Good morning, ladies and gents. It seems the pre-Eid slowdown is already upon us, as we start the week with a light issue featuring real estate agreements from our friends at Retal and the National Housing Company, Gaca’s regulatory makeover, and a meeting of Arab FMs with their French counterpart in Paris to prepare for the two-state solution conference set to be held in June. Let’s dive in.

HAPPENING TODAY-

Today is the final day to subscribe to Asas Makeen’s Nomu IPO. The company is offering 10% of its capital (good for 1 mn shares) at SAR 80 apiece to qualified investors, who are able to buy between 10 to 500k shares.

WEATHER- Winds will be picking up today, especially along the coast, and stirring up some dust in the Eastern Province, Northern Borders, Al-Jawf, Hail, Tabuk, Madinah, and Makkah

Riyadh is expected to see a high of 45°C and a low of 30°C today. Jeddah’s mercury will go as high as 37°C and as low as 27°C, while Makkah will see a 42°C high and 31°C low.

PSAs-

The Cultural Development Fund (CDF) launched Nama’ Accelerators, the first cultural businesses accelerator of its kind in the Kingdom, in partnership with the Culture Ministry and the Quality of Life program, according to a statement by the CDF.

The program kicks off with a Handicrafts Track targeting MSMEs across 11 crafts fields, including pottery, textiles, and woodworking. Participants will receive specialized training, business development support, and access to markets, with financial initiatives at the end.

Full details are available here.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Kingdom has launched Tourise, a global tourism platform to steer the industry’s direction for the next 50 years by unlocking investments, setting a sustainable future agenda, and operating year-round through digital collaboration, thematic working groups, cross-sector partnerships, white papers, and global indices, according to a press release.

The inaugural Tourise Summit in Riyadh is scheduled for 11–13 November 2025, bringing together international public and private sector leaders, CEOs, investors, innovators, and experts in tourism, technology, and culture. The invite-only event will focus on innovating sustainable and resilient solutions for the tourism industry, centered around themes including AI-powered tourism, investment, and travel experience innovation.

Accompanying the summit will be the Tourise Awards, recognizing destination achievements in sustainability, digital transformation and more, with nominations opening Monday, 2 June (here) and winners to be announced at the summit.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Aramco is looking for infrastructure investors, including pipelines, for its USD 100 bn Jafurah unconventional gas field, Reuters reports, citing people it says are familiar with the matter. The investment is set to assist in developing the Jafurah shale gas field while Arama retains majority ownership and remains in control of the project.

The project is set to begin production this year, adding some 2 bn cubic feet per day and raising gas production by 60% by 2030.

ALSO- Selling assets to free capital? Aramco is reportedly considering selling some assets to raise banknotes, asking unnamed investment bankers to come up with strategies to cash-in on assets, Reuters reports, citing two people it says are familiar with the matter. Sources also mentioned improving efficiencies and cutting costs as alternative strategies to increase liquidity.

#2- Neom Green Hydrogen Company (NGHC) is reportedly shifting attention to the local market after a slowdown in securing international buyers, Bloomberg reports, citing sources in-the-know.

The rationale: US-based co-developer Air Products & Chemical secured sales worth 70k tons green ammonia — a third of total capacity — to TotalEnergies SE for 2030 to 2045. However, it has reportedly failed to secure more customers, despite an initial commitment to purchase all output for resale.

The pivot: The project is reportedly shifting focus to the local market to shore up demand. The developers are also considering building the project in phases, while delaying investments until offtake agreements are signed. However, this could prove challenging as construction has already moved to advanced stages in some sections, the business information service reported.

Impact beyond Saudi: Air Products told Bloomberg the home facility is progressing well, with products set to be available in 2027. However, the company delayed investments in receiving terminals located in Europe, citing muddy regulations and lack of firm commitments by customers.

BACKGROUND- Neom, Air Products, and Acwa Power are equal partners in the joint venture NGHC, marketed as the world’s largest green hydrogen production facility. The mega facility will produce up to 600 tons of green hydrogen per day, with the capacity to produce 1.2 mn tons of green ammonia annually. The plant will source its power needs from up to 4 GW of solar and wind energy.

#3- Egypt deposits converted into investments? The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is working to finalize a swap agreement involving Saudi Arabia’s deposits, which would convert some of the Kingdom’s outstanding deposits into new investments in Egypt’s real estate and other sectors, a government source told EnterpriseAM.

The details: The source didn’t disclose the nature of the proposed projects but noted that several agreements are currently under review, which are expected to significantly boost Egypt’s FDI. Half of the proceeds will be directed to the public treasury to help meet the growing financial needs of the upcoming fiscal year, with the financing gap set to amount to EGP 3.6 tn.

Our deposits at the CBE currently stand at around USD 10.3 bn — USD 5 bn in short-term deposits renewed annually, and USD 5.3 bn in medium-term deposits maturing in October 2026, according to the CBE data.

#4- US-based energy and defense corporation General Atomics is negotiating to sell the Kingdom up to 200 MQ-9 drones, along with several other variants, the company’s spokesman Mark Brinkley told Breaking Defense. No timeline or investment ticket was provided, and nothing official from the Saudi government has been published.

Not the first time hearing this: Sources told Reuters Last month that General Atomics was in talks with Saudi Arabia for a USD 20 bn agreement, including the sale of MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones and other aircraft — a month before US President Donald Trump’s visit.

All part of the big US-Saudi partnership: Trump’s Riyadh visit sealed a USD 140 bn defense pact, touted the largest in history, providing the Kingdom with a wide range of weapons and services from over a dozen US defense firms. It covers modernization of air, space, maritime, border, and land forces, plus communication systems.

#5- The US Treasury Department lifted sanctions on Syria on Friday, allowing US-based entities, as well as allies and partners, to invest and do business there, according to a press release.

The new regulation opens the door for investment across all sectors, including oil and banking, albeit it still blocks agreements that involve officials from the former Assad government, human rights abusers, war criminals, and terrorist organizations, as well as transactions that benefit Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

We knew this was coming: US President Donald Trump announced his intention to end the sanctions on Syria during his visit to the Kingdom earlier this month, saying that the move aims to “give them a chance at greatness.” The decision comes amid growing regional efforts, including those by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to support and engage with Syria’s new government under President Ahmed Al Sharaa.

#6- Investment firm Actis is in talks to invest in data centers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Head of the Middle East and Africa at Actis Sherif Elkholy told Ashraq Business (watch, runtime: 7:19).

The firm is also eyeing investments across various sectors in the GCC, including renewables, with its existing portfolio in the region valued at around USD 500 mn. Elkhouly added that Actis is pursuing an expansionary strategy across Africa and the Middle East, with plans to scale up its presence in key markets there.

DATA POINTS-

#1- Saudi Arabia’s internet penetration rate reached 99% in 2024, maintaining near-universal access across all regions and age groups, according to the Saudi Internet Report 2024 (pdf) from the Communications, Space, and Technology Commission.

The breakdown: The Kingdom saw heavy daily internet use, with 48.6% of users spending over seven hours online per day. WhatsApp led social media usage with a 92.2% adoption rate, followed by YouTube with 79.9%, Snapchat with 79%, and TikTok with 74.6%.

MEANWHILE- The average monthly mobile internet data consumption reached 48 GB per user, three times the global average. The median download speed on mobile 5G networks reached 318.6 MB/s, while fixed internet speeds climbed to 120.4 MB/s. Meanwhile, the number of registered Saudi domain names grew by 25%, expanding at a rate eight times faster than the global average.

#2- Trains in the Kingdom transported over 35 mn passengers and 3.8 mn tons of minerals and goods in 1Q 2025, the Transport General Authority said in a post on X. Intracity trains carried 32.3 mn passengers, led by Riyadh Metro with 25 mn, while intercity trains served 3.4 mn passengers, a 25% y-o-y increase, with the Haramain high-speed train onboarding 2.8 mm.

Freight volumes rose 9% y-o-y, with the Northern train network handling 3.4 mn tons of cargo and the Eastern train network transporting over 377k tons of cargo.

#3- Some 890.9k pilgrims have arrived in the Kingdom as of Friday, with 846.4k coming by air, 41.6k by land, and 2.8k by sea, according to a press release (pdf) citing the latest figures from the General Directorate of Passports.

OIL WATCH-

Opec+ is mulling a third oil production increase in July, to be decided at its 1 June meeting, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed delegates. The cartel could approve a further 411k barrels a day (bbl / d) increase for July, but no final agreement has been reached yet, the delegates said.

Still a lot to go through: Opec+ is still holding back nearly 5 mn bbl / d from the market, with many of these cuts set to stay through 2026. Hikes are likely through October, with a plan to unwind 2.2 mn bbl / d of voluntary cuts by November unless quota violators like Iraq and Kazakhstan improve compliance, after the group agreed on an an accelerated timeline in April.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

US President Trump is back into the habit of tariff threats, this time targeting EU goods with a 50% tariff set to start in June. The threats also extended to US tech giant Apple, with Trump saying he is considering a 25% levy on iPhones manufactured outside the US, which could also apply to “Samsung and anybody that makes” smartphones.

ALSO- Japan’s Nippon Steel got the green light from Trump for its long-stalled merger of US Steel on Friday. The USD 14.9 bn transaction was blocked by former president Biden back in January on the grounds of national security concerns.

CLOSER TO HOME- The extensive Israeli offensive continues: Gaza’s Health Ministry said Saturday that 79 bodies were brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours, excluding the toll from the north part of the enclave, where healthcare infrastructure has been rendered completely inaccessible.

The toll includes nine of the ten children of Alaa Najjar, a pediatrician at the Nasser Medical Complex whose home has been struck Friday. Seven arrived at the hospital where Najjar works, while two remained under the rubble at least until Saturday morning, with her husband — also a doctor — in critical condition.