Egypt to build fourth terminal at Cairo International Airport

Egypt plans to build a fourth terminal at Cairo International Airport and has drawn interest from 68 global firms to manage its growing airport in the Red Sea resort city of Hurghada.

Speaking to legislators, Civil Aviation Minister Sameh El-Hefny said the new Terminal 4 will substantially increase Cairo airport’s capacity and transform it into a regional hub.

Regarding Hurghada, El-Hefny said contractors selected will handle the airport’s management and commercial activities, introducing e-gates and paperless travel systems.

EgyptAir, meanwhile, will implement a major expansion, adding 34 new aircraft to its fleet, El-Hefny said.

8VC’s Alex Moore scouts Mideast ahead of Saudi leader’s White House visit

As Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman heads to Washington next week, venture capital investor Alex Moore is exploring laser warfare startups and sea-cruising drone technology that could capture a portion of the hundreds of billions of dollars the Gulf ruler promises to spend in the U.S.

Moore, an early protégé of Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel, heads the defense portfolio at Austin, Texas-based 8VC and traveled to Israel last week to assess new investment prospects for the $8 billion firm. Other partners have been scouting companies in the UAE and neighboring countries for 8VC, which counts Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund as an investor.

The Saudi Crown Prince, known widely as MBS, is scheduled to visit the White House on Nov. 18, where he will follow up on the $148 billion arms agreement he signed in May when U.S. President Donald Trump met him in Riyadh. The meeting in Washington will also take up Saudi Arabia’s longstanding request for a comprehensive defense pact similar to one with Qatar and may determine the disposition of some $450 billion more in Saudi funding commitments to the U.S. 

“We’re very interested in this new possible agreement with the Saudis,” Moore, 43, said in an interview with The Circuit in Tel Aviv, predicting it will “unleash innovation.” 

Trump says he will press MBS again next week to normalize relations with Israel by joining the Abraham Accords, the U.S.-brokered pact from 2020 that was signed by the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco. Many Israeli-founded startups establish headquarters in the U.S. and some of their technology could be attractive to the Saudis.

Among the firms Moore visited during his week in Israel was Particle Lab, which is developing anti-missile systems using supercharged, subatomic particle beams; and LiteVision, the maker of a wide-angle camera mounted on airborne drones to identify threats such as rocket launchers on the battlefield.

“Israel has the talent to actually leapfrog the U.S. ecosystem in a few categories,” Moore said, citing lasers and other directed-energy technologies as an area where Israel is “radically ahead.”

Escorting Moore through his meetings was Isaac “Yitz” Applbaum, a longtime San Francisco-based VC investor who – together with his son Aaron Applbaum and partners Frederic Landau and Yoav Knoll – recently founded Kinetica, an Israeli venture capital firm specializing in defense startups. Moore also notched a meeting with Isaac Herzog at the Israeli President’s Modernist-style residence in Jerusalem’s Talbiyeh neighborhood.

The Kinetica team includes Saar Tzur, a Major General in the Israeli Defense Forces reserves and adviser to drone maker Heven Aerotech, and Amit Kunik, a reserve Brigadier General in military intelligence.

On the relationship with 8VC, Yitz Applbaum says: “We are their eyes and ears in Israel.”

Moore’s visit is an indication that Israel is starting to emerge from the two years of the Gaza war, when foreign investors refrained from visiting the country even if they “stayed engaged quietly,” said Avi Hasson, CEO of Startup Nation Central, which tracks Israel’s tech industry. “What we are seeing now is an acceleration – senior partners are back on the ground, activity is picking up, and the ecosystem is moving from quiet maintenance to renewed growth.”

A 2005 graduate of Stanford University in economics who stands 6-foot-5 (196 centimeters), Moore was the first employee hired by Palantir, the data-mining powerhouse that bridges Silicon Valley and the Washington national-security world, where he became Director of Operations.

Working while in his twenties with Thiel and co-founder Alex Karp – both legends in the software industry – was an education in broadly divergent styles of management, he recalls, particularly in the take-no-prisoners world of young software engineers.

Running an engineering organization is like “taming a wild animal,” Moore said. “We had kind of a motley crew of these super-genius engineers… and the smarter the people are, the more rebellious they get, and they don’t want to agree on things. Like, ‘My architecture idea is better than yours. Why would we build the product your way?’ You have to get them on the same page.”

Part of Palantir’s success was the way that Thiel and Karp played off each other, Moore said. “Peter is this big vision, world-level type of problem solver. So I think from him, we basically got this confidence of just being extremely bold, even as young people. Like, ‘Why don’t we build the best software company in the world?’ So you kind of start believing it. You get a lot of that strength from Peter, that level of extremity, of extreme thinking.”

Karp, on the other hand, was more of a philosopher and an artist. “He is a genius at understanding the mood of the team – adding a sense of humor here, adding some tough love here, and conducting the orchestra in a way that feels very seamless. He kind of pulls the genius engineer out of his own head.”

After leaving Palantir in 2010 and founding two businesses himself, Moore joined 8VC, a fund started by Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, and headed its startup incubator program. One of the young companies he mentored was Saronic, a maker of maritime drones for the U.S. Navy, which is now valued at $4 billion. Working with Saronic from the ground up kindled an interest in maritime technology that he found in Israel at startups Orca AI and Metacentric Systems.

Sitting at dusk in the courtyard at Tel Aviv’s fashionable Norman Hotel, Moore says drones should be used to address conflicts such as the attacks on ships by Yemen’s Houthi rebels that have paralyzed traffic in the Red Sea – a body of water bordered both by Saudi Arabia and Israel.

“I think we will end up with a mostly autonomous, or entirely autonomous, policing force of boats that follow around oil tankers and have interdiction capabilities. One will have drones, one will have directed-energy, others will have guns, another will have warheads,” Moore said, spinning out battle scenarios as he leaned back in an Adirondack chair.

“If you’re going into dangerous areas, I think that’s the future,” he said.

As for winning some of the Saudi contracts MBS will be offering in Washington this week, and others pledged by the UAE and Qatar during Trump’s Middle East swing in May, Moore said several companies in 8VC’s portfolio are primed to compete.

“Where we are at now is we have industrial-grade startups that are ready and capable of setting up factories and facilities and building products in the Middle East,” Moore said. 

“It’s really about knowing that the companies we do send over to do those deals can deliver,” he said. “I’m more optimistic than ever.”

Red Sea calm revives shipping traffic through Suez Canal

Easing tensions in the Red Sea have delivered a boost to Egypt’s Suez Canal, with hundreds of ships returning to ply the global trade route in October.

Canal revenues rose 14% year-on-year between July and October, with 4,405 ships carrying 185 million tons of cargo during the period.

More than 200 ships returned to the canal in October, leading to the highest monthly total since Houthi attacks off Yemen sharply reduced traffic, Reuters reports.

Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, said that the positive climate following last month’s Sharm el-Sheikh summit on Gaza’s future encouraged many carriers to return.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis carried out over 100 attacks on ships in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Bab al-Mandab Strait, during 2023-2024.

Egypt intercontinental rail plan needs go-ahead for Saudi bridge

Egypt is aiming to link its expanding railway network with Asia and Europe, but it hasn’t yet been able to finalize plans to build a bridge to Saudi Arabia.

In the meantime, it will use ships to bring cargo across the Red Sea, Reuters reports. Saudi’s King Salman first announced the bridge project in 2016, envisioning a road that would cross the Straits of Tiran to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

If completed, the route would compete with another notional rail project that would connect the UAE to Israel’s Haifa Port through Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Another project on the drawing board would run north from the Gulf through Iraq.

CruiseXplore builds Mideast business with mini-holidays to Gulf, Red Sea resorts

While cruise ships teem with Middle East travelers heading to the Greek Islands, Hong Kong and the Caribbean, Lakshmi Durai is trying to introduce more people to shorter luxury trips sailing between the Gulf states and along the Red Sea.

As founder and CEO of CruiseXplore, an internet booking platform that fills cabins for some two dozen cruise lines, including Carnival, Norwegian and Disney, Durai has lately teamed up on the mini-holidays with Aroya Cruises, which is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

“This is a very high-potential market,” Durai, a 30-year veteran of the industry, told The Circuit during this month’s annual Arabian Travel Market exhibition in Dubai. “It’s an easy way for people to experience cruising for the first time.”

Jeddah-based Aroya opened for business just two years ago and runs a variety of cruises to nearby ports of call including Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh, the Jordanian resort city of Aqaba and Jabal Al Sabaya Island in the Red Sea. Its sole 18-deck ship has more than 1,600 cabins, along with swimming pools, spas, restaurants and a no-alcohol policy.

Cruise revenue in the Middle East and Africa is projected to grow some 60% over the next five years to $230 million, according to Horizon Grand View Research. That’s a minuscule 1.6% of the global market, which an optimistic Durai sees as providing even more room to grow.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What sets CruiseXplore apart from other international players?
We are a cruise consolidator working with over 30 cruise brands. Each brand might have 10 to 20 ships, sailing from more than 300 destinations worldwide. Our team includes experienced cruise professionals, so we really know the market.

Cruising isn’t one-size-fits-all. There are family cruises, couples cruises, destination-focused cruises, and luxury cruises – each with unique features. Our job is to match the right cruise to the right guest, based on their style of vacationing. We don’t just sell cruises; we sell the experience.

How do you decide which cruise lines to partner with?

Every cruise line is beautiful in its own way. We don’t categorize any cruise line as better or worse. It’s about understanding the product – what it offers, who it targets, and what kind of people it attracts. If a cruise line operates professionally, we are open to working with it. We’re here to sell anything that sails on water!

What cruise destinations are most popular with your customers?

Globally, cruises operate in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, the Caribbean, Alaska, Australia and even unique places like the Arctic, Antarctica, and the Amazon. But for this region, European cruises are very popular due to proximity and ease of travel.

First-timers often choose Mediterranean routes – Spain, Rome, France, Greek Islands, and Turkey – because of the history and scenic coastlines. Others who prefer cooler climates opt for Northern Europe, especially Norway and its fjords. Those cruises are getting very popular.

What about Saudi Arabia? Is the Red Sea becoming a cruise destination?

Saudi Arabia launched its own cruise line, Aroya Cruises, last year. It’s a beautiful ship that operates in the Red Sea. Aroya is the only GCC-based cruise brand, but we work with over 30 international cruise lines. MSC, Costa, and others also operate in the region, sailing into GCC ports.

What are the industry trends that look promising for the Gulf region?

Local cruising is becoming quite popular – it’s an easy way for people to experience cruising for the first time. Still, a large portion of the Middle Eastern population hasn’t been on a cruise, so this is a very high-potential market.

Having local cruises means people can try it without flying abroad. It helps raise awareness and builds confidence for them to book international cruises later. And for visitors, cruising makes it easy to visit multiple countries – Oman, Bahrain, Qatar – without needing to arrange separate flights or accommodations.

What investments does the Middle East cruise industry need?

More ports and attractive destinations. The GCC countries have already made great improvements in infrastructure, but the more ports of call we have, the more appealing the region becomes for cruise tourism.

Can you tell me how the industry has changed since you started in the 1990s?

I actually started in 1994, so it’s been 30 years. I was very young then! I came to Dubai that year and joined the cruise industry right away. I gradually moved up the ranks and started managing cruise brand representations as a director. After 20 years, I decided it was time to do something on my own, and that’s when we launched CruiseXplore in 2014. We just completed 10 years.

Back then, cruising was a very new concept in the region. We had to explain to people what a cruise was, and there were a lot of misconceptions. There weren’t even ships docking in the Middle East. That changed around 2008-2009 when major cruise lines like Royal Caribbean and Costa started operating here. People began to see ships in local waters, and awareness increased. Today, thanks to the internet, cruising is becoming very popular.

Saudi Arabia taps Monaco expertise for Red Sea yachting

Saudi Arabia is planning to bring the sparkle of Mediterranean marinas to its Red Sea coast, seeking counsel from the Principality of Monaco as it attempts to grow its yachting sector.

The Saudi Red Sea Authority has already issued 29 tourism licenses for yacht chartering and marina operations for its 1,800km coastline, which includes more than 1,000 islands and 150 pristine beaches.

Now it has signed agreements with the Yacht Club de Monaco and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation to help develop the sector.

Monaco, a minuscule tax haven on the French Riviera, is famous for attracting gigantic super yachts – and their billionaire owners – to its iconic Port Hercule, the glittering backdrop to one of the world’s most famous F1 circuits.

Saudi’s ambition is to attract 250,000 visitors from yacht tourism by 2030, generating $2.9 billion and creating 28,000 jobs. 

UAE sets out to turn Jordanian beach property into luxury resort

The UAE is moving ahead with plans to transform a piece of Jordan’s Red Sea beachfront into a luxury resort.

MAG Group, a subsidiary of ADQ’s AD Ports Group that was appointed on Sunday as the project’s developer, said it will soon begin work on the Marsa Zayed property in the southern port city of Aqaba, which abuts the Saudi border.

In the first phase, MAG will begin construction on ​​what will be called the Zayed Riviera with four residential towers, a yacht club, and restoration of the Aqaba Minaret.

The Jordanian project could potentially link to similar planned resorts in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel that form a border-traversing horseshoe around the Red Sea.

Special forces enter Jordan for defense industry conference

Intense heat forces new reflection on Gulf tourism, business plans

From Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea resorts to Dubai’s neighborhood mosques, the season’s searing temperatures are forcing nations across the Middle East to reevaluate the impact climate change could have on their people and economies.

Following the deaths of more than 1,300 pilgrims who made the hajj this month to Mecca, authorities across the region are taking steps to protect worshippers from heat that often exceeds 50 Celsius (122 F).

In the UAE, mosques have been instructed to limit their Friday sermons and prayers to no more than 10 minutes because of the scorching sun.

The New York Times published a story on Thursday suggesting that global warming could undermine some of the ambitious tourism, sports and industrial projects now underway across the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia’s Neom mega-development and the string of luxury hotels under construction on the shores of the Red Sea.

In North Africa, the unrelenting dry weather has depressed harvests of fruit for export while requiring Morocco to spend record sums on wheat imports, Bloomberg reports.

The Daily Circuit: China’s investments in Saudi surge + Kuwaiti beachscaping

👋 Hello from the Middle East!

Today in The Daily Circuit, we’re looking at a $5 billion beach town in Kuwait, Flydubai’s inaugural flights to the Red Sea, “Golden Visas” for UAE companies and why Oman’s banks are adopting the IBAN standard. But first, China’s investment surge in Saudi Arabia.

China is emerging as Saudi Arabia’s most active foreign investor amid a flood of new projects aimed at turbocharging non-oil economic growth in the kingdom. The world’s second-largest economy accounted for 58% of new business investments — primarily focused on automotive, metals and semiconductor investments — in Saudi Arabia in 2023, with $16.8 billion invested. That figure is up more than tenfold from $1.5 billion the previous year, according to new data from Dubai-based Emirates NBD.

Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest economy, is still trailing its target of attracting $100 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) by 2030 as de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman looks to boost non-oil GDP and diversify the economy. But 2023 showed signs of progress: foreign investment into new business in Saudi Arabia more than doubled to $28.8 billion last year, according to Emirates NBD, surpassing the 2018 peak of $17.6 billion but shy of the 2008 record of $34.3 billion.

The influx in foreign capital comes as Gulf economies are increasingly turning East to China and India, one of the fastest growing economies, for opportunity. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been invited to join the BRICS economic alliance, which analysts have predicted will increase China’s power and influence in the MENA region. Still, the U.S. was runner-up: pouring $2.7 billion into Saudi Arabia, mostly in software and IT, and a 238% increase over the previous year. The UAE came in third, its investments primarily focused on renewable energy.

This week the kingdom’s Minister of Culture, Prince Badr bin Abdullah, visited Beijing, where he signed a flurry of agreements with his Chinese counterpart to boost collaboration. Museums, cultural heritage, theater, architecture and libraries are all on the table for greater exchange. “With the support of the leadership of the two friendly countries, Saudi-Chinese cultural cooperation begins a new chapter,” Prince Badr said on X.

🪪 Licensed to Sell: The UAE is considering a proposal that would enable foreign companies to obtain operating licenses for periods of five years and 10 years as a business stimulus.

💱 Payment Standard: Oman’s central bank will introduce the use of IBAN codes to manage consumer payments, aligning the country with international standards to ease transactions and fight money laundering.

☀️ Green Finance: Saudi Arabia may sell green bonds for the first time as part of its new Green Finance Framework aimed at reducing carbon emissions and reaching net zero by 2060.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Arab countries including Saudi Arabia were prepared to “fully recognize Israel” at a campaign fundraising event at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Thursday, that was attended by his Democratic predecessors Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. 

Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of its Executive Council, approved the emirate’s tourism strategy that aims to raise the sector’s contribution to non-oil GDP to $24.5 billion and generate 178,000 jobs by 2030.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs met in Rome with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Italian Republic, where they discussed cooperation in trade, energy and investment.

Apr. 9, New York. The Information’s Private Capital Conference. An exclusive event for subscribers to join Founder and CEO Jessica Lessin and The Information’s reporters to discuss the future of technology and investing. New York Stock Exchange.

Apr. 16-17, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Green Hydrogen Summit 2024. Bringing together experts, policymakers, and industry leaders to explore opportunities and the industry’s future. Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center. 

Apr. 16-18, Abu Dhabi, UAE: World Future Energy Summit 2024. A platform to showcase the solutions to some of the most critical challenges identified at COP28. Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.

Apr. 16-18, Dubai, UAE. Middle East Energy. Energy leaders gather to debate and shape the future. Dubai World Trade Center.

Apr. 23-25, Dubai, UAE: GISEC Global. A forum for furthering the key discussions that are helping to define cyber resilience and connecting the global cybersecurity community. Dubai World Trade Center.

Apr. 25-26, Abu Dhabi, UAE: DriftX. An event for smart, autonomous and sustainable urban mobility across air, land, and sea organized in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Abu Dhabi’s Smart and Autonomous Vehicles Industry (SAVI) cluster and Bayanat. Yas Marina. 

Apr. 28-29, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: World Economic Forum Special Meeting. A gathering of investors, politicians and experts on topics of collaboration, growth and energy for economic development. TBC.

Apr. 29-May 1, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Future Hospitality Summit. An international gathering hosted in cities around the world bringing together the most influential hospitality investors and developers. Mandarin Oriental Al Faisaliah.

Apr. 29 – May 5, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. A key event for the publishing industry in the Middle East and North Africa. Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.  

Apr. 30-May 1, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Mobility Live. A conference and exhibition sponsored by the Abu Dhabi transport regulators, gathering disruptive technology developers in transportation and the public sector. Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.

Apr. 30-May 1, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Middle East Rail. The leading conference in the region for rail innovation, technology and strategy. Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center. 

May 13-15, Abu Dhabi, UAE: Abu Dhabi Global Healthcare Week. A conference focusing on investments, and innovation to solve the most important global health challenges. Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center and Abu Dhabi City.

May. 14-16, Doha, Qatar: Qatar Economic Forum, Powered by Bloomberg. A news-driven event dedicated to global business and investment. This year’s theme is “A World Remade: Navigating the Year of Uncertainty.” Request your invite here. Fairmont & Raffles, Doha.

May 29-31, Marrakech, Morocco: GITEX Africa. The second edition of the biggest tech and startup gathering in Africa. Place Bab Jdid.