Saudi Arabia’s drive to establish an electric vehicle industry in the kingdom – clinching deals over the past year with the U.S., China and Europe – will be on display this week during the Global EV and Mobility Technology Forum in Riyadh.

The two-day conference, which gets underway tomorrow at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center, will bring together senior government officials, financiers and car company executives – led by Faisal Sultan, Managing Director and Vice President of Lucid, the California EV-maker backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

Others scheduled to speak at the conference include Rusty Russell, Executive Director of Mobility at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Global; Shavaye Govender, Head of Business Development, Middle East, Africa and Pakistan at Uber; Fathi Tlatli, President of Global Sector Auto-Mobility for DHL; and Alex Gilbert, Head of Energy and Electrification and Commercial Development at Transport for London.

Lucid shares jumped 4% in Nasdaq trading on Monday after the company reported that second-quarter car deliveries grew 70% from the same period in 2023.

The PIF, which has a 60% stake in Lucid, opened a factory in the kingdom last year and has poured billions into the U.S. company as it looks to become a significant regional manufacturer.

The UAE is aiming to use its advances in space to prevent chaos at sea.

Launching its new Satgate project, the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure said it will employ satellites and artificial intelligence to locate ships, monitor sea conditions and forecast the weather, according to a statement issued today.

In collaboration with the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai, the project will also develop a database of ships that call at UAE ports and help maintain the security of maritime facilities and coasts by tracing the location of ships that are not connected to tracking devices.

At a time when oil tankers and cargo vessels are being attacked in both the Red Sea and the Gulf, the satellite project has the potential to make commercial sea traffic in the region more secure and financially competitive.

“Improving our tracking systems using advanced technology will enhance maritime transport and mitigate risks,” Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei said in the statement.

Oman is pushing forward with plans to impose a personal income tax on high-earning citizens and expats that would make it the first member of the GCC to take such a step.

The proposal, which has been floated by the government for more than a decade, was recently presented for consideration to the State Council, The National reports.

Introducing a personal income tax is in line with the country’s efforts to diversify its revenue streams and reduce its dependence on oil. If enacted, the tax would probably apply to citizens with net global income of $1 million or more and foreign nationals on Oman-sourced income above $100,000.

The proposed tax rates range between 5% to 9% for foreign nationals and a flat rate of 5% for Omanis.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have refrained from taxing individuals to make their countries more attractive to international companies and candidates for skilled jobs. 

Even as the most audacious blueprints for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s Vision 2030 are revised, Riyadh is still poised to be one of the fastest-growing cities in the world over the next decade as the kingdom’s mega-projects take root, according to British property consultancy Savills. 

Saudi Arabia’s capital city landed in the top 15 fastest-growing cities by 2033 — the only urban center outside of Asia on the list — according to the Savills Growth Hubs Index.

Indian and Chinese cities take five spots each in the top 15, followed by Vietnam with two, and the Philippines, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia with one each. The ranking is a compilation of forecasts of population, wealth and economic expansion. 

Riyadh is at the center of the kingdom’s diversification push away from oil as the city serves as regional headquarters to an influx of international companies.

Major new developments are also underway to improve livability. The mixed-use property development New Murabba and a new metro system are under construction as the city prepares to host the World Expo in 2030 and vies for the World Cup in 2034. 

The Middle East’s third largest city is expected to record a 26% uptick in population, taking Riyadh from 5.9 million to 9.2 million residents in 10 years. The new-arrivals boom is expected to result in continued government spending on massive infrastructure projects as well as improved amenities and services to accommodate the growing population, according to Savills.

“Saudi Arabia boasts a population of around 36 million people and, astonishingly, 67% are under the age of 35,” Richard Paul, Head of Professional Services & Consultancy Middle East, said in the report.

“The employment potential and ultimate spending power of this segment of the population over the next decade are enormous.”  

Dubai is planning to build what its leaders describe as the world’s largest and most advanced car market.

Officials signed a contract with DP World on Thursday to build and manage a 20 million square-foot facility connected to 77 international ports that is expected to generate an estimated $3.8 billion in sales.

“The new market will become a global hub that offers commercial services and logistics and financing solutions” for the automobile industry,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Ruler of Dubai and the UAE’s Vice President and Prime Minister, said in a statement released on Thursday.

The new compound – eight times the size of the city’s current car market – will enable buying, selling, registration and banking within its domain.

It will also host major conferences and events for the international automotive industry.

The UAE’s power man met with the head of SoftBank on Thursday as the Japanese firm is reportedly looking to make investments at the intersection of energy and artificial intelligence. 

Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, who in addition to serving in the Cabinet as Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology is also CEO of state-owned oil company ADNOC and Chairman of alternative energy firm Masdar, met with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son in Tokyo.

The pair discussed “trends in the energy, industry and advanced technology sectors, highlighting the importance of increasing strategic investments in these areas to enhance sustainable economic growth,” according to an Instagram post from the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology.

Abu Dhabi and SoftBank have a history: The capital’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala was an anchor investor in Son’s Vision Fund I, ultimately writing down its stake as the fund’s big play for WeWork went belly up.

SoftBank’s fortunes have since reversed with Arm. The U.K. chip designer it acquired in 2016 has more than doubled its market capitalization to about $170 billion since going public last year in New York.

The Information reported on Thursday that SoftBank is looking to borrow up to $10 billion from banks to enable investments in energy-related projects. The data centers that power AI are hugely energy-intensive and face growing demand.

SoftBank is also exploring ways to gain access to a large volume of Nvidia’s graphics processing units, the building block of AI development, the Silicon Valley publication reported. 

Al Jaber also met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as well as Hayashi Yoshimasa, Chief Cabinet Secretary; and Taro Kono, Minister of Digital Transformation.

Alongside UAE Minister of Foreign Trade Thani Al Zeyoudi, he met with Ken Saito, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan to discuss strengthening trade and investments in energy and advanced industry with the world’s fourth-largest economy. 

UAE virtual asset trading platform BitOasis has been bought for an undisclosed amount by India’s largest trading platform, CoinDCX.

Founded in 2016 by Ola Doudin, Tarek Kaylani and Daniel Robenek, BitOasis is MENA’s first and largest crypto asset exchange, available in 15 countries across the region for users to buy, hold and sell over 60 cryptocurrencies.

The company has processed over $6 billion in trading volume and raised more than $40 million in funding from CoinDCX and other investors including the UAE’s Wamda Capital; U.S. VC funds Jump Capitaland Pantera Capital; and Berlin-based Global Founders Capital.

CoinDCX will gain market entry into MENA with its acquisition, “capitalizing on its mature market and the population’s keen interest in crypto investment,” Sumit Gupta, Co-Founder of CoinDCX, said.

Startup exits are on the rise in the region. Forty-three were sold in 2023, up from 15 in 2015, according to funding platform Magnitt. 

Demand for new sources of natural gas as a cleaner alternative to oil is leading top Gulf energy companies to look at acquisition prospects in Australia. Most recently, both Saudi Aramco and UAE-owned ADNOC have considered making separate bids for Adelaide-based Santos Ltd., the country’s No. 3 producer of liquified natural gas, Bloomberg reports.

While none of the three companies confirmed discussions about a potential purchase, shares of Santos on the Australian Securities Exchange jumped as much as 6.5% after Wednesday’s report, boosting its market value to $17.9 billion. In the past, Santos has rejected takeover bids from U.S. and Australian competitors, as well as offers to buy just its LNG business.

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman announced on Tuesday that Aramco has discovered two natural gas fields and two natural gas reservoirs within the kingdom. The company said last week that it signed contracts worth more than $25 billion to expand its gas business.

Trade from Mediterranean gas fields, meanwhile, could be interrupted if the conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah turns into full-scale war, The National reports. Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Energy is a partner in Israel’s offshore Leviathan gas field, along with U.S.-based Chevron Corp.