Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah signed a series of cooperation agreements in Riyadh on Sunday.
Our security is one, our interests are interconnected, our goals are common
Deals were signed in different fields including education, scientific research, sports, youth and direct investment among others, during the first Saudi-Kuwaiti Co-ordination Council meeting.
“Under the guidance of the leaderships of the Kingdom and Kuwait, may God bless them, I held today with my brother the first meeting of the Saudi-Kuwaiti Coordination Council, in order strengthen the close and historical ties and deep-rooted brotherhood that brings together the two peoples and the two brotherly countries,” Prince Farhan tweeted.
He said the Council will “enhance the process of development and joint coordination between the two countries in many fields, and will contribute to pushing them towards broader horizons, and will also reflect positively on the joint Gulf action so that our countries and peoples can enjoy more prosperity.”
Saudi Arabia's total exports to Kuwait totaled around $1.62 billion prior to the global Covid-19 pandemic, according to the United Nations Comtrade database on international trade relations. Kuwait's exports totalled $658 million worth of goods to Saudi Arabia in 2019, according to the same database.
Bilateral trade between both countries benefits from free movement of people, albeit hindered by Covid-19, and a fixed five per cent customs duty on Gulf Cooperation Council borders, as part of their membership of the GCC.
“Our security is one, our interests are interconnected, our goals are common, and we consider activating this council a strong factor in raising the level of coordination and consultation between us, whether at the bilateral or multilateral level, regarding all issues of concern to our two countries in the region and the world,” Prince Faisal said during the talks.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomed Kuwait’s Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmad in Riyadh on his first official visit to Saudi Arabia last week.
They were joined by the oil and foreign ministers.
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which share oilfields in a neutral zone on the boundary of the two countries, last year began production at one of the fields after a five-year hiatus.
Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
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Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
