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RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Saud Al-Sati received the new Ambassador of Spain to the Kingdom Javier Carbajosa Sanchez in Riyadh on Monday.
Al-Sati welcomed the Spanish ambassador and wished him success in his new duties, the Foreign Ministry wrote in a post on X.
Separately, the Saudi deputy minister met with Ambassador of Iraq to the Kingdom Safia Taleb Al-Suhail and discussed bilateral relations and issues of common interest.
RIYADH: The Charitable Society for Orphans Care in Riyadh, also known as Insan, implemented several programs during the first quarter of 2025 aimed at meeting the needs of families through seasonal initiatives, monthly services, and direct assistance.
Total expenditure on services and initiatives provided during the first quarter amounted to SR55.09 million ($14.66 million), which included basic, seasonal, and other services.
The society deposited SR27.6 million into families’ bank accounts for basic expenses (cash, clothing, and food).
It also deposited SR2,790,600 for the Ramadan Basket Project, benefiting 9,251 families to meet their needs during the holy month of Ramadan, and SR1,060,800 for the Eid Gift Project, helping 5,304 through special gifts during Eid Al-Fitr.
There were more than 21,000 beneficiaries from the Zakat Al-Fitr project during the first quarter, covering their food needs before Eid Al-Fitr, at a cost of SR3.86 million.
The quarterly report issued by Insan highlighted the numerous programs and activities provided by it, including Imaniyat, Pioneers of the Future, Be a Human Compass, Mualham, and Medad.
These programs included developmental and empowerment paths, helping 2,853 beneficiaries.
In line with its commitment to meeting the needs of beneficiary families, Insan provided 7,725 diverse services during the first quarter, including emergency assistance, social and health support, bill payments, housing expenses, furnishing and maintenance, contributions to home purchases, healthcare, and other services. The society spent SR19,773,339 on these services.
It also conducted 1,469 visits to families in the first quarter. These assessed conditions, listened to needs, and identified requirements. The family satisfaction rate reached 93 percent.
In an effort to empower beneficiaries in various fields, the society conducted 436 applications for training, diploma, bachelor’s degree, employment, and project financing.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have each received an invitation to attend the Second World Summit for Social Development, which will take place in Doha from Nov. 4 to 6.
The letters, sent by Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, were presented by the nation’s ambassador to the Kingdom, Bandar Al-Attiyah, to the Saudi minister of foreign affairs, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, in Riyadh on Monday.
Other officials present at their meeting included Abdulrahman Al-Rassi, the undersecretary for multilateral international affairs at the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia ranked first for the third successive year among countries in the Middle East and North Africa region in the 2024 Government Electronic and Mobile Services Maturity Index.
The index, published by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, measures the maturity of government services provided through electronic applications and portals.
Saudi Arabia ranked first in the 2024 index, outperforming 16 other countries and achieving a maturity rate of 96 percent in delivering digital government services, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Ahmed Alsuwaiyan, the governor of the Digital Government Authority, praised the achievement on Monday, saying it was the result of collaboration among government agencies, the use of technologies and artificial intelligence, and the introduction of digital products to deliver government services.
The Kingdom ranked fourth in the index in 2020 and second in 2021 before taking the top spot in 2022 and 2023. Alsuwaiyan noted that the progress was due to significant improvements in digital services across essential sectors, including health, education, and smart cities.
Saudi Arabia has made significant strides in the healthcare sector by offering citizens and residents digital prescriptions, appointment bookings, and telehealth services, while remote learning platforms and electronic university admissions have been established in the education sector.
RIYADH: Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji has received a copy of the credentials of the newly appointed Omani ambassador to the Kingdom Sayyid Najib bin Hilal Al-Busaidi.
Al-Khuraiji welcomed the ambassador and wished him success in his new duties, Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday.
Adel Alateeq, co-founder and CEO of Awaed, reflected on a career that has witnessed the evolution of Saudi Arabia’s investment landscape.
In a discussion with The Majlis podcast produced in partnership with Arab News, Alateeq described his career path from traditional finance to fintech startup cofounder.
Alateeq’s early roles involved managing public equity funds, an area significantly affected by Saudi Arabia’s market crash in February 2006.
“The market was booming, a lot of Saudis were participating in the Saudi markets,” he said.
“But, then, all of a sudden, came February 2006, a crash happens, and a lot of people lost trust, lost money, a lot of money in the market, and then they started looking for other things, and they started deserting the local markets.”
The financial turmoil, coupled with the 2008 global financial crisis, highlighted the vulnerability of relying solely on public equities and spurred a search for alternative investments.
This led Alateeq to work on the first real estate investment trust in Saudi Arabia with Riyad Capital, a project initiated around 2008 and eventually launched in 2016.
Simultaneously, he championed the development of a venture capital fund with Riyad Capital.
Discussions began in 2012, but it took four years to convince investors, primarily due to skepticism about the potential for startups in Saudi Arabia at the time.
“We started talking about the fund back in 2012. We only launched in 2016,” Alateeq said.
“It took us four years to convince investors, and to fundraise for our first VC fund, because a lot of investors did not believe that there would be startups coming out of Saudi.”
Not long afterwards, Alateeq was tapped by the Public Investment Fund to join Jada Fund of Funds, founded in 2018.
He said the mandate was to “catalyze the private equity and venture capital industry” in Saudi Arabia.
Despite the challenges of building a team remotely during the global pandemic, Jada achieved its five-year key performance indicators within just three years.
Speaking about his move to establish the Awaed digital wealth management platform, Alateeq said: “Entrepreneurship is part of me. I’ve always wanted to do something on my own, to have the freedom to do creative things out of the boundaries of large organizations.”
Alateeq believes that Saudi retail clients are “underserved” by existing players who struggle to reach them effectively.
He challenges the notion that Saudis lack financial literacy, arguing that the key issue is one of “access, not knowledge.”
In line with the unique aspects of the Saudi market, Awaed allows users to screen out non-Sharia compliant investment options.
Reflecting on the Saudi banking and investment sector, Alateeq said that its profitability can lead to complacency and a lack of innovation among many established players.
“The market is hungry,” he said. “There’s so much to do. But because of that, creativity is not at its best.”
Alateeq is optimistic about the country’s reforms under Vision 2030. “I think today, the transformation that Saudi is going through is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said.
