MUMBAI: Indian shares traded lower on Wednesday as metal and pharmaceutical stocks declined ahead of the country’s biggest initial public offering and an expected rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.56 percent at 16,973.95 by 0456 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.31 percent to 56,798.83.
The Indian markets were closed on Tuesday for a holiday.
State-owned Life Insurance Corp’s $2.7 billion IPO, India’s largest, opened to subscriptions from retail and other investors on Wednesday following strong demand from anchor investors led by domestic mutual funds.
The Indian government expects to raise the sum, just a third of its original target, from selling a 3.5 percent stake in the country’s top insurance company, giving it an initial value of $78.52 billion.
The subscription, set to close on May 9, will offer a discount to employees and retail investors of 45 rupees ($0.59) per share. LIC policyholders will be offered a discount of 60 rupees per share.
The price range for the issue has been set between 902 rupees and 949 rupees per share.
After a reservation for employees and policyholders, the remaining shares will be allocated in a ratio of 50 percent to qualified institutional buyers, 35 percent to retail investors and 15 percent to non-institutional investors.
The final IPO price will be determined after the subscription closes.
Dairy Queen all set to enter India
Dairy Queen is looking to China and perhaps India to fuel growth, while counting on a revamped burger menu to bring in more American and Canadian customers.
Troy Bader, chief executive of International Dairy Queen Inc. since 2018, expects international markets to be the fastest-growing for the 82-year-old restaurant chain, which Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought in 1998.
China is Dairy Queen’s third-largest market by sales and second-largest by store count, with more than 1,100 locations. The Bloomington, Minnesota-based company is teaming up with private equity firm FountainVest Partners to add 600 more by 2030.
“What we’ve seen over time is the ever-growing middle class and income levels in China, which makes our brand and our products much more accessible,” Bader, 57, said in an April 29 interview during Berkshire’s annual shareholder weekend.
Dairy Queen has more than 7,000 locations in 20 countries, none in Russia or Ukraine.
While the pandemic delayed international expansion, Bader said India could be next.
DUBAI: In a bid to become a global wellness hub, AMAALA has merged under the aegis of The Red Sea Development Co. with tourism plans of its own.
“AMAALA is all about wellness, ultra-luxury hospitality and caters to a different segment than the rest of the development along the Red Sea,” Ahmed Ghazi Darwish, the chief administrative officer at TRSDC and AMAALA, told Arab News on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market. “We want to be the top wellness hub in the world.”
The first phase of the ambitious project will be complete by the end of 2024, which will include SR5 billion ($1.3 billion) worth of signed contracts. The luxury destination has also emphasized localization of the projects, with 78 percent of the contracts granted to Saudi contractors. The undertaking will develop nine resorts by the end of 2024.
Tech has been integrated in the plans, with an aim to make The Red Sea Project and AMAALA fully functioning smart cities.
“There is a huge scope for digital destinations for both Red Sea and AMAALA projects, both will absolutely be smart cities,” said Darwish. “We are working on getting sensors for the environment to monitor our impact and help us get the right data. At the same time, we will heavily rely on tech for a smoother customer journey.”
While TRSDC is responsible for developing both projects, AMAALA will focus on wellness. The sovereign wealth fund, PIF, wholly owns both mega-tourism projects.
The development holds a lot of promise in light of the 2021 Global Wellness Economy report, which has projected an annual growth rate of 21 per cent from 2020 to 2025. The report also highlighted that wellness travel is predicted to outpace all other sectors of the overall wellness economy.
“The topography of AMAALA is different from the rest of the Red Sea; there are mountains next to the sea and one island,” said Darwish.
“We are starting at base zero for tourism, so it’s a clean slate. We want to focus on the sustainability of regenerative tourism. Beyond green practices, we want to be a regenerative tourism hotspot and have a better impact on the place than when we started.”
The Red Sea Project aims to draw tourists and visitors worldwide. But to do that, certain conditions need to be met, including new social standards and flexible laws.
“We are working on special economic zones for these projects, on tourism regulations to allow these destinations to be successful,” said Darwish. “This is still in progress and we are trying to get that ready for the first phase of guests. We are working hand-in-hand with the government, tourism board, and several agencies.”
So far, AMAALA has 500 employees and plans for another 300 to come on board by the end of the year.
“The beauty of those projects, the most critical thing, is we are creating jobs, and not just in hospitality, but electricians, tour guides, ground handlers and more,” said Darwish.
TRSDC also runs a program called the Elite Graduate Program that identifies talented youth and offers opportunities to learn on the job for both projects.
A total of 110 fresh graduates have successfully completed the program and will soon be yielding to the increasing demand from hiring managers and employers.
TRSDC partnered with the University of Prince Mugrin to offer 120 scholarships for students studying hospitality ahead of the imminent tourism boom in the Kingdom. The degree is accredited by the prestigious Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne.
“It’s an outstanding program. We have set the bar high, and students are already representing us in conferences,” said Darwish. “Besides the bachelor’s degree, we offer vocational training on everything from electrical to ground handling at the airport.”
The company has also funded an Environmental Stewards program to spread awareness of green practices.
“Part of it is about improving the environment, nature and habitat. The rest is about improving the livelihood of people through better education and training,” he said. “We are providing jobs and creating awareness about the environment in the community.”
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment announced on Saturday that it will organize the Saudi-Thai Investment Forum in the capital, Riyadh, on Monday. The forum will be hosted by the Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih and Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, and will feature participation of a number of officials and CEOs of major Saudi and Thai companies, in addition to the Federation of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and representatives of the private sector from both countries.
We look forward to a historic visit from the largest commercial and public delegation from #Thailand to the Kingdom of #SaudiArabia . The #SaudiThaiForum hosted by @MISA is an opportunity to enable private sector partnerships and explore new opportunities.#MISA #investSaudi pic.twitter.com/lZOML0MtAq — INVEST SAUDI (@InvestSaudi) May 14, 2022 The forum will include specialized sessions to discuss the most promising investment sectors between the two countries in the fields of industry, tourism and major projects related to Vision 2030, and to review developments in the investment environment in the Kingdom. The forum will also include bilateral sessions between representatives of the private sector from the two countries to discuss opportunities for cooperation and partnership, and to discover promising opportunities for investors.
We look forward to a historic visit from the largest commercial and public delegation from #Thailand to the Kingdom of #SaudiArabia . The #SaudiThaiForum hosted by @MISA is an opportunity to enable private sector partnerships and explore new opportunities.#MISA #investSaudi pic.twitter.com/lZOML0MtAq
RIYADH: The value of virtual asset transactions in Saudi Arabia was worth around $20 billion with over 800,000 Saudis using digital currencies last year, according to the managing director of trading platform BitOasis in the Kingdom, Ali Alobaid.
He told Arab News: “We believe that this can grow by five times over the next five years. Last year, KSA probably represented 15 percent of Gulf Cooperation Council and Middle East and North Africa activity.” Alobaid joined BitOasis, a leading crypto trading platform operating in seven countries across the MENA region, as managing director for the Kingdom this year, following other roles in the payments and fintech space in the country.
The executive added: “In terms of demographics, our user base in the Kingdom is primarily made up of millennials. More specifically, close to 45 percent of all trading activity on BitOasis is driven by 25-34-year-olds, while another 30 percent is driven by 35- 44-year-olds.” He expected cryptocurrency use in the MENA to grow quickly over the next few years.
• BitOasis introduced a swap feature on its core platform last month, which allows users to simply buy cryptocurrencies with other digital coins.
• The platform also has a partnership with UK-based online payment firm Checkout.com, which makes it easier for users to transfer funds and ‘reduces friction.’
The BitOasis MD added: “We are still at an early stage in the region’s journey toward mass adoption of virtual assets or cryptocurrency. We estimate that by the end of the year across MENA, about 4 percent of the adult population will have invested in crypto-currencies. In the US the number is about 20 percent.” He also expected this type of currency will be embraced more by a younger, tech-savvy, generation. Alobaid said: “We do expect markets that are characterized by young, tech-savvy early adopters that are keen to get exposure to a diversity of investable assets, where nations such as Saudi Arabia, will witness accelerating adoption and growth in the next few years. The adoption of these assets in the MENA region grew by 15 times between July 2020 to June 2021 — twice the global average. The Kingdom is one of the fastest growing markets for crypto-adoption in the MENA region.” BitOasis, which launched in 2015, allows retail and institutional investors across the region to buy, hold, and sell over 40 virtual assets or cryptocurrencies.
Alobaid said: “We offer trading pairs in the UAE dirhams and the Saudi riyals and provide Arabic-language customer support. We generate revenues from the commissions we charge on buying and selling just like an exchange or brokerage platform that operates with shares or other assets.” However, BitOasis does not enable peer-to-peer trading of virtual assets on its platform. Alobaid added: “Such activity is more likely to lead to frauds and scams. It’s simply not in the consumer’s interest, and that includes Saudi residents, to allow such trading. There is also a lack of supervision from a regulatory perspective. Our advice would always be to use a supervised centralized platform for trading activity.” He added BitOasis introduced a swap feature on its core platform last month, which allows users to simply buy cryptocurrencies with other digital coins. Alobaid said: “Our core platform allows retail users to track and manage their crypto portfolio without the complexity of going through a sophisticated trading experience. With the new feature, core users can now swap a chosen percentage of bitcoin, ethereum or other crypto assets in their existing portfolio with another, in a few clicks. Users also have full visibility on conversion rates in real-time as they start and execute a swap transaction.” Alobaid said the platform also has a partnership with UK-based online payment firm Checkout.com, which makes it easier for users to transfer funds and “reduces friction.” Alobaid expects cryptocurrencies will be gradually regulated over the next two years. He said: “We currently have the Central Bank of Bahrain, the Abu Dhabi Global Market, and the Dubai World Trade Center that regulate virtual asset activity. The Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority has indicated that they intend to launch a framework for the UAE.” He added: “This will further drive consumer protection, foreign investment, and innovation and ensure that the region develops its own relevant use-cases around Web 3.0 (blockchain-based) technologies.” Alobaid is well aware of the debate about the volatility of digital coins, but maintains they are a useful asset class. He said: “It is true that virtual assets are subject to volatility, not unlike many financial assets, however, over the long-term investors in virtual assets have reaped significant gains.” The platform head added: “Virtual assets are another type of investable asset class and one that has increased in popularity globally over the last decade. Today the market cap of virtual assets is approximately $2 trillion against $12 trillion for gold. Investors can diversify their portfolios, which today may consist of stocks, or real estate, along with virtual assets to achieve diversification.”
DUBAI: With every passing year, more and more Saudi women are joining the Kingdom’s workforce in a host of industries long dominated by men, in large part thanks to reforms introduced under the Vision 2030 reform agenda.
The Vision 2030 reform agenda was launched in 2017 to help diversify the Saudi economy away from oil by tapping the energy and ideas of the Kingdom’s own young people — particularly its long-underrepresented women.
To this end, the Kingdom brought forward legislation that prevented gender discrimination in wages, occupations and working hours, and enabled women to incorporate businesses without obtaining prior consent. It also launched leadership training programs designed to boost the number of women in management roles.
Since the June 2020 launch of Amazon.sa, a dedicated online store for customers in Saudi Arabia, Amazon has been on a hiring spree, recruiting young Saudis to help facilitate and expand its delivery logistics network at a local level.
More recently, Amazon’s recruiters have been targeting Saudi women to manage operations in the Kingdom, in keeping with the government’s drive to Saudize its workforce and empower women.
The US multinational best known for its e-commerce platforms and more recently for its forays into cloud computing, digital streaming and artificial intelligence is today one of the world’s most valuable and widely recognized brands.
The Amazon empire was built on the back of a streamlined global logistics network, staffed by legions of employees based at distribution centers all over the world.
Amazon’s latest Saudi hiring scheme was launched in March this year to create opportunities for women in collaboration with the company’s delivery service partners.
“The main challenge is the idea that these jobs are only for men,” Eman Al-Enezi, Amazon KSA’s first Saudi female delivery associate, told Arab News. “I am proud to shatter this misconception and prove that women are equally as capable in this area.”
Amazon says that it drew significant interest among women eager to find work in the logistics sector when it first launched its recruitment program in Riyadh, Jeddah, Abha and Dammam last year.
In response to this demand, according to the company, the program this year offers expanded opportunities for female delivery associates in Jazan, Al-Qassim, Makkah, Madinah and Al-Hofuf.
Al-Enezi says that the program has been very fulfilling and hopes more Saudi women will consider a career in logistics as a result.
“Since joining the company, I have been impressed by the efforts made to ensure my safety and comfort, and I appreciate the flexibility my role offers,” she said.
“Having been with Amazon for a while now, I have witnessed first-hand the positive impact of the company’s female delivery associate hiring program.
“My colleagues are settling in well to their new working environment and are happy to be part of a dynamic organization that puts their needs first.”
Amazon says that it is proud to have fulfilled its commitment to workplace diversity by creating jobs for Saudi women.
“At Amazon, we have always firmly believed that diversity unlocks fresh perspectives,” Prashant Saran, director of operations for Amazon Middle East and North Africa, told Arab News.
“These, in turn, enable us to harness the power of innovation and find new ways to better serve the evolving needs of our customers. We are actively trying to remove barriers in an industry that has traditionally been seen as male dominated, not only in Saudi Arabia but across the globe.
“We are proud to partner with local businesses across the country to help level the playing field and create opportunities for talented women to build successful careers in a future-facing industry.
“This program is fully aligned with Amazon’s global commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, while also supporting the goals of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 national transformation strategy.”
According to Saran, Amazon works directly with its delivery service partners to provide training that is geared toward helping female delivery associates balance their individual requirements, using their feedback to tailor work to their lifestyles.
“This allows us to adapt the program to suit their needs in real time,” Saran said. “For instance, we have adopted a flexible approach to working hours, and the routes involved include deliveries to public areas, namely universities, hospitals, compounds and schools.”
Cutting-edge digital technologies and shop-floor automation have transformed the logistics industry in recent years, making careers in the sector accessible to people of all backgrounds and abilities.
- Amazon’s latest Saudi hiring scheme was launched in March this year to create opportunities for women.
- Established in 1994, the US firm today employs 1.6 million people at offices and distribution centers worldwide.
However, it is the evolution of social attitudes toward women in the workplace and changes in the legal framework of Middle Eastern societies that has unlocked their suppressed potential.
“Here in the MENA region, the past few years have brought unprecedented, transformative changes,” Saran said. “In today’s Saudi Arabia, women hold leadership positions and exercise the highest levels of authority across both business and government.”
Women’s empowerment has been high on the Saudi government’s agenda — with the private sector’s wholehearted endorsement. “By maintaining the momentum of these efforts, we can help accelerate the speed of change even further,” Saran said.
Indeed, while a diverse and inclusive culture is critical to recruiting and retaining women, Saran believes that it is equally important to create a clear path for them to advance and achieve their full potential.
“Increased flexibility, mentoring programs and leadership training can all contribute to ensuring women employees feel valued, engaged and motivated to stay on the path to leadership,” he said.
“With this goal in mind, it is important to nurture a corporate culture that is inclusive, just and equitable, and empowers Saudi women to successfully grow their careers. It is also vital for organizations to evaluate their boards and leadership teams for diversity.”
In line with the Saudi government’s priorities, Amazon says that it has launched its own inclusive leadership training programs to help ensure a gender-balanced talent pipeline.
From recruitment and retention to nurturing leaders, the company says, efforts are being made to ensure a diverse and inclusive workplace where women feel comfortable and empowered to aspire to leadership roles.
“Seeing women succeed as leaders provides inspiration and strong motivation to other female employees,” Saran said. “These women, in turn, act as role models and mentors to nurture future female leaders within organizations.”
Amazon is not alone. Many other private-sector entities are prioritizing the promotion of women to leadership roles.
“What Amazon is doing is great and I predict we will see similar initiatives coming from the private sector this year, in support of the Saudi national transformation journey,” Mona Althagafi, Serco Middle East’s KSA country director, told Arab News.
“As leaders in this country, it is up to us to be the change. We cannot sit back and hope that gender equality happens. We need to be the driving force behind it.”
Like Amazon, Serco’s focus on diversity in its own talent acquisition and upskilling processes has boosted female representation among its executive team to 50 percent. Additionally, some 30 percent of its extended leadership team is represented by women.
“In 2020, we had no female representation in senior operational roles and decided to change that narrative,” Althagafi said.
These incentives appear to be working. A recent survey by Gartner, a US tech research and consulting firm, revealed that 2021 saw the highest proportion of women in the global supply chain workforce for the past five years.
These upward trends point to a bright future both for the Saudi e-commerce logistics industry and for the working lives of Saudi women.
“Amazon’s ambition to be a great place to work has reinforced our resolve to create the best possible working environments for women,” Saran said.
“Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion resonates throughout the organization and we will continue to seek new ways to empower our female employees in Saudi Arabia and across the globe.”
For Al-Enezi, the fresh Amazon recruit, anything seems possible.
“We are grateful for this opportunity to break down barriers for Saudi women, which represents a significant step toward gender equality in the industry,” she said.
“The pace of change has been remarkable, and it’s inspiring to be part of it all.”
RIYADH: The head of a Saudi delegation leading the Kingdom’s space technological advancement endeavors with the US has held a number of bilateral meetings on Friday, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. The Chairman of the Saudi Space Commission, Abdullah Al-Swaha, held several discussions with heads of American space companies to exchange expertise and technologies, and enhance joint capabilities in the space sector. The meetings come as part of the Saudi minister’s official visit to the US, where he met with the founder and CEO of Axiom Space, Michael Suffredini, and CEO of Redwire Peter Cannito. The meetings discussed several issues aimed at exchanging know-how and technologies related to microgravity platforms, joint cooperation to localize the satellite industry, seeking to enhance joint capabilities to discover space debris, and effectively contributing to building advanced navigational systems, the SPA statement said. Al-Swaha also met with a number of heads of American space companies on Thursday, including John Elbon, chief operating officer of United Launch Alliance, and Jane Poynter, founder and co-CEO of Space Perspective. The meetings aimed to enhance bilateral cooperation in the field of spacecraft launch services, build partnerships to contribute to the growth of the space tourism sector, exchange expertise and technologies, and develop the sector’s role in achieving the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.