Business

11 July 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, met with his French counterpart, Agnes Pannier-Runacher, in Riyadh on 8 July, Gulf Business reports.

According to the report, the two signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen their cooperation in energy, with a focus on clean energy from renewable resources.

06 July 2023; MEMO: Kuwait aims to invest over $300 billion in the energy sector by 2040, the Gulf states' oil minister told the UAE's WAM news agency.

Global investment in the energy sector faces significant gaps that need to be filled to prevent crises that could adversely affect the markets and the global economy, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Oil and Minister of State for Economic and Investment Affairs of Kuwait, Saad Al Barrak, said.

06 July 2023; MEMO: Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will visit Turkiye on Friday for talks with President Tayyip Erdogan on the Black Sea grain deal and developments in the war in Ukraine, the state-run Anadolu Agency said on Thursday.

07 July 2023; MEMO: Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized a tanker holding 900 metric tons of "smuggled fuel" and 12 crew members, based on a court order, a report by the semi-official Fars News Agency said on Friday.

07 July 2023; MEMO: Turkiye expects Gulf countries to make direct investments of about $10 billion initially in domestic assets as part of President Tayyip Erdogan's trip to the region in two weeks, according to two senior Turkish officials, Reuters reports.

According to the report, Erdogan is scheduled to visit leaders in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on 17-19 July, in part to drum up foreign funding that would boost Turkiye's strained economy after his re-election in May.

08 July 2023; MEMO: The Syrian pound has recorded a historic collapse against the US dollar, as its exchange rate reached 10,000 Syrian pounds for $1. This is the lowest level ever reached by the value of the Syrian pound.

Economic website Syrian Pound Today reported that the exchange rate in Damascus reached 9,750 pounds per dollar.

HARARE, July 5 (NNN-XINHUA) — Zimbabwe announced on Tuesday the end of power cuts the country has experienced since last December following the rehabilitation of Hwange Thermal Power Station, the country’s largest coal-fired power plant, implemented by a Chinese firm.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa told a press briefing that the country’s power supply situation has vastly improved after the completion of the upgrading of Hwange Unit 7 and 8 by Chinese firm Sinohydro.

04 July 2023; MEMO: Russia, on Tuesday, restated a demand for its state agricultural bank to be reconnected to the global SWIFT payments system and said it would not accept a reported compromise proposal, Reuters reports.

With 13 days remaining until expiry of the deal that has allowed Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports despite Russia's invasion, Moscow said there had been no progress on any of its key demands, including the banking issue.

Kathmandu Jul 2 (PTI) China is positive towards providing further development assistance to Nepal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha said on Sunday.

Talking to reporters here, Shrestha said he held extensive discussions with the Chinese leaders focusing on strengthening bilateral relations, promoting trade, investment and economic development.

Shrestha said he found Chinese officials positive towards assisting Nepal in its development endeavours.

Islamabad, Jul 3 (PTI) Debt-trapped Pakistan will become the fourth largest IMF borrower in the world after receiving a fresh loan of USD 3 billion in the next nine months under the standby arrangement reached with the global lender.

Pakistan, which is facing its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1947, was on March 31, 2023, ranked fifth in the list of countries with the highest borrowing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), The Express Tribune newspaper reported, citing the global lender's data.