Deals expected to be signed between Saudi and French entities at the Saudi–French Roundtable Investment Meeting in Paris exceed $10 billion, spanning advanced industries, transport and logistics services, artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure. The Crown Prince attended alongside French officials and business leaders.
ُhe four named sectors are advanced industries, logistics, AI and digital infrastructure، energy is not among them, which is what a diversification agenda looks like once it reaches the deal table.
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Ad money grows up
A Snap–Kearney study found an 8-point gap between Saudi digital ad-spend growth and e-commerce growth; 30%+ of Saudi consumers find advertising culturally off-key.
The takeaway: A third of Saudi consumers feel that the ads don't represent them; the biggest growth driver isn't budget, but rather cultural fluency.
Twenty kilometres at Khafji
The Public Investment Fund launched Gulf Coast Development to build an integrated tourism and residential destination at Al-Khafji covering approximately 20 square kilometres with 10 kilometres of Arabian Gulf waterfront. The plan runs to 8 residential neighbourhoods, more than 16,000 housing units and around 1,400 hotel keys across 3 main phases, with 3 neighbourhoods in the first phase completing in 2030, plus public, commercial, tourism and educational facilities and boat marinas, targeting visitors from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the wider Gulf.
This project is based on 16,000 homes instead of 1,400 hotel rooms. If you are selling here, focus on residential supply and Kuwaiti buyers from abroad, not on hospitality procurement.
School fees hit the card data
Point-of-sale spending fell 2.8% to SR14.19 billion ($3.79 billion) in the week ended 15 August across 249.68 million transactions, down 1.5%, while education transactions jumped 62.7% week on week to SR446.08 million. Food and beverages led at SR2.2 billion, down 3.7%, and Riyadh accounted for SR4.84 billion across 79.80 million transactions.
The 62.7% increase in education spending, despite a 2.8% overall decline, reflects a calendar effect rather than increased consumer confidence. Households shifted funds rather than increasing total spending.
