Economy

CAIRO: Speaking exclusively with Arab News, Nour Taher, CEO and founder of the company, said Intella has begun relocating its headquarters to the Kingdom after gaining massive traction in the country.  The move is evidence of how Saudi Arabia is making strides in the field of artificial intelligence and positioning itself at the forefront of the AI revolution in the Middle East.  “Saudi is becoming a hub for tech companies, and we plan on playing a core role in the Saudi tech ecosystem,” Taher said. 

RIYADH: In order to meet the growing travel demand between Riyadh and Dubai, flyadeal is going to increase daily flights to the emirate, the Saudi Press Agency reported.  The Kingdom’s low-cost airline has increased the total number of flights operating between King Khalid International Airport and Dubai International Airport to five per day, with an average weekly frequency of 33. 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s digital economy landscape has earned additional recognition as Saudi Payments, also known as Mada, received the Best Payment Experience of 2023 award at Seamless Middle East, a commercial technology event held in Dubai. Operating under the umbrella of the Saudi Central Bank, Mada was awarded for its public transport payments services in the Kingdom’s urban mobility space.

BENGALURU: US money market funds saw big inflows in the week to May 24 as investors favored safer bets ahead of a deadline for politicians to agree an increase in the country’s debt ceiling, according to Reuters. According to Refinitiv Lipper data, US money market funds received a net $39.9 billion of inflows, the biggest week of net buying in four weeks.

RIYADH: US-based destination marketing company Beverly Hills Conference & Visitors Bureau is exploring partnerships in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East to create and develop tourist-friendly locations.  Speaking to Arab News in Riyadh, Julie Wagner, CEO of BHCVB, said: “We are here to see all the new developments in Riyadh, as Saudi Arabia has been making a lot of inroads in creating a tourism-friendly destination.” 

RIYADH: Oil prices softened in early trade on Friday, weighed down by conflicting messages from Russia and Saudi Arabia ahead of the next policy meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+,  and a stronger dollar, according to Reuters. Brent crude fell 30 cents to $75.96 a barrel at 3:15 a.m. GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate was down by 14 cents at $71.69 a barrel.

RIYADH: Entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia are set to benefit from an investment of $7.5 million by Saudi Venture Capital into a fund aimed at helping early and late-stage startups.  The fund is managed by Endeavor Catalyst, the investment arm of Endeavor Global. The investment is part of SVC’s drive to inject $1.6 billion into startups and small and medium enterprises. SVC is a subsidiary of SME Bank, one of the development banks affiliated with the National Development Fund.