Business

27 July 2023; MEMO: Four leading Pakistani oil companies will join hands with Saudi Arabia's state-owned Aramco for a $10 billion Greenfield refinery project at Pakistan's strategic Gwadar Port, Anadolu Agency reports.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Pakistani and the Saudi companies in the capital, Islamabad, on Thursday, said a statement from the Ministry of Petroleum.

29 July 2023; MEMO: Israel's Kan channel reported on Friday night that Bahrain had postponed the visit of the Israeli Foreign Minister to the country.

According to the Israeli channel, commentators believe Bahrain postponed Foreign Minister Eli Cohen's visit, scheduled for next week, because Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday.

30 July 2023; MEMO: Manchester City coach, Pep Guardiola has said Saudi Arabia has "changed the football transfer market" following Riyad Mahrez's move on Friday to join Jeddah-based football club Al-Ahli in a deal worth almost $40 million, becoming one of the latest high-profile Premier League player to play in the Saudi Pro League.

31 July 2023; MEMO: Turkiye's tourism revenues rose by 27 per cent to $21.7 billion during the January-June period this year, official figures from TurkStat showed on Monday.

The country hosted 22.2 million visitors – foreigners as well as Turkish citizens living abroad – in the first half of 2023, up 20.6 per cent on a yearly basis, the statistical institute said. The average expenditure per night for overnight visitors was $99, up from $89 during the same period last year.

25 July 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia is plotting the takeover of the iconic Selfridges department store in London's Oxford Street in an effort to increase its international influence and boost the development of its economy, the Telegraph has revealed. Riyadh is said to have emerged as the private financial backer of a $5.1 billion purchase of the luxury store. If the deal is completed, the acquisition will seal the Kingdom's third high profile takeover of famous British brands.

25 July 2023; MEMO: Vietnam and Israel signed a free trade agreement on Tuesday, predicting it would quickly boost annual bilateral trade by nearly 50 per cent, Reuters reports.

The agreement was signed in Israel between the two countries' trade ministers after seven years of negotiations, Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade said in a statement.

25 July 2023; MEMO: The UK government has underwritten financing for an $872 million new high-speed electric railway in Turkiye, local Turkish media reports.

According to the report, HS2 plans are scaled back, and the Northern Powerhouse Rail project gets ditched, Westminster appears to have turned its attention to infrastructure projects in far-flung countries rather than investing in crucial connectivity in the north.

26 July 2023; MEMO: Qatar has manged to fend off competition from Saudi Arabia, UAE and China to secure a deal with Pakistan over the running of Islamabad Airport. The sale, via tender of a contract, to manage Islamabad Airport is nearing completion after consultations with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Ministry of Finance said Thursday.

24 July 2023; MEMO: Two former US ambassadors to Israel have called for an end to Washington's aid to the occupation state. Speaking to New York Times columnist Nick Kristof, one of the more influential in liberal circles, former ambassadors Dan Kurtzer and Martin Indyk said that it is time to end the $3.8 billion given every year to Israel because it longer serves US interests.

24 July 2023; MEMO: Qatar on Sunday announced the appointment of its first ambassador to the United Arab Emirates in more than six years after the UAE, along with Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, severed ties with Doha in 2017.

The Emir of Qatar appointed Dr Sultan Salmeen Saeed Al Mansouri as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United Arab Emirates.