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The Edmond de Rothschild Group is establishing a funding vehicle for infrastructure projects in Saudi Arabia along with the local firm SNB Capital, as part of a deal in which the Swiss investment bank will set up offices in the country.
Saudi Arabia’s massive economic diversification programme has run into financial obstacles as it faces three years of budget deficits with oil below breakeven price and lower than expected foreign direct investment. “Edmond de Rothschild is seeking to establish a new infrastructure debt fund platform designed to play a crucial role in financing infrastructure projects across Saudi Arabia, in line with the country’s Vision 2030 programme,” the bank said in a statement, describing it as a joint venture with SNB Capital. Separately, Rothschild said it was setting up a joint venture with Watar Partners to offer services to Saudi family offices and institutional investors. A local office will open in the second half of 2024, for which Saudi nationals will be hired. The statement said the plans were awaiting regulatory approval and licensing. Foreign companies now need to establish regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia for access to any government contracts worth at least SAR1 million ($270,000). But foreign and local banks are also being pressed to step up to provide funding for the Public Investment Fund-owned giga-projects at the heart of the Saudi reforms. The Anglo-French Rothschild & Co said in February it had opened an office in the King Abdullah Financial District to offer advisory services including mergers and acquisitions, debt advisory and restructuring and private equity. Major banks in the government’s good graces stand to win contracts servicing bond issuances, as government entities and private banks raise debt. Saudi Arabia’s public debt is still relatively low, at 26.5 percent of GDP in 2023. Saudi Arabia’s Capital Markets Authority is considering scrapping a 5 percent withholding tax on interest payments to corporate bondholders to encourage more foreign investment. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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As the death toll rises, debate is raging over whether bad organization, weather or gate-crashing pilgrims are to blame for more than 1,000 reported deaths in Saudi Arabia during the annual Hajj religious gathering. Arabic-language social media has been flooded this week with shocking images from Saudi Arabia. The pictures and videos show people who were undertaking their once-in-a-lifetime Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca collapsed on the side of the road or slumped in wheelchairs, apparently close to death or dead. They are dressed in traditional pilgrim's white, their faces covered with cloths. In several pictures, corpses appear to have been left where they presumably collapsed. What started as a rumour on social media was confirmed as the weeklong Hajj pilgrimage ended: Hundreds of pilgrims have died in Saudi Arabia, evidently due to extremely high temperatures and lack of shelter or water. Temperatures in Mecca, Islam's holiest city, rose to 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit) during the course of the annual event, which started late last week. Around 1.8 million Muslims from all over the world had been expected in Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj. One of the world's largest religious gatherings, the Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. Every Muslim who is able to is supposed to perform it at least once in their lifetime. My point of view is that when people realized how hot it was and how intense the sun was, they should have avoided going up to the top, a pilgrimage manager explained, adding that many pilgrims don't realize you can simply stand on a lower slope to perform the ritual. Pilgrims need to be better educated and more aware," he continued. "The state absolutely has obligations and bears responsibility. But the behaviour of some [of the pilgrims] indicated a lack of awareness. And by that, I mean awareness regarding how to perform Hajj rituals. For example, the [Saudi] state is not able to place sunshades on the top of Mount Arafat." While the recriminations and the desperate pleas for help continue, one thing is certain: The Hajj is only going to get hotter.
But climate change? No, the Hajj is never on the same date in the year. I.e. the Hajj in 2000 was from Mar 13, 2000 – Sat, Mar 18, and the Hajj in 2005 was from Tue, Jan 18, 2005 – Sun, Jan 23. It differs and so does the weather, say temperature, in particular months. So it's to blame on the weather and no climate change. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Pilgrims gather for Hajj6/14/2024 More than 1.5 million people from across the globe gathered amid intense heat in and around the Saudi city of Mecca on Friday for the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
The event takes place against the backdrop of war in Gaza, which has sparked fears of a wider regional war in the Middle East. What's notable about this year's Hajj? People living in the coastal Gaza Strip were unable to visit Mecca for the Hajj this year because of the closure of the Rafah crossing to Egypt in May. That happened in May when Israel extended its ground offensive to Gaza's southernmost city. Palestinian authorities said some 4,200 pilgrims from the occupied West Bank had arrived in Mecca for the event. Meanwhile, Saudi authorities said 1,000 more family members of Palestinians killed or wounded in the war in Gaza also arrived to take part in the Hajj at the invitation of Saudi Arabia's King Salman. Those guests were understood to have been outside Gaza when the crossing was closed. The gathering this year falls during the hot Saudi summer. Officials have forecast average highs of 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit). Last year, large numbers of heat-related illnesses were reported. This year's Hajj also saw Syrian pilgrims arrive in Mecca with direct flights from Damascus for the first time in over a decade. What is the Hajj? One of the five pillars of Islam, the Hajj is a pilgrimage to Mecca every Muslim is required to do at least once in their lifetime if they are financially and physically able. Here are the key things you need to know. The Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, the most holy city for Muslims. All Muslims are expected to perform this religious duty at least once in their lifetime, if they are physically and financially able. It's one of the five pillars of Islam, or core ritual practices, and considered to be the largest gathering of people in the world, with millions attending every year. As many as 3 million pilgrims perform a series of rituals over the course of five or six days. First, they stop to pray at the Grand Mosque, home to a cubic building draped in black silk called the Kaaba, Islam's most important shrine. Stoning the devil Pilgrims travel to the village of Mina to again pray and read from the Quran. Next they spend a day at Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Muhammad gave his final sermon, to ask for forgiveness. On their return journey to Mecca, the pilgrims stop on a plain called Muzdalifah to collect stones, which they will throw at three pillars in Mina to symbolically stone the devil. Finally, upon returning to Mecca, the pilgrims will circle the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque seven times, bringing their Hajj to a close. They then shave their heads and perform an animal sacrifice before celebrating the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, or the Festival of Sacrifice. Tragedy during Hajj Since 1987, more than 5,800 people have died in building collapses, stampedes, trampling and fires. In 2015, a stampede resulted in around 2,400 deaths, making it the worst catastrophe in the history of the Hajj. The pilgrimage is also a hotbed of infectious disease, as pilgrims from every corner of the planet often trek around in the heat barefoot and share tight sleeping quarters. Bringing the new to the old While the Hajj is the oldest and most sacred ritual of Islam, it has also been brought into the 21st century. The Saudi government is using the latest in crowd-control techniques to prevent trampling and architectural collapses. On YouTube, they telecast live Hajj feeds and now, Google, iTunes and other sites have come out with apps to help pilgrims better understand and perform the Hajj rituals. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Saudi Arabia decides not to renew the informal 50-year petrodollar agreement with the USA this week.
The 50 year petrodollar agreement, established on 8th of June 1974, following the 1973 oil crisis, was an informal arrangement between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Its expiration on the 9th of June 2024 signals a major shift in global financial dynamics and power relations. Back in March, The Wall Street Journal reported that Saudi Arabia is considering to trade some futures with Beijing in the Chinese yuan with almost all oil exports handled in the dollar since 1974. This was viewed as a boost for the struggling Chinese currency and also a message from Riyadh to Washington that it was unhappy with a lack of security support from the US. The announcement has sparked a flurry of reports that Saudi Arabia was poised to adopt the yuan for its oil exports, which would be a remarkable economic and political win for Beijing. BRICS News reported that a 1974 agreement between Washington and Riyadh had now expired with Saudi Arabia preparing to sell its oil in multiple currencies. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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