between the US and the Saudis.

 

Tiger Woods turned down an offer that Greg Norman says was "somewhere in that neighborhood" of $700 million to $800 million to take part in the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series.

During an appearance on Fox News with Tucker Carlson that aired Monday night, Norman confirmed what he told the Washington Post in a story two months ago. Norman told the Post in June the offer was "mind-blowingly enormous; we're talking about high nine digits."

 

Saudi Arabia has joined Australia, Jordan and Uzbekistan as nations who have expressed interest in hosting the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said on Monday as reported in Reuters.

NEOM’s Oxagon announces annual Kingdom-wide Hackathon 

NEOM’s Oxagon, home to advanced and clean industries with industrial innovation at its core, today launched the first edition of its Hackathon, in partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Education, powered by Blossom Accelerator.

The three-day sprint is set to take place from October 6 to 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and is designed to foster a collaborative and inclusive innovation eco-system across the Kingdom’s burgeoning startup community, a statement said.