The Weekly Circuit

👋 Hello from the Middle East!

In today’s Weekly Circuit, we look at the resurgence of tourism in Egypt, Alat’s $200 million deal with China’s Dahua, Latham & Watkins setting up its regional law office in Riyadh and Mubadala maybe becoming an owner in Heathrow Airport. But first, Miami meets the Arabian desert as it hosts FII’s Priority Summit.

Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative gabfest is taking the show on the road — landing in Miami on Thursday for the second annual edition of its Priority Summit. The two-day agenda at the Faena Forum is expected to see about 800 executives, investors and policymakers meet around the theme “on the edge of a new frontier,” with a focus on investment opportunities and disruptive technologies.

“The world feels like an increasingly troubled place, with violent conflicts, cost of living crises, climate change, AI uncertainties, pandemic threats and other big problems,” Richard Attias, CEO of the FII Institute, told Arab News. “And so, it has never been more important to convene leaders from investment, business and government to address the root causes and come up with practical answers.”

The FII is a non-profit run by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Other editions of FII’s Priority Summits have taken place in Hong Kong, London and New York. The events serve as a tee-up for the big “Davos in the Desert” conference, taking place each November at the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh.

Speakers include Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone, Jenny Johnson of Franklin Templeton, Mary Callahan Erdoes of JP Morgan, David Rubenstein of Carlyle, Dina Powell McCormick of BDT & MSD Partners and Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell. Others exploring global economic trends and policy dynamics include Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of the PIF and the Chairman of the FII Institute; Princess Reema bint Bandar Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the U.S.; and Khalid A. Al-Falih, the Saudi Minister of Investment.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s spending spree on mega-projects like NEOM, downtown development in Riyadh and resorts in the ancient AlUla desert city are leading the kingdom to tap into borrowing on a grand scale. Saudi Aramco may issue bonds this year with up to 50-year maturities, the oil giant’s Executive Director of New Business Development Ziad Al-Murshed said on Monday at the Saudi Capital Market Forum in Riyadh. The PIF, meanwhile, said last month that its cash levels as of September had fallen by roughly three-quarters to about $15 billion, the lowest since December 2020, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Alat, the tech company launched this month by the PIF, is soft-pedaling possible U.S. concerns about its new $200 million partnership with Dahua, China’s biggest maker of surveillance equipment. Riyadh-based Alat announced on Tuesday that Dahua will manufacture surveillance hardware and open an R&D center in the kingdom. Asked about whether the deal might cause problems with the U.S., which has banned the import of Dahua technology, Alat CEO Amit Midha told Reuters his company will abide by regulations. Dahua is “the No. 2 company in the world on what they do,” he said. “We tested the technology, we looked at it and we’re quite happy with it.” Midha also announced a string of other deals, including a partnership with Japan’s SoftBank to build a manufacturing and engineering hub in Riyadh.

And tourism is proving to be resilient in Egypt amid the Red Sea crisis and the war in Gaza which are weighing heavily on its already beleaguered economy. Tourist arrivals were up 5% in the first 40 days of 2024, according to Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Essa, continuing an upward trend from 2023 which saw a record-breaking number of visitors.

Israel’s economy shrank almost 20% in the fourth quarter of 2023, rocked by the Gaza war which forced businesses to close and more than 200,000 people to evacuate their homes, the government statistics bureau said on Monday. While GDP expanded 2% over the full year, that was a steep decline from 2022 when the economy grew 6.5%. Fourth-quarter investment in Israel plunged 70% compared to the same period in 2022, the government said

Welcome to The Weekly Circuit. Read on for the stories, deals and players at the top of the news across the MENA business landscape. Please send comments and story tips to [email protected].

GOLDEN YEARS

Wealthy expats ‘key to GCC long-term growth’

Retaining wealthy expatriates for the long-term may be critical to the growth of Gulf economies as cities vie to attract workers who are projected to live longer and retire earlier, according to a report from Mercer, The Circuit’s Kelsey Warner reports.

Stick around: “GCC countries like the UAE – because of their significant proportion of high-net-worth international expatriates – could benefit from more expatriates staying for retirement,” said Mercer’s Robert Ansari, a co-author of the report, which was released with the World Governments Summit in Dubai last week.

Golden chance: Opportunities are growing for expats in technology and financial services across the region as the GCC relaxes visa rules and expands incentives to lure start-ups, tech companies and multinational financial firms. The UAE’s visa reforms, including its move last month to lower spending requirements to secure a 10-year residency visa, the so-called “Golden Visa,” is one example.

Click here for the full story.

ALL ABROAD

Survey: 86% of Emirati firms have global ambitions

Emirati business owners are setting their sights beyond the Middle East and focusing overseas, The Circuit’s Jonathan Ferziger reports.

Global ambitions: In an HSBC study of multimillionaire entrepreneurs, the UAE ranked second after Hong Kong in ambition to expand internationally, with 86% of Emirati firms looking abroad.

Europe calling: First choice for foreign expansion among UAE business owners with assets of between $2 million and $20 million was Europe, the favored site for 55% of those surveyed. Next was the Middle East with 42%, North America at 32% and Asia at 23%.

Click here for the full story.

FREE ZONES

DIFC welcomes record number of companies

Dubai welcomed a record number of companies to its financial center in 2023 as competition heats up in the Gulf to attract businesses, The Circuit’s Kelsey Warner reports.

Build it and they will come: The Dubai International Financial Center, better known as DIFC, saw a 34% increase in new registrants last year, now with 41,597 workers and 5,533 companies, according to new figures released Thursday.

Big ambitions: The DIFC’s development aligns with the master plan for Dubai’s economic growth known as D33 that was introduced last year. D33 aims to double the size of Dubai’s economy, with a target of reaching 32 trillion dirhams ($8.7 trillion) by 2033 that would put it among the top global cities.

Click here for the full story.

⚖️ KSA Law: Latham & Watkins, the world’s second-largest law firm by revenue, said it received a Saudi government license to establish its MENA headquarters in Riyadh, which will be led by Managing Partner Salman Al-Sadairi.

🗞️ Telegraph Loan: The Barclay family, which owns the Telegraph of London, has pledged its primary UK businesses as security for loans provided by Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments, as part of the deal to buy the newspaper, the Financial Times reports.

🗂️ Smooth Entry: Plus VC, a Saudi venture capital firm, signed a preliminary agreement with Tawaref, a tech startup accelerator, to work together to expedite the incorporation process for companies setting up shop in the kingdom.

🚘 Driving in Style: London’s Wheely, an app-based car-hailing service featuring luxury vehicles, is opening a branch in Dubai, targeting the city’s estimated 70,000 millionaires.

💵 Seeking Redemption: The UAE will likely be taken off the “gray list” this week of a global watchdog group that identifies nations known as money laundering havens, Bloomberg reports.

🇨🇳 China Ventures: Saudi Arabia is attaching new demands to a series of massive tech deals with China, requiring that companies such as Alibaba and SenseTime invest in the kingdom by establishing joint ventures with Saudi firms, the Financial Times reports.

🏛️ Rothschild in Riyadh: Rothschild & Co. said it will expand its operations in Saudi Arabia by hiring or relocating bankers for a new office in Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District.🏂 Saudi Slopes: Raffles Hotels & Resorts will open a ring-shaped mountain resort in Trojena, the high-elevation part of Saudi Arabia’s NEOM project that will feature ski slopes and extreme sports.

Closing Circuit

📦 Delivery Hub: FedEx Express said it will invest $350 million to build a new air and ground regional delivery hub at the Dubai World Central airport.

🎞️ Media Acquisition: RedBird IMI, a joint venture between RedBird Capital Partners and Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments, has agreed to acquire film production company All3Media for $1.45 billion from Warner Bros Discovery and London-based Liberty Global.

🍞 Milling Shares: Saudi Arabia’s Modern Mills for Food Products Co. will seek to raise $314 million in an IPO on the Tadawul Stock Exchange for 30% of the Jeddah-based company’s shares.

🍳 What’s Cooking?: The Cloud, an Abu Dhabi-based virtual kitchen startup, said it has raised $12 million in a Series B funding round and acquired UK food tech start-up KBOX.

💰 Saudi Backing: LionTree, the media advisory firm and merchant bank led by Aryeh Bourkoff, raised more than $1 billion last year for a new investment fund that has partial Saudi backing, Axios reported, citing three unidentified sources.

🕹️ Cash to Play: GameCentric, a UAE-based platform that connects gamers with corporate brands, raised $1.5 million from Dubai investor Bilal Merchant.

💵 Cash for Africa: Partech, the Paris-based tech investment firm, said the Dubai Future District Fund was a participant in its Partech Africa II fund, which closed this week at $300 million.

🏗️ Waterfront Towers: The Omani capital of Muscat’s low-slung skyline is set for change as construction begins this year on the $1.3 billion Al Khuwair Downtown and Waterfront Development Project, featuring a cluster of 30- and 40-story buildings.

💰 Early Stages: iAngels, an Israeli venture capital firm, raised $70 million for a fund focused on early-stage startups that will each receive between $2 million to $4 million.

Power Circuit

Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah met with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in Doha on Tuesday. On Sunday, the Emir hosted Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan, Governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, at Seif Palace in Kuwait City for a meeting to discuss economic collaboration between the two countries.

UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed met with Annalena Baerbock, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, and Jens Plötner, Foreign and Security Policy Advisor to the German Federal Chancellor, and a delegation from the Foreign Affairs Committee in the German Federal Parliament, headed by Michael Roth, in Berlin on Tuesday.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi opened the Egypt Energy Show in Cairo on Monday, acknowledging that his own country and most of the African continent will have difficulty meeting their commitments to substantially reduce usage of fossil fuels.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs on Monday, during a visit to the country for the second meeting of special envoys on Afghanistan in Doha.

On the Circuit

Wall Street investor Ken Moelis has turned his investment bank Moelis & Co. into one of the biggest dealmakers in the Middle East by cultivating relationships in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Bloomberg reports.

Dana White, owner of Ultimate Fighting Championship, tells Tucker Carlson about why Abu Dhabi’s support for his mixed martial arts league was critical during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Selma Hassan, a Managing Director of Goldman Sachs and Co-Head of its investment banking business in the Middle East and North Africa, is leaving to join a logistics firm, Bloomberg reports.

Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture and Member of the Dubai Council, on Sunday inaugurated the ‘Introducing Zayed National Museum: The Foundations of Unity’ exhibition, being held at the Etihad Museum in Dubai from Feb. 18 until Dec. 5.

Moza Al Futtaim was named Chief AI officer of Al Futtaim Group, the Dubai-based mall developer and retail conglomerate owned by her grandfather.Supermodel and entrepreneur Naomi Campbell and fashion entrepreneur Umar Kamani plan to launch a new talent management company based in Dubai, Arabian Business reports.

Culture Circuit

🎿 Off Piste: A 500-foot ski slope blanketed with 500 tons of snow is being constructed in Riyadh for a snow sports festival taking place at the end of this month. The SnowBlast KSA Cup, a part of the Riyadh Season of events, will feature skiing and snowboarding performances from world and Olympic champions in winter sports.

🎙️ A Star Is Born: Universal Music Group plans to open a branch of Capitol Studios in the UAE – the first outside of Hollywood –  in collaboration with UAE music firm DGMC. The location of the new studios is not confirmed but plans call for a Dolby Atmos mixing room, state-of-the-art recording equipment and rehearsal rooms for artists and writers. A new record label under the deal will be a joint venture between the two companies and will work to turn artists from the region into global stars, according to a statement.

🎥 Red Carpet: The Middle East premiere for “Dune: Part Two” was held in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. The second installment of the sci-fi epic, featuring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya, is set for wider release in the region on February 29. “Dune” and “Dune: Part Two” are among at least 150 productions that have used Abu Dhabi as a location in recent years, including films from the “Mission Impossible,” “Star Wars” and “Fast & Furious” franchises.

🎞️ Movie Makers: Saudi Arabia’s MEFIC Capital and Roaa Media Ventures are launching a $100 million film fund with the kingdom’s Cultural Development Fund to support local movie productions

🍴Gourmet Kingdom: Saudi Arabia’s efforts to woo tourists by recruiting international star chefs, opening trendy pop-up restaurants and sponsoring global food industry conferences is the subject of a feature story in The Peak magazine.

Photo of the Week

Circuit Calendar

Feb. 19-23, Dubai, UAE. Gulfood. Exhibitors from 127 countries attend food and beverage industry’s largest conference in the Middle East. Dubai International Conference Centre.

Feb. 21-22, Dubai, UAE: Step Conference. The Dubai edition of the leading tech festival for emerging markets. Internet City.

Feb. 22-23, Miami Beach, FL: FII Priority Miami. A summit on disruptive technology and investment trends hosted by the Future Investment Initiative Institute. Faena Hotel Miami Beach.

Feb. 24-25, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Berklee Abu Dhabi Music Summit. A summit that dives into the basics of the music business, providing independent artists with a roadmap to develop their careers. Berklee Abu Dhabi.

Feb. 26-29, Doha, Qatar: Web Summit Qatar. A Middle East edition of the technology crowd mega-event, gathering investors, entrepreneurs and business leaders. Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre. 

Feb. 28-29, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Investopia. A gathering of investors hosted by SALT and Investopia, an investment platform launched by the UAE Ministry of Economy and backed by Mubadala and the Department of Economic Development. St. Regis Saadiyat. 

Feb. 29-March 2, Sakhir, Bahrain: Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix. Bahrain International Circuit. 

March 1, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Abu Dhabi Family Office Summit. One of the largest meetings in the region for family office leaders and investors. Saadiyat Rotana.  

March 4-7, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: LEAP. A global technology conference for developers, startups, investors, C-suite and media. King Abdul Aziz International Conference Center.

March 5-6, Doha, Qatar: International LNG Forum. Gathering of industry leaders and key stakeholders to discuss the future of gas in a key export market. InterContinental Doha Beach. 

March 7-9, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Jeddah Corniche Circuit.