Arab News Business Weekly Review - July 1
This week: Saudi film industry boosts jobs, growth; PIF embraces precision finance; MENA firms surge with fresh funding, bold pivots.

Arab News Business Weekly Review - July 1

Growing Saudi film industry driving job creation, economic growth

 Since lifting the cinema ban in 2018, Saudi Arabia has rapidly transformed its film industry into a key engine of job creation and economic diversification.

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PIF embraces ‘precision finance’ with diversified debt strategy, says Global SWF

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is embracing a calibrated, multi-instrument approach to debt issuance described by Global SWF as a model of “precision finance.”

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MENA firms surge with fresh funding, bold pivots

Startups across the Middle East and North Africa are attracting fresh capital, forging strategic partnerships, and expanding into new verticals as regional innovation gains momentum.

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Battery cost drops and govt drive help Kingdom achieve EV goals

A rapid decline in battery prices and critical mineral costs, along with effective government initiatives, are expected to help Saudi Arabia achieve its goal of electrifying 30 percent of vehicles in Riyadh by 2030, according to experts.

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Saudi FDI net inflows jump 44% in Q1 to $5.9bn

Saudi Arabia attracted SR22.2 billion ($5.9 billion) in net foreign direct investment in the first quarter of 2025, up 44 percent year on year, driven by rising inflows and sharply lower capital outflows. 

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Saudi IPO proceeds hit $2.8bn in H1 as flynas leads market activity

Saudi Arabia’s equity capital market maintained strong momentum in the first half of 2025, with six companies raising a combined $2.8 billion through initial public offerings on the main Tadawul exchange.  

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Saudi unemployment rate hits historic low of 2.8% in Q1: GASTAT

Saudi Arabia’s overall unemployment rate fell to a record low of 2.8 percent in the first quarter of 2025, down 0.7 percentage points from the previous quarter, official data showed.

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Saudi Arabia’s PIF assets rise 18% to $1.15tn as portfolio firms drive growth 

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund boosted its total assets to SR4.32 trillion ($1.15 trillion) by the end of 2024, an 18 percent increase compared to the previous year, according to a disclosure filed with the London Stock Exchange.

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Syria to expand stock trading week, launch market reforms to boost investment

Syria is set to expand stock market trading to five days a week starting in July, part of a broader push to modernize its exchange and attract more investors, officials said. 

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Egypt exceeds growth forecasts with 4.77% quarterly expansion, fastest in 3 years

Egypt’s economy expanded 4.77 percent in the third quarter of fiscal year 2024/2025, its fastest pace in three years, as growth rebounded across non-oil manufacturing, tourism, and telecommunications, official data showed. 

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