In Episode 119, The 966 hosts Lucien and Richard discuss a variety of topics and some of the latest news and developments on Saudi Arabia. First, the hosts discuss Richard's One Big Thing, an update on the Saudi Pro League and the latest news and developments for football in Saudi Arabia heading into key portion of season. The hosts discuss some developments with PIF's investments into the sport and the planned upcoming match between Ronaldo and Messi in the Kingdom. Next, the hosts discuss Lucien's One Big Thing, his first since moving to Riyadh for a few months with his family: two new announcements for large entertainment projects that are impressive and unique, even by Saudi standards these days. Lucien was struck by how quickly Riyadh is changing in virtually every neighborhood, and how seemingly every week there's a new announcement of a project or development. This last week saw the rollout of new designs for a Saudi football/soccer stadium in Qiddiya, the Mohammed Bin Salman Stadium, which are jaw-dropping and innovative. The second project that had been announced but which had new details released is The Rig, an entertainment destination that is situated on an oil rig 10km off the coast of Saudi Arabia to be built and owned by the Public Investment Fund.
The hosts conclude as always with Yallah! 6 top storylines to get you up to speed on Saudi Arabia this week.
•The 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) is taking place in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, from January 15–19.
•Aramco, one of the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals companies, has allocated an additional $4 billion to its global venture capital arm, Aramco Ventures.
•Analysts at real estate firm Savills KSA told Arabian Business that apartment rents in Riyadh surged by as much as 23 percent in northern neighborhoods last year.
•Aramco Digital and Intel plans to establish Saudi Arabia’s first Open RAN (radio access network) development center
•Konoz, an initiative of the Saudi Ministry of Media’s Center for Government Communication, launched "Horizon", a new documentary documenting the Kingdom’s rich biodiversity and natural resources.
•Rafael Nadal's role in helping to grow tennis in the Gulf is set to increase significantly after the Spanish great was appointed ambassador of the Saudi Tennis Federation (STF).