Saudi Arabia launches $200m fund for early investment in high-tech companies

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The initiative is part of a strategy announced for the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. File

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Updated 21 August 2023

Arab News

August 20, 2023 15:43

Saudi Arabia launches $200m fund for early investment in high-tech companies

New strategy announced for King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Updated 21 August 2023

Arab News

August 20, 2023 15:43

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday launched a SR750 million ($200 million) fund for early investment in local and international high-tech companies, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The initiative is part of a strategy announced for the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. It aims to transform research into economically productive innovations by focusing on the national priorities for research, development, and innovation.

The key areas include health and wellness, sustainable environment and essential needs, energy and industrial leadership, and economies of the future.

HIGHLIGHTS

The new strategy focuses on increasing the likelihood of turning research into economically beneficial innovations.

National Transformation Institute for Applied Research has also been launched to accelerate technology development.

The strategy aims to restructure research centers to align with national priorities for research, development, and innovation.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said: “Since the foundation of KAUST, it has distinguished itself with its research, innovations, and faculty, to become one of the leading research universities in the world.

“The new strategy builds on KAUST’s scientific and academic achievements and represents a new era for the university to become a beacon of knowledge and a source of inspiration and innovation in line with Vision 2030 aspirations for the betterment of the Kingdom and the world.”

The report said the strategy seeks to strengthen KAUST’s partnerships with the public and private sectors, which will contribute to achieving the objectives of Vision 2030.

The new strategy focuses on increasing the likelihood of turning research into economically beneficial innovations. This ambition will be achieved through three major initiatives: the launch of the National Transformation Institute for Applied Research to accelerate technology development and commercialization to support the Kingdom’s economic diversification aspirations; the restructuring of research centers to align with national priorities for research, development, and innovation; and the creation of a $200m fund (SR750 million) to deliver unmet investment in local and international firms specializing in high-tech, which will enhance economic diversification and contribute to the creation of high quality technical jobs.

It also aims to provide opportunities for researchers, faculty members, and students to use their research to create a sustainable global impact by strengthening international and local partnerships. Among the most important initiatives resulting from these partnerships is the KAUST Reefscape Restoration Initiative, in partnership with NEOM, which will focus on cultivating and restoring hundreds of thousands of coral reefs on an area of 100 hectares, on Shushah Island in the Red Sea.

The university will continue collaboration with some of the largest companies in the Kingdom and the world, such as Aramco, SABIC, ACWA Power, IBM, Dow, and Boeing.

One of the most prominent initiatives of the strategy is to strengthen international partnerships and develop cooperation frameworks with leading academic institutions and technology pioneers in the world. This includes forging strategic cooperation agreements with leading academic and commercial institutes in the Chinese city of Shenzhen to collaborate on applied research across cutting-edge fields like aerospace, robotics, and microelectronics.

Through these initiatives and partnerships, KAUST will contribute to developing the higher education ecosystem, nurturing the future scientific research pioneers in the Kingdom, promoting research and global innovation, and stimulating the growth of advanced technology startups. This will enhance the competitiveness of the Kingdom’s economy and its global position as a leader in innovation.

Topics: SaudiVision2030 KAUST

Cooperation with Saudi Arabia central to Japan’s green ambitions

Updated 02 December 2023

Diana Farah

December 02, 2023 19:01

Cooperation with Saudi Arabia central to Japan’s green ambitions

‘We are very dependent on other countries,’ Foreign Ministry press secretary says
Kobayashi-Terada Maki speaking as COP28 opens in Dubai

Updated 02 December 2023

Diana Farah

December 02, 2023 19:01

DUBAI: Japan must maintain close partnerships with countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE if it is to achieve its goal to be a carbon-neutral economy by 2050, its Foreign Ministry press secretary said.

Kobayashi-Terada Maki made the comments in an interview with Arab News Japan as COP28 opened in Dubai.

“We are very dependent on other countries in terms of energy, and even though we are going to increase energy efficiency, we certainly need means of energy production,” she said.

Japanese companies and entities would be signing cooperation deals throughout the climate summit in the UAE, she said.

Japan is one of the only G7 countries that is close to achieving its environmental goals. Kobayashi-Terada said the country was on track to reach its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 46 percent by 2030, compared with 2013 levels, and was working toward its goal of achieving net zero by 2050.

“We are on the right trajectory for really achieving our objectives right now. So that’s what we are very much proud of and we are very confident.”

The Japanese government has put in place a green transformation program, under which it aims raise 150 trillion yen ($1.02 trillion) in private-public investment to help achieve its goals.

“We are also using carbon pricing to subsidize companies that are heavy emitters to support energy efficiency,” Kobayashi-Terada said.

“By 2028, we will charge according to the amount of CO2 emissions for companies who are importing fossil fuels. By 2033, we are also pricing emissions so that the heavy emitters will pay for insurance. We will gradually increase this price so that companies can have incentives to reduce emissions.”

Later this month, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will host the Asia Zero Emission Community, which aims to encourage greater cooperation between Asian countries on reducing emissions.

“We will work together with Asian countries to utilize cutting-edge technology and also provide assistance to develop their capacity,” Kobayashi-Terada said.

Speaking at COP28, Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio said his government would increase its lending to the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

“We are going to be the first contributors and we will contribute $10 million,” the press secretary said.

* This article originally appeared on Arab News Japan, click here to read it.

Topics: COP28 Saudi Arabia Japan

New Lord Mayor of London hails maturity of Gulf economies

Updated 02 December 2023

Alex Whiteman

December 01, 2023 21:17

New Lord Mayor of London hails maturity of Gulf economies

Michael Mainelli, heading to COP28 in UAE, says appointment of new UK foreign secretary will ‘help deepen connections with Saudi Arabia’
Mainelli tells Arab News he is ‘extremely impressed at the commitment to net zero’ in both Gulf states

Updated 02 December 2023

Alex Whiteman

December 01, 2023 21:17

LONDON: Maturation of Gulf states’ economies presents further opportunities to deepen the relationship between the region and the UK, the new Lord Mayor of the City of London told Arab News before departing for COP28 in the UAE.

Just a few weeks into the role and Michael Mainelli was on hand, like his predecessor, to witness yet another British Cabinet reshuffle.

But with the return to frontline politics of former Prime Minister David Cameron, Mainelli is optimistic that this will further strengthen ties with Saudi Arabia, one of several Gulf states to have announced participation in a £30 billion ($37.9 billion) investment pledge into the UK.

“When it comes to that investment it’s enormously welcome, but what I think is great is it shows how Saudi and other Gulf states have really matured their economies,” Mainelli said.

“They’ve gotten a better understanding of what they want to achieve with their sovereign wealth funds beyond just investments and returns, and that includes knowledge transfer. That’s really exciting as it offers two-way transference between us and them,” he added.

“With Cameron’s appointment (as foreign secretary), you get undoubted foreign policy expertise, including in the Gulf, which I think will prove a good move and help deepen connections with Saudi Arabia.”

Pushing the idea of London as a “hub of connectivity” appears central in Mainelli’s year-long tenure, which he said he is serving under the theme “Connect to Prosper.”

Asked where the Gulf figures in this, he replied: “The Lord Mayor typically spends 100 days traveling each year. Of this, three weeks will be in North America, three in Asia, after which a smattering of other countries.

“And then, interestingly, the Lord Mayor will typically spend two weeks of travel around the Gulf each year. This shows you just how important it is as a destination, being right up there with Asia and North America.”

COP28 in Dubai has been designed with a strict focus on carbon, which plays into Mainelli’s “personal ambition.”

While he would be “going in with an open mind,” he said he would also use the event to revive interest in the notion of voluntary carbon markets, which first emerged during COP3 in Kyoto in 1997.

“I believe there’s a lot more work to be done when it comes to carbon markets … but we do need to get these to work,” he added.

“The initial idea was to have emission trading permits and businesses paid to remove carbon from the atmosphere — typically this would involve planting trees or seagrass — with the idea being we reduce our environmental impact by taking it out of the atmosphere.

“But it became subject to a lot of issues, ranging from the difficulty of measuring to ensuring the carbon was sequestered properly, and frankly also issues of fraud and corruption.”

Despite the initial difficulties, Mainelli remains convinced that it is a feasible and practical solution to reducing carbon levels in the atmosphere.

“It’s just the market hasn’t been fully formed and the basis upon which prices are set not properly calculated,” he said.

Of particular concern is what he described as the “final bit,” adding: “Let’s say I pay you to for a ton of carbon offset a year over a 25-year period, which you agree to facilitate through the planting of a forest.

“Now let’s say having planted that forest, a hurricane hits and uproots the trees, or there’s an avalanche, perhaps there’s a parasite, and the trees are destroyed, maybe the soil doesn’t allow them to grow, or maybe at the end of the 25 years you simply chop the forest down.

“Were any of these to happen, then nothing really has been achieved. All that has happened is you’ve deferred 25 years of emissions.”

For Mainelli, the solution to the issue and restitution of carbon markets as a tool in the route to net zero resides in the “appropriate use of insurance,” which he said would put a financial impetus behind the idea and “drive clearer, harder standards.”

Of particular pertinence, he noted, would be the fact that insurers would not insure carbon capture sites without having conducted “sufficient due diligence.”

Insurers “would crawl all over whoever was planning to set up one of these carbon capture sites, and they’d want to know what trees were being used, where seeds were sourced,” he said.

“They’d survey the ground, they’d ask why it was located at the base of a mountain. They’d do all this, and not only would they insure the site, they’d be building knowledge.”

This, said Mainelli, would be pivotal as that increased understanding would serve to improve the means and methods of carbon capture deployed in these carbon markets, leading to standardization.

It is “fairly evident” that the Gulf is determined to find workable solutions to address the climate crisis, he added.

“I spent a week earlier this year in Abu Dhabi, and also spent a week last year in Saudi, really trying to understand the situation on the ground there, and I was extremely impressed at the commitment to net zero in both nations and in other areas,” he said.

Pointing to the 25 substantial hydrogen projects in place in the UAE and the 40 Saudi Arabia has in the pipeline, Mainelli said there is an opening for closer ties with the City of London.

While development of hydrogen production would always be of interest, he said there is also reason to considering the creation of a sufficient transport mechanism for getting this hydrogen out into the world. This, he added, offers “great potential for collaboration.”

Topics: COP28 UAE Dubai UK Lord mayor of London

Japan’s Saudi crude oil imports slightly up for October

Updated 01 December 2023

Arab News Japan

December 01, 2023 20:34

Japan’s Saudi crude oil imports slightly up for October

The amount was slightly up on September figures of around 29 million barrels
Tokyo’s ban on importing oil from Iran and Russia continued in October

Updated 01 December 2023

Arab News Japan

December 01, 2023 20:34

TOKYO: Japan’s imports of Saudi crude oil for October reached 30.37 million barrels (42.4 percent of its total), according to Japanese government data.
The amount was slightly up on September figures of around 29 million barrels (37.1 percent).
During October, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry’s Agency for Natural Resources and Energy said approximately 92 percent (65.95 million barrels) of the country’s total oil imports came from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain.
Tokyo’s ban on importing oil from Iran and Russia continued in October with the remainder of its requirement coming from the US (3.5 percent), Central and South America (2.2 percent), Southeast Asia (1.3 percent), Oceania (1 percent), and Indonesia (0.2 percent).
The figures represent the quantities of oil that arrived at refineries, tanks, and warehouses in Japanese ports during September. Japan uses oil to generate around one-third of its energy needs.

Topics: Japan Saudi crude oil

Japan on track to meet emissions targets, Kishida tells COP28

Updated 01 December 2023

Arab News Japan

December 01, 2023 20:05

Japan on track to meet emissions targets, Kishida tells COP28

But world must do more to achieve climate change goals
‘Each country will aim to achieve net zero according to its circumstances,’ PM says

Updated 01 December 2023

Arab News Japan

December 01, 2023 20:05

DUBAI: Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio said more action was needed if the world was to achieve its climate change goal of keeping temperatures within 1.5 degrees Celsius of pre-industrial levels.
Speaking at the COP28 climate summit in the UAE, Kishida said Japan was on track to reach its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 46 percent by 2030, compared with 2013 levels, and would continue to work toward its goal of net zero by 2050.
The country had already reduced its greenhouse gases by about 20 percent, he said.
As confirmed at the G7 Hiroshima Summit for economic growth and energy, and based on the GX (green transformation) Promotion Act, Japan has adopted a growth-oriented carbon policy.
Kishida said that Japan would next year become the first country in the world to adopt internationally certified transition bonds. At the same time, it would accelerate efforts to realize its green transformation and contribute to global decarbonization.
Under the framework of the Asian Zero Emission Community, Japan was committed to making renewable energy its main power source, he said.
Japan is currently the world’s third-largest producer of solar power and continues to diversify its clean energy supply chain.
“Each country will aim to achieve net zero according to its circumstances,” Kishida said.
“Coal-fired power plants that have not taken measures to reduce emissions should be addressed along the way. Japan has developed reduction measures for domestic coal without emission.”
He said Japan would end the construction of thermal power plants and was committed to providing $70 billion of public and private sector funding.
The country would also increase lending to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to the tune of $9 billion and additional contributions would be made to the African Development Bank, he said.
Separately, Kishida and Israeli President Isaac Herzog took part in a summit on the sidelines of COP28.
Kishida said he welcomed the agreement with Hamas to release hostages and allow more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, and asked for Israel’s cooperation to help make that happen.
He also stressed the importance of acting in accordance with international law and UN Security Council resolutions, and said Japan supported the two-state solution to allow Israel and Palestine to peacefully coexist.
Hertzog expressed his appreciation for Japan’s condemnation of terrorism and explained Israel’s position regarding the Gaza Strip, including its military actions there.

Topics: COP28 Dubai Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida climate UN

Emmanuel Macron joins global leaders in unveiling ambitious climate strategies at COP28

Updated 01 December 2023

Nour El-Shaeri

December 01, 2023 17:24

Emmanuel Macron joins global leaders in unveiling ambitious climate strategies at COP28

Updated 01 December 2023

Nour El-Shaeri

December 01, 2023 17:24

DUBAI: Global leaders have stressed the need to actively identify climate challenge priorities and establishing goals on the second day of COP28 in Dubai.

During the High-Level Segment National Statements, France’s President Emmanuel Macron underscored the urgency of phasing out fossil fuels as the world’s top priority.

“Emerging countries must phase out carbon, which is our biggest fight. If there’s a top priority, it’s for emerging countries to phase out carbon,” he stated.

Macron also emphasized the need to reduce oil usage and emissions in significant sectors like maritime and aviation.

“France has developed a strategy to phase out fossil fuels and reduce emissions. Europe is fully committed to this strategy. By 2035, a high percentage of cars produced in France and Europe will operate without oil. We are also building a housing strategy to massively reduce maritime and air emissions,” Macron explained.

Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed his country’s modest contribution to global climate challenges and its firm strategy for supporting the global cause.

“Our historical responsibility for global greenhouse emissions is less than 1 percent, yet we’re taking significant steps on our own,” Erdogan noted.

“We aim to reach net-zero emissions by 2053 and have doubled our emission reduction target for 2030. We expect to have mitigated 66.6 million tons of equivalent carbon dioxide by the end of this year,” he added.

“The share of renewables in our power generation capacity has increased to 55 percent. With this rate, Turkiye ranks fifth in Europe and twelfth in the world in terms of installed renewable energy capacity,” Erdogan stated.

Santiago Palacios, president of Paraguay, highlighted his country’s success in climate change, noting that they now generate 100 percent clean energy.

Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev affirmed his country’s commitment to the global climate agenda, especially in the supply chain sector.

“As a major exporter of uranium, providing 43 percent of the global supply, Kazakhstan plays a crucial role in carbon-free electricity generation worldwide,” Tokayev said.

“As the world moves towards decarbonization, critical minerals including rare earth metals will become indispensable. Kazakhstan is poised to become a significant supplier of these transition minerals,” he concluded.

Topics: COP28 Emmanuael Macron

Saudi Arabia launches $200m fund for early investment in high-tech companies

Saudi Arabia launches $200m fund for early investment in high-tech companies

HIGHLIGHTS

KAUST signs MoU to accelerate adoption of sustainable energy solutions

Saudi Arabia’s KAUST launches advanced 6U satellite

Cooperation with Saudi Arabia central to Japan’s green ambitions

Cooperation with Saudi Arabia central to Japan’s green ambitions

Japan on track to meet emissions targets, Kishida tells COP28

Japan’s Saudi crude oil imports slightly up for October

New Lord Mayor of London hails maturity of Gulf economies

New Lord Mayor of London hails maturity of Gulf economies

Saudi Arabia, GCC economies ‘world leading’ in green transition, says City of London’s lord mayor

Emmanuel Macron joins global leaders in unveiling ambitious climate strategies at COP28

Japan’s Saudi crude oil imports slightly up for October

Japan’s Saudi crude oil imports slightly up for October

Saudi crude production rises as global trends hits 7-month low: JODI Data

Saudi crude supplied a third of Japan’s oil needs in May

Japan on track to meet emissions targets, Kishida tells COP28

Japan on track to meet emissions targets, Kishida tells COP28

UN official urges strategic plans for climate-vulnerable nations at COP28

Emmanuel Macron joins global leaders in unveiling ambitious climate strategies at COP28

Emmanuel Macron joins global leaders in unveiling ambitious climate strategies at COP28

Emmanuel Macron joins global leaders in unveiling ambitious climate strategies at COP28

UN official urges strategic plans for climate-vulnerable nations at COP28

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Saudi Arabia launches $200m fund for early investment in high-tech companies

Saudi Arabia launches $200m fund for early investment in high-tech companies

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