Saudi Shura Council Calls for Allowing Foreign Ownership of Real Estate

Jeddah - Asharq Al-Awsat

The Saudi Shura Council called for allowing non-resident foreigners to own real estate in the Kingdom while coordinating with the relevant authorities to set clear controls and rules.

The Shura Council called on the Real Estate General Authority to enhance its oversight and follow up on the adherence to the rules and standards it has set for the real estate activities.

It also indicated that the Authority must coordinate with the concerned authorities to ensure real estate stability and reduce market risks.

Last year, the cabinet approved the updated comprehensive strategy of the real estate sector, which aims to develop and organize the sector and boost its contribution to the gross domestic product.

The strategy is comprised of four key pillars including sector governance and sustainability, as well as market efficiency along with partners’ servicing that covers the development of measures and policies to resolve real estate disputes.

Saudi Arabia is studying a proposal to allow foreigners to own real estate.

Estimated at more than SR1 trillion, Saudi Arabia’s real estate market is one of the most attractive sectors for investment, while the housing sector is helping the growth of 120 other sectors.

The annual increase in the housing market prompted the relevant stakeholders in this sector to develop systems aiming to attract more investments.

In a step to support partnership with the private sector, the Saudi Cabinet approved the exemption of government entities that rent buildings built within investment projects concluded between the General Authority for State Properties with other investors on state-owned lands, from Article (7) of Property Rental and Eviction Law.

Minister of Finance Mohammed al-Jadaan said that the exemption is expected to provide further support for the public-private partnership (PPP).

It also contributes to strengthening the development roles of the General Authority for State Real Estate in accordance with Vision 2030.

China’s herd of wandering elephants takes a rest after 500km trek

Group of pachyderms that has been criss-crossing the countryside photographed lying down outside a village in Xiyang township

China’s famous herd of wandering elephants has stopped for a rest after a 15-month journey far out of their natural habitat, an odyssey that has captivated the country.

Authorities have marshalled extraordinary resources to monitor the herd and keep it away from residential areas. According to Chinese media, the Yunnan forest fire brigade said a team of eight people were tracking the elephants, 24 hours a day, both on the ground and by drone from the air.

In the latest update, authorities said the herd of wild Asian elephants had been tracked to a forest just outside a village in Xiyang township, in Yunnan, around 90km south-west of Kunming city, heading back in the direction from which they came.

Drone images showed the elephants lying down in the forest, resting during their travels which have so far covered 500km (300 miles).

Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

Of the 15 elephants, one male has broken free from the herd and is currently about 4km to the northeast of the group, according to the on-site command tracking the elephants Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

On Monday more than 410 emergency personnel, 374 vehicles and 14 drones were deployed with more than two tonnes of elephant food, in continuing efforts to lead the elephants away from human areas, and to evacuate people in their path.

“Temporary traffic control will be implemented on some road sections to keep them calm, and create conditions for the elephants to move westward and south,” Beijing News said.

Wildlife authorities are struggling to understand why the group of 16 elephants went on the move last year. According to Xinhua, in November, they arrived in Pu’er in Yunnan, where a female elephant gave birth to a baby, and settled in place for five months before starting to walk again on 16 April.

A week later, two left the group, leaving 15 to continue their odyssey to the north. The group now appear to be back on the right track, heading south-west, although on Monday authorities reported one male elephant was traced away from the group, 4km to the north-east.

The travels of the elephants, first detected leaving their natural habitat in March 2020, has captivated Chinese social media, although their at times destructive presence has caused at least 6.8m yuan ($1.07m) in damage, according to state media.

Source: Guardian

EC drops plans to ban UK from science projects after backlash

Research bodies voice opposition to exclusion of UK from space projects and super computer research

The European Commission has dropped plans for a blanket ban on UK involvement in EU research on space projects and supercomputers after a backlash from member states and leading scientists.

Thierry Breton, the former French finance minister who is now the EU internal market commissioner, had claimed the EU needed to keep control of intellectual property and that the UK’s involvement was an unacceptable security risk.

The commission’s proposal was criticised, however, by leading research institutions and questioned by EU capitals, including Germany, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands. Diplomats were concerned the bloc was treating the UK as if it posed a security risk similar to that of China, sources said.

EU diplomats were concerned the bloc was treating the UK as if it posed a security risk similar to that of China,

Following weeks of discussion in Brussels, it is understood that at a meeting of EU diplomats last Friday it was agreed that a blanket prohibition on UK involvement will not be enforced.

Member states insisted the EU capitals would be involved in drafting the criteria for involvement of countries outside of the bloc on a “case by case basis”. Any exclusion of the UK in particular projects will also have to be given the green light by the 27 member states.

“It is still possible for UK entities to be excluded from certain calls, but only based on objective criteria that have been drafted in collaboration with member states,” one diplomat said.

The decision will be welcomed within the international scientific community. Under the trade and security deal struck last Christmas Eve, the UK government retains the right to pay into and participate in the EU’s Horizon Europe research programme, a seven-year, €95.5bn (£82bn) funding scheme.

Research into supercomputers is a priority for the EU and the UK but both are languishing behind China in the race for a breakthrough. China’s latest Jiuzhang quantum computer is claimed to be 100tn times faster than all previous supercomputers.

In March, Thomas Hofmann, the president of the Technical University of Munich, wrote on behalf of institutions in Switzerland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Israel and the Netherlands to warn of a “negative impact” on future research if the UK’s involvement was curtailed.

“Opening the scientific borders for the countries outside of the European Union should go hand in hand with strengthening collaboration with our closest partners and not undermine it,” Hoffman wrote to the Portuguese presidency of the EU.

“Cooperation with the aligned countries is vital for the competitiveness of the European Union’s economy. The latest proposal by the European Commission to exclude longstanding and trustful partner countries like Switzerland, Israel and the United Kingdom from parts of the research programme is not in the interest of Europe’s research community nor the wider society and could be damaging for international cooperation.”

Source: Guardian