Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a one-day official visit to Saudi Arabia and reached the country in the early hours of Tuesday. After landing in Riyadh PM Modi said that the visit marks the start of an important visit aimed at strengthening ties with a valued friend. He added that he will be taking part in a wide range of programmes during this visit. "Landed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, marking the start of an important visit aimed at strengthening ties with a valued friend. Will be taking part in a wide range of programmes during this visit," PM Modi tweeted. Landed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, marking the start of an important visit aimed at strengthening ties with a valued friend. Will be taking part in a wide range of programmes during this visit. pic.twitter.com/3MskcllePr — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 28, 2019 Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted, "PM @narendramodi extended a ceremonial welcome on arrival & … [Read more...] about PM Narendra Modi in Saudi Arabia, to address key financial conference in Riyadh
Ramadan in saudi arabia 2019
US Halts Military Training for Saudi Arabia Personnel after Florida Base Shooting
Washington: The Pentagon announced on Tuesday it was halting operational training of all Saudi Arabian military personnel in the United States until further notice after a Saudi Air Force lieutenant shot and killed three people last week at a base in Florida. The decision will have far-reaching impacts on visiting Saudi personnel, including grounding more than 300 Saudi Arabian military aviation students as part of a "safety stand-down," first reported by Reuters earlier on Tuesday. The Pentagon later confirmed the Reuters report about aviation students and added the move would also affect infantry personnel and all other Saudi training, other than classroom training. Such coursework, which includes English-language classes, will continue. A senior US defence official, briefing Pentagon reporters on the decision, said the move was intended to allow for a broader review of security procedures that would eventually apply to all of some 5,000 international military students in the United … [Read more...] about US Halts Military Training for Saudi Arabia Personnel after Florida Base Shooting
Saudi Aramco shares surge 10% on debut
Saudi Aramco shares surged the maximum permitted 10% above their IPO price on their Riyadh stock market debut on Wednesday, closing in on the $2 trillion valuation long sought by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.The shares leapt to 35.2 riyal ($9.39) each, up from the initial public offering (IPO) price of 32 riyals and at the daily limit of price moves allowed by the Tadawul exchange.That gives the state-owned oil giant a market value of about $1.88 trillion, comfortably making it the world’s most valuable listed company, although it will have one of the smallest ‘free floats’ of publicly tradeable shares, at just 1.5%.The market value is more than six times that of U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil Corp; more than twice the size of Saudi Arabia's annual gross domestic product; and far ahead of U.S. tech giant Apple's market value of about $1.2 trillion.Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco) raised a record $25.6 billion in its IPO last week, the culmination of a years-long … [Read more...] about Saudi Aramco shares surge 10% on debut
Saudi Aramco has to jump several hurdles for overseas listing: Vandana Hari
If they do continue to aim for an international listing, they will need to become more transparent, says Vandana Hari, Founder, Vanda Insights. Excerpts from an interview with ETNOW. Now that Saudi Aramco has gone public, do you think we will get better disclosures about the real state of reserves of the oil world?Definitely the investors will be looking for that and to a large extent, we have seen a very gradual opening up, more transparency, more opening of the books in general by Aramco. I think that needs to continue. If they do continue to aim for an international listing, they will need to become more transparent. But some of the concerns around that company centre around the future of oil. Here is a company which is completely reliant on oil business. In that context, is it a good long-term purchase? So that is a big overarching concern. To a smaller extent, there are other concerns as well which is government control of the company and also Saudi Arabia’s participation … [Read more...] about Saudi Aramco has to jump several hurdles for overseas listing: Vandana Hari
View: Saudi Aramco’s true value is still a mystery
By Chris HughesSaudi Aramco’s initial public offering has endured many disappointments but it has at least turned the world’s biggest company into a listed entity subject to external scrutiny. How it handles its new responsibilities will be critical to Riyadh’s ambition to sell more of the shares to international investors. The to-do list is long. A more open Aramco can only be a good thing, but much will depend on whether it embraces transparency (despite the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia owning almost all of the stock). The IPO process invited a global discussion about Aramco’s true value. The Saudis shut down that conversation by scrapping most of the international offering when they didn’t like what they were hearing. That doesn’t bode well. Just 1.5% of the company was sold ahead of Wednesday’s market debut. A deal to sell another block to a sovereign wealth fund might happen at any time. But a lock-up precludes a share sale on the markets for … [Read more...] about View: Saudi Aramco’s true value is still a mystery