A1SaudiArabia.com

RIYADH – A chorus of Pays-Basques singers greeted King Abdullah when he visited the French pavilion on the opening night of the Janadriya festival Wednesday.

He was welcomed to the pavilion, decked out by mini-Eiffel Towers and French-style cafes, by French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand.

In an address Mitterrand praised the Kings promotion of traditional Arab culture, adding: “France, also with age-old traditions… shares with your majesty this unique message.”

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JEDDAH – Aggregate earnings of GCC companies showed a second consecutive year of decline, Kuwait Financial Center (Markaz) said early this week.

With 67 percent of companies declaring results so far, aggregate results show a decline of 5 percent for GCC as a whole for 2009 versus an 18 percent expansion in MSCI EM EPS, and a 9 percent contraction in S&P 500 EPS for the year.

The visibility remains poor for Kuwait with only 20 percent of companies reporting their full year earnings so far.

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JEDDAH – The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), recently signed contracts worth SR145 million, to establish 4 new provincial museums in Saudi Arabia in Baha, Tabuk, Hail, and Dammam. The four museums are scheduled to be established over a period of two years.

The signing ceremony was held at the headquarters of King Abdul Aziz Historical Center in Riyadh with representatives of four companies that will be executing the establishment of museums nationwide in attendance.

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DUBAI – Two years ago, in 2008, the primary aluminum producers in the Gulf region announced the formation of an organization – known as the Gulf Aluminum Council (GAC) – that would represent, promote and protect the interests of the aluminum industry within the region. Since then, much work has been done to establish the various committees of the GAC and build the foundations for progress toward the associations goals. This development work has culminated in the establishment of official GAC headquarters in Dubai on Wednesday.

The Board of the GAC comprises the chief executive officers of the six founding member companies, five of which have established smelters in the region, namely: Aluminum Bahrain (Alba), Dubai Aluminium Company (DUBAL), Emirates Aluminium (EMAL), Qatar Aluminium (Qatalum), and Sohar Aluminium (Sohar), in Oman.

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VIENNA – With oil prices steady around $80, OPEC countries are returning to energy investment projects postponed at the height of the economic crisis, while foreign firms are playing a major role.

OPEC nations used the sidelines of this weeks meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to speak about their plans for significant investments in energy infrastructures.

And with oil demand set to rise over the long term, investment in the energy sector, from drilling projects to building new refineries is essential.

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JEDDAH – The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry will organize a Catalog Exhibition on March 21-22 with the participation of a number of Indian companies to display their industrial and consumer products.

The Indian trade delegation accompanying the companies will conclude with Saudi businessmen agreements for the enhancement of trade and investment relations between the two countries.

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RIYADH – More than 400 literary men and thinkers from all over the world have been invited to participate in the festival.

The participants will discuss a number of topics, including the vision of King Abdullah for dialogue and peace.

Abdullah Al-Rabeah, Minister of Health, said that the festival represents a blend of the “glorious past, prosperous present and bright future.”

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JEDDAH – Saudi Arabias Tadawul All Share Index (TASI) gained 0.92 percent on Wednesday to 6,674.41 – the highest close since Oct. 15, 2008 – with 63 stocks rising and 44 falling.

Alinma Bank, the days most active stock by value and by volume, rose 0.78 percent to SR13.00, while fellow market leader Kingdom Holding gained 1.05 percent to SR9.60.

Saudi Investment Bank had the days biggest rise, climbing 2.96 percent to SR19.10.

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NEW YORK/VIENNA – Oil prices settled near $83 a barrel Wednesday after crude inventories grew less than expected last week, and the stock market rose on the Feds promise to keep interest rates at record lows.

Benchmark crude for April delivery rose $1.23 cents to settle at $82.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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JEDDAH – Saudi real estate yields 8 percent yearly since 2007, Dubai-based Cityscape Intelligence (CI) – the leading global emerging country real estate information service, said on Wednesday.

In its newly launched new market data launched, CI did not only compare real estate sales and leasing prices in eighteen areas across Jeddah and Riyadh, but also compares office and residential asset classes, tracking prices back to 2007.

Moira Robertson, project director of Cityscape Intelligence, said “no real estate price index like this existed in Saudi Arabia until we commissioned our own research. It was therefore surprising to find that the market has yielded on average 8 percent per annum clearly avoiding the boom bust that some other Gulf markets have suffered.”

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