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Female football players and fans across the kingdom are celebrating their national team's historic victory over two-time World Cup winners Argentina on Tuesday.
Women celebrated alongside men, calling the victory over the team of football star Lionel Messi “just the beginning”, as the team looks to build on its biggest day.
As the men's team reaches new heights, female fans now believe the women's team will not be far behind.
Last year, the women's national football team was launched, with more that 50,000 young girls signing up for the first ever schools league.
The team won their first international game in February when they beat Seychelles 2-0 in a friendly match.
“This is the power of great leadership of our Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. I am overwhelmed,” said Hadeel AlFadl from Jeddah.
“No one expected Saudi Arabia to beat Argentina. A new dream is born for all young Saudis. My heart is full.”
“This is just the beginning. It shows our men and women are more than qualified, they are winners on the global scale and can achieve what they set their minds to. I have more hope now, and it is surely inspiring for women and future generations of the kingdom.”
Football is regarded as the national sport and is extremely popular with people of all ages.
The women's team was officially established by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation in 2019, which currently hosts 450 registered players, 49 qualified referees and more than 900 coaches.
“We have been raised watching and playing football and it is our favourite sport — one we can watch with our grandparents and children,” said Lujain Ahmed, a Saudi football player and fan in Jeddah.
“Today's victory will be remembered forever. Our women's team is phenomenal, and I hope they shine as bright and win many more titles soon.”
“My heart exploded. This [win] is the magic of positive leadership — how one man can give so much confidence to his country and youth,” Salma Mohammed, a football fan in Jeddah, told The National.
“I loved the reaction video and pictures of the Crown Prince, we feel the pride and joy for our home country and for our team that showed us they are winners.
“My girls who play football with me watched the game at my grandfather's house — he has a huge projector and hall which we use for occasions like these.”
Diana Wijaya, a football fan in Khobar, said: “We're dying because we are so happy. My friends and I watched the game together at home and we took to the streets to see the parades and celebrate this historic win.”
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
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Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
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Dr Nawal Al-Hosany: Why more women should be on the frontlines of climate action
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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