The Euro-Gulf Monitor

‘Round and About the Gulf

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Kingdom of Bahrain

Wednesday, 26 October—Israel's aerospace and defence company, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), announced it will participate in the Bahrain International Airshow, becoming the first Israeli firm to take part in the event. The airshow will be held on 9-11 November 2022, and IAI is expected to strike several cooperation deals with Bahraini and Gulf defence companies. 

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State of Kuwait

Thursday, 27 October—Kuwait-based tech venture capital, Impulse, and the second-largest German software provider, Software AG, announced they will launch Kuwait’s first Internet of things (IoT) platform. The project will enable smart technologies across the country’s infrastructure, healthcare, waste management and asset tracking sectors. The platform seeks to enhance Kuwait’s digitalisation process and its technology sector. 

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Sultanate of Oman

Wednesday, 26 October—Oman’s Directorate General of Passports and Residence unveiled new directives easing travel rules for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) residents. Particularly, they will no longer need a visa to enter Oman for commercial activities, and they will not need to be citizens of a GCC country, hence expanding the visa-free entrance to all expats living in the region. The move seeks to boost mobility among the Gulf countries.

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State of Qatar

Sunday, 23 October—The British energy giant, Shell Plc, announced it will purchase a 9.3% stake in Qatar’s North Field South (NFS) liquefied natural gas (LNG) project for €1.5 billion (EUR). In late September, French energy firm, TotalEnergies, had joined the NFS project with the same stake as Shell. The project is part of Doha’s bid to become the world’s top LNG producer by 2030.

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Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Sunday, 23 October—Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman Al-Saud, unveiled the Global Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (GSCRI), which aims to attract more than €10 billion (EUR) in foreign investments in the next two years. The initiative will provide financial and non-financial incentives for investors, including access to oil, gas, renewable energy, and human resources at competitive costs, in a bid to strengthen Riyadh’s position in the global economy and mitigate the impact of global disruptions.

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Wednesday, 26 October—Saudi Arabia hosted the 6th annual Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh, titled "Investing in Humanity: Enabling a New Global Order". During the event, the Kingdom announced the establishment of a €1.5 billion (EUR) sustainability fund, which will aim to support Saudi Arabia’s energy transition through technology investments. Several cooperation deals were also signed between Saudi and international companies in the sectors of energy, space technologies and biotech. 
 

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United Arab Emirates

Friday, 21 October—The first batch of UAE’s hydrogen-based ammonia supply arrived in Hamburg, Germany. The delivery marks the first step in a process aimed to replace coal and gas used by energy-intensive industries and was celebrated in a ceremony chaired by the UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Special Envoy for Climate, Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, and the German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and Vice-Chancellor, Robert Habeck.

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Tuesday, 25 October—The UAE renewable energy company, the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), acquired London-based energy storage developer, Arlington Energy, in a bid to extend its presence across renewable energy markets in Europe and accelerate the UK and other European countries’ clean energy transition amid the ongoing energy crisis

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EU Corner

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Sunday, 23 October—The EU Council’s Middle East/Gulf Working Group delegation travelled to Saudi Arabia, where they met with GCC Secretary-General, Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Adel bin Ahmad Al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the EU, Saad Mohammed Alarify, and President of the Saudi Human Rights Commission, Hala bint Mazyad Al-Tuwaijri. The talks reviewed EU-Saudi partnership in economic diversification, global security, human rights and women empowerment.

 

Sunday, 23 October—The EU Ambassador to Qatar, Cristian Tudor, met with Qatar’s Labour Minister, Ali bin Smaikh Al-Marri, discussing EU-Qatari collaboration in the implementation of labour reforms. 

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Tuesday, 25 October—The EU and the GCC organised the ‘EU-GCC Webinar on Energy Efficiency in the Building Sector: A Key Driver for Net-Decarbonisation’, which gathered 100 European and Gulf policymakers and energy sector professionals. The event focused on partnerships to tackle climate change, find cost-effective solutions to the green energy transition, and increase research, innovation and energy business partnerships. Participants included the EU Ambassador to the UAE, Andrea Matteo Fontana, and Director of Energy at the GCC General Secretariat, Mohammed Al-Rashidi.

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Wednesday, 26 October—Ahead of the 6th meeting of the EU-Bahrain Human Rights Working Group in Manama, Bahrain’s Undersecretary for Political Affairs at the Foreign Ministry, Abdulla bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, received the Head of the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq Division at the European Union External Action Service (EEAS), Anna-Maria Panagiotakopoulou, and her accompanying delegation.

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Key Official Visits

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Sunday, 23 October—The 10th session of the UAE-Bahrain Joint Higher Committee kicked off in Manama. Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa and Foreign Minister, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, received Emirati Foreign Minister, Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, to discuss Gulf security and cooperation to tackle international challenges.

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Monday, 24 October—Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al-Said travelled to Manama, where he was received by Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa. On the occasion, the two countries signed 10 deals to expand cooperation in security, trade, investment, technology, maritime transports, agriculture and environmental protection.

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Monday, 24 October—Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, attended the ‘Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security’ in Senegal, pledging Riyadh’s support to combat terrorism, extremism and threats to international maritime trade. The Forum was attended by over 1,000 participants, including Foreign Ministers of France, India, Japan and Turkey, and diplomats from Kuwait, Qatar and the EU.

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Tuesday, 25 October—Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman Al-Saud, in Riyadh. The two leaders reviewed Saudi-Pakistani collaboration in investment, technology and politics. Prime Minister Sharif also highlighted Riyadh’s humanitarian assistance to Pakistan in handling the impact of the recent floods.

 

Tuesday, 25 October—Bahrain's Crown Prince, Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, and Minister of Finance and National Economy, Salman bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa, met with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman Al-Saud, in Riyadh. They discussed the Bahraini-Saudi regional partnership and international security developments. The following day, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced the establishment of a regional company in Bahrain, along with four more in Jordan, Sudan, Iraq and Oman, in a plan to invest about €24 billion (EUR) in strategic sectors such as infrastructure, real estate, mining, food and technology in the countries.