China’s Lenovo sets up regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia

Chinese PC maker Lenovo is joining the parade of international firms responding to Saudi directives that they establish their regional headquarters in the kingdom.

The company is teaming up with Alat, a unit of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, to build a manufacturing facility for PCs, laptops, smartphones, and servers.

Headed by Lenovo veteran Lawrence Yu, the office will aim to reinforce the Chinese company’s presence and manufacturing capabilities in the Middle East, Reuters reports.

Saudi Arabia implemented new rules this year that require international firms to establish a regional HQ in the country as a condition for receiving government contracts.

India’s Titan, facing U.S. tariffs, mulls making jewelry in Gulf

India’s biggest jeweler and watchmaker Titan is looking into manufacturing some of its products in the Gulf amid trade tensions with the Trump administration.

The possible shift by Titan, part of India’s giant Tata Group, would follow the company’s recent announcement that it plans a $283 million acquisition of Dubai-based luxury retailer Damas, which operates 146 stores across the Gulf, Reuters reports.

Titan Managing Director C.K. Venkataraman told the news agency that the move could help the company maintain low-tariff access to U.S. markets even as President Donald Trump ordered a 25% levy last month on imports from India.

Imports from the UAE, by contrast, face a 10% tariff under Trump’s plan.

“If the tariffs remain like what they are currently threatened to be, then any arbitrage on a tariff … would be meaningful for us to consider,” Venkataraman said.

Titan’s Tanishq brand has several U.S. stores and is planning a major expansion, while its diamond-focused label CaratLane launched in the U.S. in October.

Manufacturing in the U.S. is a less feasible option for Titan due to cost and skills constraints, especially for artisan-made jewelery, Venkataraman said.

UAE promotes manufacturing with $11B financing program

The UAE and its largest banks are pouring nearly $11 billion into a financing plan aimed at spawning new manufacturing companies and building the country’s industrial base.

Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, said at the opening session of the “Make it in the Emirates” conference in Abu Dhabi on Monday that the government will provide backing for a cross-section of target industries, from food and construction to renewable energy and artificial intelligence.

“Investing in manufacturing is an investment in an advanced economy,” Al Jaber said in a speech at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. “Every investment in the industrial sector has a multiplier effect, stimulating growth and related sectors.”

Among the lenders lined up to finance the program are Emirates Development Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mashreq, Emirates NBD, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, and Wio Bank.

In his address, Al Jaber noted last week’s visit by U.S. President Donald Trump to Abu Dhabi, where he was shown a model of a new campus being built in the emirate that is planned to be the largest hub for development of AI technology outside the U.S.

“We do not see artificial intelligence as just a tool or a new technology, but as a complete economic sector expected to generate over US$1.5 trillion globally by 2040,” Al Jaber said.

PIF-backed tech fund Alat inks $2 billion Lenovo deal

Saudi Arabia’s technology investment mega-fund Alat bought $2 billion worth of convertible bonds in Hong Kong PC giant Lenovo.

Under the deal, Alat has lured the world’s largest seller of personal computers to open a manufacturing plant to produce servers and PCs, as well as open a research center and its Middle East and Africa headquarters in Riyadh.

Launched earlier this year, Alat has previously signed partnerships with U.S.-based Carrier, Japan’s SoftBank Group and China’s Dahua Technology to build manufacturing plants in Saudi Arabia.

The SoftBank robotics plant is expected to open and assemble its first robot by year’s end.

In February, Saudi Arabia tapped ex-Dell Technologies executive Amit Midha to lead the new Public Investment Fund-owned industrial electronics company with $100 billion in backing that aims to become an AI investing and local manufacturing powerhouse.

Chaired by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Alat is targeting the creation of 39,000 direct jobs in Saudi Arabia and a $9.3 billion contribution to GDP by 2030.

The company is eyeing 30 product categories including robotics, computing and digital entertainment, as well as advanced heavy machinery. 

Rate cut timing top of mind as financial elite gather from Dubai to Beverly Hills

From Dubai to Beverly Hills, the question occupying the world’s financial elite is this: when will the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates?

Not till September at the earliest, says hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, CEO of Citadel, who addressed the Milken Institute Annual Conference at The Beverly Hilton on Monday. Yie-Hsin Hung, CEO of State Street Global Advisors, sees rate cuts happening sooner: she predicted that the Fed will start to reduce rates as soon as July amid a more muted economy, speaking this morning at Day 2 of the Dubai FinTech Summit. 

The market-moving question is top of mind, but so too is the Gulf’s growth story amid the energy transition. “We’re known as oil exporters, but our second biggest export is capital,” Mohammed El-Kuwaiz, Chair of the Board of the Capital Market Authority of Saudi Arabia said at Milken on Monday, fielding questions from The Economist’s Editor-in-Chief Zanny Minton Beddoes. 

“For the first time in our history we may be capital importers,” El-Kuwaiz predicted, as the kingdom looks to lure foreign capital to help fuel the $3 trillion of investment from now until 2030 for its economic diversification drive.

The money is being poured into developing sectors like tourism, manufacturing and tech alongside mega-projects like NEOM.

“The capital markets are an extremely important fulcrum” at this time and why Saudi has opened up to the world and cracked into the top 10 capital markets, he said. El-Kuwaiz shared the stage with Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup; Harvey Schwartz, CEO of Carlyle; and Ron O’Hanley, Chair and CEO of State Street.

Back in Dubai, non-oil growth was top of the agenda for UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri. Speaking at the Dubai Fintech Summit, he repeated his belief in 7% annual GDP growth, but said that 4.9% non-oil growth is possible in 2024.

“We see growth away from traditional economies such as real estate and tourism to new types of tourism, such as sustainable tourism, health tech. We’re looking into AI, generative AI, the UAE is becoming the capital of AI,” he said.