Daily news on Saudi Arabian and regional developments provided by our partner, the Saudi-US Trade Group (SUSTG.com). To keep up with “everything Saudi” be sure to subscribe to the SUSTG News Review through the Web site [Link]. Also check SUSTG.com/the-review for additional related news reporting.
SAUDI ARABIA
News, analysis, and more
FOREIGN INVESTMENT
Three-fifths of investors excited about Saudi Arabia opening up
Financial Times | Richard Stovin-Bradford | 9.15.2015
Three-fifths of institutional investors expect large capital inflows into Saudi Arabia despite the triple threat of a low oil price, a declining government surplus and …
SAUDI OIL POLICY
Saudi Output Falls To 6-Month Low & Other Highlights From OPEC’s OMR
Oil Pro | Joseph Triepke | 9.15.2015
OPEC’s monthly oil market report (OMR) for September has been released today. No big surprises in this copy, but the report is being taken as …
LABOR
Growth in Saudi wages despite falling oil prices
Al Arabiya News | Saudi Gazette | 9.14.2015
Salaries across Saudi Arabia have increased by an average of 4.5 percent in 2015 – slightly below the rate of 5 percent which had been …
SYRIAN REFUGEES: SAUDI ARABIA
Perspective: Syrian refugees don’t want to camp in Saudi Arabia. They want a future
Al-Arabiya | Jamal Khashoggi | 9.15.2015
And as long as we don’t give them their country back, they will continue to travel in search of a country where they can build …
YEMEN
Saudi-Led Military Coalition Escalates Attacks in Yemen
Saudi-Led Military Coalition Escalates Attacks in Yemen – WSJ | Asa Fitch and Mohammed Al-Kibsi | 9.14.2015
A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia has stepped up its attacks on Iranian-supported Houthi rebels in Yemen’s central province of Marib, as its forces …
MECCA CRANE TRAGEDY
Video: How Saudi is treating the wounded in Makkah crane collapse
Al Arabiya News | 9.14.2015
General Director of Emergency Services in Mecca talking to Al Arabiya from one of the rooms allocated in the hospital for the treatment of the …
U.S.-SAUDI RELATIONS
Saudi Arabia: Background and U.S. Relations
Congressional Research Service | Christopher Blanchard | 9.14.2015
Saudi Arabia has close defense and security ties with the United States anchored by long-standing military training programs and supplemented by ongoing high-value weapons sales and new …
SPACEX IN KSA
SpaceX gets more contracts from Saudi Arabia, Spain
Waco Tribune | Mike Copeland | 9.15.2015
The company will use its Falcon Heavy rocket to launch the Saudi Arabian Arabsat 6A communications satellite, while providing its less powerful Falcon 9 rocket …
SAUDI-QATAR
Saudi cabinet grants licence to Qatari bank for first time
Arabian Business | Reuters | 9.14.2015
The Saudi Council of Ministers granted a licence for Qatar National Bank to open a branch inside the kingdom, the official SPA news agency said …
ARAMCO
China’s SEPCO set to win gas booster project for Saudi Aramco
Reuters | Reem Shamseddine | 9.14.2015
China’s Shandong Electric Power Construction Corp (SEPCO) will likely win a contract to help expand the capacity of the main gas pipeline across Saudi Arabia, …
DONALD TRUMP
Debt-Ridden Donald Trump Lost His “Ship Of Jewels” To A Saudi Prince
BuzzFeed News | Andrew Kaczynski | 9.14.2015
In 1991, however, it was Trump’s lunch that was eaten by a foreign competitor, when the real estate mogul, in debt to the tune of …
SAUDI +
Regional and related topics
SYRIA
Russia Is Setting Up A Forward Operating Base in Syria, Pentagon Confirms
Defense One | Molly O’Toole | 9.15.2015
After days of declining to confirm reports that Moscow is sending military equipment and troops into Syria to protect the embattled Assad regime and Russian …
SYRIAN REFUGEES
Perspective: Are Syrian refugees a security threat to the Middle East?
Reuters | Doris Carrion | 9.15.2015
hey are now leaving these countries because life there has become increasingly untenable: diminishing aid funds have left refugees with scant resources to buy food …
AFPAK
Dangerous Trajectory
Foreign Policy | Marvin Weinbaum | 9.15.2015
fghanistan and Pakistan are moving on a path that threatens to bring their relations down to a level not witnessed in more than a quarter …
AL-AQSA MOSQUE
Palestinians, Israeli police clash at Jerusalem shrine for third day
Reuters | Ammar Awad, Maayan Lubell and Ali Sawafta | 9.15.2015
Israeli police armed with stun grenades and tear gas clashed with rock-throwing Palestinian youths who barricaded themselves inside Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque on Tuesday, police and …
LEBANON
Lebanese protesters united against garbage… and sectarianism
Washington Post | Bassel Salloukh | 9.15.2015
Protests initiated by “You Stink” activists against Lebanon’s garbage crisis and the government’s infamous corruption and dysfunction continue to grow. What insight can this garbage …
MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT: CHINA
Iran says wants China’s help to resolve Middle East tensions
Reuters | Ben Blanchard | 9.15.2015
Iran wants China’s help to resolve tensions and unrest in the Middle East and is ready to play host to more Chinese firms once sanctions …
ABOUT THE SAUDI-US TRADE GROUP
The Saudi-US Trade Group (SUSTG) leverages the Internet, social media, digital media, major trade forums, policy events and special meetings to create a unique and powerful platform focused on matters critical to Saudi Arabia and to the U.S.-Saudi Arabia relationship.
A U.S. based, not-for-profit, business association, SUSTG works closely with the Committee for International Trade (CIT) within the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry as well as SUSTG’s corporate members and prestigious program partners.
US-Saudi Business Opportunities Forum – Los Angeles
SUSTG partners with respected American and Saudi institutions to implement delegations, forums, meetings and other special projects. SUSTG is an organizing sponsor along with the Saudi Committee for International Trade (CIT) and the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council of the US-Saudi Business Opportunities Forum initiative. These Forums attracted over 1,100 American and Saudi business people to Chicago, IL in April 2010, Atlanta, GA in December 2011, and Los Angeles, CA in September 2013. The impressive agendas and speakers as well as presentation videos for each of these forums can be found at www.us-saudiforum.com. This initiative is part of SUSTG’s ongoing efforts to strengthen business, commercial and cultural ties throughout the United States.
SUSTG and its partner the Saudi-US Relations Information Service (SUSRIS) call on their extensive network of Saudi and American experts to produce the Focus KSA series of online discussions providing unparalleled insight and perspective on key economic, social and political issues involving Saudi Arabia.