Saudi man turns historic family home into cultural center

Seifalah Sharbatly shared that the restoration of Sharbatly House took place before Al-Balad became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Supplied)
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Seifalah Sharbatly shared that the restoration of Sharbatly House took place before Al-Balad became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Supplied)
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Updated 04 August 2024
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Saudi man turns historic family home into cultural center

Saudi man turns historic family home into cultural center
  • Seifalah Sharbatly’s project is promoting awareness of the Kingdom’s cultural heritage

JEDDAH: One of the oldest structures in Jeddah’s historic Al-Balad district, the 19th-century Sharbatly House, has been transformed into a center hosting cultural, literary, artistic, scientific and intellectual events.

The renovations were carried out by Abdullah Sharbatly’s grandson, businessman Seifalah Sharbatly, who sought to modernize the building while preserving its character, foundation and interiors, as well as its original brick walls. New materials exported from countries including Sweden and Egypt comply with strict heritage preservation standards.




Seifalah Sharbatly shared that the restoration of Sharbatly House took place before Al-Balad became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Supplied)

Sharbatly told Arab News that every tile placed in the historic building was a link to its heritage. “You will find written on the back of the tile, ‘Made in Hejjaz’,” he said. The process of searching for antique tiles of the same shape took a long time, he added.

He put his heart and soul into every detail of the project, aiming not just to restore the building but revitalize it and turn it into a cultural hub.

HIGHLIGHT

• Many historic houses in the area were abandoned until the Ministry of Culture led the project to revive Al-Balad and transform its heritage into tourist attractions.

“The idea of creating a cultural house came from my passion for art, culture and poetry, and from my keenness to preserve the historic building left by our grandfather,” he said. “The idea began in 2013 when I visited our house, abandoned and collapsing in some parts, including ceilings, and covered in dust.”




The Ministry of Culture led the project to revitalize Al-Balad and turn its heritage into tourist attractions. (Supplied)

Soon after he approached his father and made a case for extensive renovations that would bring the property into the 21st century, which was agreed.

The work took a long time, said Sharbatly: “I thought it would take me around three years to complete the renovation but it took me seven years.”

The restoration took place before Al-Balad became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The idea of creating a cultural house came from my passion for art, culture and poetry, and from my keenness to preserve the historic building left by our grandfather.

Seifalah Sharbatly, Saudi businessman

“We were ahead of the preservation of the area’s heritage program,” added Sharbatly.

The four-story building, located on Al-Bayaa Square, was built in the late 19th century by Al-Sharif Abdulilah Mihanna Al-Abdaly. It was later sold to Abdullah Sharbatly and became the family home.

In its time it served as the headquarters of the Egyptian mission in Saudi Arabia, and for some 30 years was a vital touchpoint for Egyptian traders and entrepreneurs doing business in the Kingdom upon arrival through Jeddah’s sea ports.

“After I restored the house to the best of my ability, I didn’t want the house to be like other historic houses in the area, of which most (became) museums,” Sharbatly said. “So I seriously thought to make it different by paying attention to it and introducing ideas that would restore to it the sparkle that it had almost lost over the years.”

Sharbatly said he wanted the house to promote Saudi cultural identity.

“Our vision for the cultural house is (for it) to become a home to all artists — from professionals to amateurs, from established to emerging, and from traditional to contemporary,” he said.

Many historic houses in the area were abandoned until the Ministry of Culture led the project to revive Al-Balad and transform its heritage into tourist attractions.

Speaking about the efforts, Sharbatly said: “The ministry’s initiative is not just to create a tourist destination but also to bring our generation and their children back to what was once the beating heart of Jeddah.

“It was a great initiative to revive the district and restore it to its glory days, recapturing its charm and significance as a cultural destination.”

When the Ministry of Culture took control of the area, Sharbatly sat with officials to present his vision and long-term plan.

Then he moved ahead with a new, more ambitious project: “The house has become one of the most popular cultural spots,” he added.

The Sharbatly House project has played a pivotal role in promoting awareness of the Kingdom’s cultural heritage among both local and international visitors. To continue his passion for promoting culture, the graduate student from the American University in Cairo hopes to expand his dream by creating a huge cultural area in Al-Balad.

“I hope one day to (make) my house as big as (the) El-Sawy Culture Wheel, which is considered one of the most important cultural venues in Egypt,” said Sharbatly.

He also revealed a new mission: “Right now I am in negotiation with the Saudi officials to save my other grandfather’s house, which is located in Al-Ruwais area.

“Unfortunately, the house is scheduled to be demolished along with the rest of buildings. I am trying to convince them not to demolish (it) because it is a historic house and valuable and could be preserved and promoted.”

 


WWE, Riyadh Season to host Night of Champions in June

WWE, Riyadh Season to host Night of Champions in June
Updated 18 sec ago
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WWE, Riyadh Season to host Night of Champions in June

WWE, Riyadh Season to host Night of Champions in June
  • Kingdom Arena to hold event on June 27

RIYADH: World Wrestling Entertainment, in collaboration with Riyadh Season, will host the Night of Champions event at the Kingdom Arena, part of the Kingdom’s ongoing commitment to creating international entertainment, the Saudi Press Agency has reported.

The SmackDown show will take place on Friday, June 27.

The event will be exclusively live on Peacock in the US but will also be available on Netflix and other outlets for people in Saudi Arabia.


Saudi Arabia, US explore ways to build next generation of AI

Saudi Arabia, US explore ways to build next generation of AI
Updated 50 min 13 sec ago
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Saudi Arabia, US explore ways to build next generation of AI

Saudi Arabia, US explore ways to build next generation of AI
  • Partnerships key, says David Sacks, Silicon Valley veteran
  • Google’s Ruth Porat outlines her firm’s work in Kingdom

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and US officials discussed ways to further collaborate on artificial intelligence at the Saudi-US Investment Forum here on Tuesday.

The discussions took place during two sessions titled “Pioneering Digital Futures: Joint Leadership in AI and Emerging Technologies,” and “Digital Foundations: Building the Next Generation of AI and Infrastructure.”

In the first session, the speakers were Saudi Minister of Information and Communications Technology Abdullah Alswaha and David Sacks, a Silicon Valley veteran who is helping the administration of President Donald Trump develop the crypto industry.

Sacks said he was impressed, during his tour of some technology companies, that founders and entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia “are really on the cutting edge of what’s happening with AI.”

“The thing that that I’ve learned in Silicon Valley for the past 25 years is that every successful company in Silicon Valley gets to be that way by creating an ecosystem, and the biggest, the most powerful companies … are the ones that create the biggest ecosystem.”

“In fact, they do that by creating a standard. They want everyone to build on top of them. They create app stores, things like that. In fact, they’re able to build these ecosystems without even having any lawyers involved.

“There’s no need for a contract. You just publish an API (Application Programming Interface) and people will build. And I think in a similar way, the United States needs to encourage the world to build on our text that.

He spoke about how Trump challenged them to be at the forefront of the AI race. “He said, we have to win the AI race. The United States has to win the AI race,” Sacks said.

“And the answer is that we have to build the biggest partner ecosystem. We need our friends like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other strategic partners and allies to want to build on our cap.”

Sacks also criticized what has become known as former US President Joe Biden’s diffusion rule.

This restricted access to mainstream computing applications and set caps on the number of advanced chips that could be exported to most countries.

“Over the past few years, that’s been the opposite of the approach in Washington,” said Sacks.

“The Trump administration just announced that (it) would be rescinding what’s known as the Biden diffusion rule, which was a rule that came out in January.”

Using iPhones as an example, Sacks said that if Trump had created a rule for these products, the technology backing it would not have spread throughout the world.

He said that the diffusion of iPhones was “a very good thing” for the US.

“I think in a similar way, we want our technology to diffuse or to spread. We want people to use it. We want to become the standard.

“And I think that in Washington, that mentality is, I think that sorely lacked over the past few years, but we’re gonna bring it back.”

In the later session CEOs and tech innovators discussed growth in this sector globally, and developments in the Kingdom.

Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Alphabet and Google, outlined her company’s work in Saudi Arabia.

“Google is now building data centers, bringing graphic processing units, tensor processing units, and developing the most advanced version of our AI software Gemini which is now available in 16 Arabic dialects,” said Porat.


Saudi Stock Exchange chair says Vision 2030 has turned Kingdom into ‘reliable, investible destination’

Saudi Stock Exchange chair says Vision 2030 has turned Kingdom into ‘reliable, investible destination’
Updated 13 May 2025
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Saudi Stock Exchange chair says Vision 2030 has turned Kingdom into ‘reliable, investible destination’

Saudi Stock Exchange chair says Vision 2030 has turned Kingdom into ‘reliable, investible destination’

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has become a more attractive destination for investment since the Kingdom introduced its ambitious Vision 2030, according to the head of the Saudi Stock Exchange Sarah Al-Suhaimi.

“Eight years into Vision 2030, (it) has turned Saudi Arabia to a reliable and investible destination; this has been proven by numbers and I think this is just the beginning,” Al-Suhaimi said during the Saudi-US Investment Forum on Tuesday.

It had been made possible under the Kingdom’s leadership and by everyone working in the Saudi capital market to “create a market that is globally integrated, open and trustworthy” — from local and international participants alike, she said.

“Particularly, as we are in the Saudi-US investment forum, I would like to mention a few examples of a very old relationship (between both countries).

“One of them, if we talk about capital market infrastructure, our partnership between Nasdaq — an American stock exchange — goes more than 20 years back. And now we’re working together on upgrading those systems.”

Tuesday's session hosted Saudi Stock Exchange Sarah Al-Suhaimi alogside BlackRock CEO Larry Fink (R), and Saudi economist Muhammed Al-Jasser (L). (Supplied)

Al-Suhaimi said that the Saudi Stock Exchange, or Tadawul, was among the world’s largest stock exchanges.

“We have a very advanced stock exchange, which also led us to be one of the tenth largest exchanges in the world.”

The same session also hosted Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, who said it was “quite remarkable what Saudi Arabia has done” in diversifying its economy — whether in tourism, life sciences, gaming and sports, and AI.

“I think it is so wonderful and but also quite remarkable what the Kingdom has done,” Fraser said.

“This is now mutually a beneficial relationship. Now, this isn’t the US coming in saying to Saudi what the advice is and what to do, this is about trying to support a partner, but equally a partner supporting the US back home as well,” she said.

Meanwhile, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said tens of trillions of dollars of financial firepower is sitting idle in cash amid trade war worries and uncertainty over the United States economy, whose deficits are beginning to spook investors.

“There is 12 trillion euros sitting in bank accounts in Europe. In the United States, there's $11 trillion sitting in money markets funds. When there is uncertainty, you are going to keep more and more money in cash and that is what we witnessed,” Fink told delegates at the Riyadh forum. 

He also praised Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 economic transformation program, saying the kingdom was building a diversified economy that had potential to become a 21st century global leader.

(with input from Reuters) 

 


Saudi Arabia sees private sector surge, unemployment at record low, says finance minister

Saudi Arabia sees private sector surge, unemployment at record low, says finance minister
Updated 13 May 2025
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Saudi Arabia sees private sector surge, unemployment at record low, says finance minister

Saudi Arabia sees private sector surge, unemployment at record low, says finance minister
  • Mohammed Al-Jadaan spoke at US-Saudi Investment Forum in Riyadh 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said on Tuesday the Kingdom had tackled difficult structural changes at an incredible pace over the past seven years.

Speaking at the US-Saudi Investment Forum in Riyadh, Al-Jadaan said private investment as a percentage of gross domestic product could take decades, but Saudi Arabia was boasting growth in the private sector from 16 to 23 percent.

He added: “Saudi Arabia currently has the lowest unemployment rate in the country’s history with about 3.5 percent, and among the nationals the Kingdom achieved its target for Vision 2030 with the rate being 7 percent.”

Al-Jadaan also said there had been major structural changes regarding women’s empowerment.

He said: “Bringing half of your society to the productive part of the economy is significant and that drives a serious change. Moving from 17 percent of women participating in the workforce to 36 percent is a serious structural change.”

Meanwhile, the minister said the Kingdom’s target of 100 million tourists by 2030 had been achieved two years ago, and added: “When you have a leadership that sets a clear vision and mobilizes the nation behind it, the people of Saudi Arabia then own it and see that this is their vision, their country and their transformation.”

US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said the US prioritized its relationship with Saudi Arabia.

He added: “President Trump’s economic agenda focuses on three parts: trade, tax bills and deregulation.”

Bessent said the US was working to rebalance its economy with the focus on manufacturing, and hoped China would shift to a consumer economy.

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih welcomed attendees at the event and thanked the Kingdom’s leadership for hosting the event. 

“We are here to realize the intentions of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to broaden Saudi Arabia’s investment and trade in the amount of $600 billion,” he said.


Trump’s Saudi visit pivotal for ‘global peace, security’: Princess Reema

Trump’s Saudi visit pivotal for ‘global peace, security’: Princess Reema
Updated 13 May 2025
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Trump’s Saudi visit pivotal for ‘global peace, security’: Princess Reema

Trump’s Saudi visit pivotal for ‘global peace, security’: Princess Reema
  • Partnership ‘critical’ amid global challenges, says ambassador
  • Greater Saudi-US investments will be key outcome of the trip

RIYADH: US President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia this week is key to global stability and prosperity, the Kingdom’s ambassador to the US wrote in the Washington Times.

Princess Reema bint Bandar highlighted the enduring relationship between Saudi Arabia and the US as the president arrives in the Kingdom on Tuesday, his first state visit during his second stint in the White House.

“It is a moment pivotal for global peace, security and prosperity,” Princess Reema wrote in the Washington Times on May 12. “Today, as the world navigates new challenges and conflicts, that partnership is more critical than ever.”

Princess Reema, who presented her credentials to Trump in 2019 when assuming her role as ambassador, said the two nations’ alliance was “not just history; it is a reimagined future.”

Just before his last visit, Saudi Arabia had embarked on major national reforms, under Saudi Vision 2030, which included widespread economic, cultural and social changes, Princess Reema stated.

She added that nearly eight years after he made the Kingdom his first state visit, Trump would “step off Air Force One to find the Vision becoming a reality.”

“As we proudly open our doors to Mr. Trump and his delegation, we look to highlight the tremendous journey our nation has undertaken and the new heights our relationship with the U.S. has reached, now including sectors such as manufacturing, technology, cybersecurity and even space exploration.”

She highlighted the progress the Kingdom has made including the non-oil economy now contributing 50 percent to the country’s real gross domestic product, “marking a historic milestone.”

In addition, Saudi women make up nearly 40 percent of the nation’s workforce, “with many in leadership positions, enjoying the same rights as men, including equal pay.

“Young Saudis are experiencing a renaissance in arts, entertainment, sports and science, all while preserving our proud cultural heritage. This is a new Saudi Arabia, open to the world, and we invite Americans to look more closely.”

A key gathering on Tuesday is the Saudi-US Investment Forum, an invitation-only event at Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel.

It has been reported that business leaders including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Fink will attend.

Arab News’ sources reveal that about 15 Saudi ministers and top-level officials will be present, as well as the CEOs of some of the Kingdom’s biggest companies and giga-projects, in addition to hundreds of business leaders from both countries.

Princess Reema stated: “The Saudi Arabia that Mr. Trump will visit is investing billions of dollars in fostering new economic sectors such as tourism, artificial intelligence, clean energy, culture and sports.

“It is a dynamic society where youths are pioneering the future and women are at the forefront of the Vision,” the ambassador stated.

Princess Reema added that sustainable partnership begins with reciprocity, as outlined by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“The crown prince’s pledge of investing $600 billion in the United States over the next four years promises mutual prosperity that aligns with our diversification goals under Vision 2030 and Mr. Trump’s goals for economic growth.”

At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, Trump hinted at even greater ambitions. He said he would ask the crown prince to raise the investment target to $1 trillion, describing it as a natural extension of a robust and trusted partnership.

Saudi Arabia’s Economy Minister Faisal Alibrahim confirmed at the forum that the $600 billion pledge encompassed both government-led procurement and private-sector investment in key areas including defense, energy, infrastructure and technology.

In 2017, the countries signed several investment agreements worth about $400 billion.

The crown prince said in 2018 that part of the “armaments will be manufactured in Saudi Arabia, so it will create jobs in America and Saudi Arabia, good trade, good benefits for both countries and also good economic growth. Plus, it will help our security”.

Princess Reema stated that the two nations’ collaboration has been important for dealing with global crises.

Amid an increasingly volatile geopolitical landscape, leadership and alliances are more vital than ever, she wrote.

“Almost every major global challenge is being addressed with urgency through collaboration and a strong Saudi-U.S. alliance.

“From conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip to stability in Syria and Sudan, Saudi Arabia is playing a critical role in addressing the world’s most pressing challenges.

“Partnership with the United States is essential to success.”