Archives Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Page 3 of 4 - New Eastern Outlook

The China-brokered deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran and the Russia-brokered deal between Saudi Arabia and Syria gave a glimpse into how the shifting dynamics of global geopolitics are changing regional alignments. China and Russia need the Middle East on their side to be able to effectively challenge – and even reverse – the US-dominated system. The past few months have seen some success in this behalf, evident from the fact that many countries in the Middle East are no longer following the US dictates and that some are even challenging the US (Saudi), seeking concessions from it (Turkey), with countries like Iran already being in a perpetual tussle with Washington…

From July 16 – 18 this year, the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida traveled to three of the Arab Gulf states – the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait. It was his first trip to the region – which is of growing strategic importance to all the major participants in the current stage of the great game of global geopolitics – since he took up office in autumn 2021. Despite all the talk about the need to replace the current “carbon-based” economy, which is dependent on the burning of hydrocarbon fuels, with a so-called “green” economy, the main global powers are as interested as ever in securing…

Termed Saudi’s “new oil” industry, tourism ranks very high on Riyadh’s Vision 2030 strategic plan for the country’s economic transformation away from reliance on oil as the major source of revenue. According to the plan, the Saudis aim to raise about US$46 billion annually from tourism by the end of this decade, i.e., by 2030. Saudi’s goal and China’s contribution to world tourism seem to have a perfect synergy. Before Covid, 155 million Chinese tourists spent US$250 billion world-wide. With Saudi Arabia looking to attract tourism, China becomes a natural partner…