Xi Jinping hails ‘new era’ in China-Saudi Arabia relations

Newsletter

11 Dec 2022

Xi Jinping hails ‘new era’ in China-Saudi Arabia relations. President pledges to strengthen ties with Gulf as visit coincides with low point between Riyadh and Washington. Chinese president Xi Jinping announced a “new era” in Beijing’s relationship with the Gulf region as he met Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Thursday and the two sides signed partnership deals. The deals included a memorandum of understanding between Huawei and the Saudi communication minister to establish 10-gigabits-per-second-speed mobile internet and a cloud-computing facility in the kingdom, as well as construction deals for 300,000 housing units. Huawei’s business dealings in the west have come under scrutiny over security concerns. (Financial Times)

The two nations also signed slew of energy and investment pacts
Though details on those were scant. They announced plans to synchronize Xi’s signature Belt and Road infrastructure program with the kingdom’s Vision 2030, which aims to wean the economy off a reliance on oil. Taken together, the moves show a willingness for the two countries to strengthen relations just as both see ties with the US cool. In October, President Joe Biden accused Riyadh of allying with Russia on oil production cuts, vowing unspecified “consequences.” Total US-Saudi trade shrank from some 76 billion USD in 2012 to $29 billion last year. The two countries will strengthen collaboration at the United Nations, the Group of 20 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Xi wrote in an editorial in Saudi newspaper Al Riyadh. (Bloomberg)
Egypt’s annual core inflation rate hits 21.5% in November: CBE
Egypt’s annual core inflation rate rose to 21.5% in November 2022, compared to 19% in October 2022. The monthly core consumer price index (CPI) inflation recorded 2.7% last November, compared to 0.5% in the same month of 2021 and 3% in October 2022. The annual headline urban CPI inflation recorded 18.7% in November 2022, compared to 16.2% in October 2022. It is worth noting that the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced that Egypt's annual headline inflation rate rose to 19.2% in November 2022, compared to 6.2% in the same month of 2021. (CBE)
Egypt sets master plan to boost foreign exchange reserves until June 2023
The Egyptian government is setting a master plan to boost foreign exchange reserves until June 30th, 2023, to secure the country’s needs of foreign currencies, Prime minister Mostafa Madbouly said. In the same vein, Madbouly indicated that the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) issued a resolution regarding documentary collections and the cancellation of letters of credit. The state could resolve all-related issues to the letters of credit within at least two months, he pointed out, noting that the government is making a great effort to get back to the pre-crisis levels of stability. (Arab Finance)
Egypt subsidizes exporters with 40 billion EGP in 30 months
Egyptian Ministry of Finance settled arrears owed to the Exports Development Fund of EGP 40 billion to support exporters in 30 months under the immediate cash payment initiative, Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait announced. The ministry will continue supporting exports to encourage industry and productivity as per the Presidential directives to bring exports to 100 billion USD. (Al Mal)
On Thursday, December 8th, 436 exporters disburse 2.5 billion EGP of their dues to the Exports Development fund as part of the second batch of beneficiaries
Under the fifth phase of the immediate cash payment initiative to support exporters. The remaining exporting companies will benefit from the initiative under the fifth phase in mid-December. the payment procedures are carried out through four banks, namely National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, and Export Development Bank of Egypt (EBank). The positive impacts of the immediate cash payment initiative were reflected in the increase in non-oil exports of 29.1% in fiscal year (FY) 2021/2022. (Al Mal)
Egypt’s 130 billion EGP budget reserves fully directed to resolve global crisis impacts.
Egypt’s budget reserves stand at around 130 billion EGP and are fully directed to partially resolves the negative impacts of the global crisis. Noting that offering further sources of supply of foreign currency represents the biggest challenge for the Egyptian state as the government coordinates with all relevant authorities, the Central Bank (CBE), and different ministries within the framework of a clear plan to attract foreign currency over the coming period. The state is keen on supporting the most-needy segments for subsidies by expanding Takaful and Krama initiatives, increasing subsidized commodities to these segments, and raising their wages. The prices of some commodities could increase due to higher costs of production inputs. (Hapi Journal)
Egypt’s ETA extends registration deadline in e-invoice system for single to April 30th
Egyptian Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait directed the Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA) to extend the deadline for all single entities to register in the e-invoice system to April 30th, 2023, instead of December 15th, 2022. Joint committees will be formed by the ETA and different targeted segments, including members of professional syndicates, to study and facilitate all the obstacles facing targeted segments in the e-invoice system. The minister also urged the authority to maximize efforts in raising awareness of single entities on the e-invoice system and different segments until the end of April 2023. (Arab Finance)
Beko lays foundation stone of 100 million USD home appliance plant in Egypt
The foundation stone laying ceremony of Beko’s first home appliances plant in Egypt and the Middle East took place. Spanning a total area of 120,000 square meters in the 10th of Ramadan city, Beko Egypt’s plant is being set up with 100 million USD in investments. Beko is a subsidiary of the global Arçelik Group in Turkey. The plant is expected to start manufacturing in the fourth quarter of 2023, adding that it will manufacture washing machines and ovens. The plant will contribute to meeting the demand of the local market as well as exporting to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. (Hapi Journal)
TAQA Arabia-Voltalia alliance to develop green hydrogen facility in Egypt
TAQA Arabia and its partner Voltalia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Egyptian government to develop, finance, and operate a 150-kilo-tons-per-annum green hydrogen production facility. The initial project will cover the construction of a green hydrogen facility with a capacity of 15,000 tons per year in a greenfield site near Ain Sokhna Port in the Suez Canal Economic Zone. The project will be expandable to up to 150,000 tons a year of green hydrogen with an electrolyzer of an aggregate of 1 gigawatt supplied by solar and wind energies of 2.7 gigawatts. (Hapi Journal)