Source : AFP / 14 Aug 2013

A large influx of Muslim pilgrims on Saudi Arabia during the fasting month of Ramadan passed without any cases of the MERS coronavirus infection reported, authorities said Tuesday.

“No infections by the MERS coronavirus or any other epidemic diseases” have been reported among “ pilgrims and visitors in (the holy sites of) Mecca and Medina,” Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabia said.

By Muhammad Al-Harb / 16 Aug 2013

Buraidah’s date season started and the air in the area designated for the city’s annual date market was filled with auctioneers’ calls to mark the start of the biggest agricultural economic activity in the world.

By Sultan Ibn Abdullah / 27 June 2013

Makkah

Because of the hot dry climate, the indigenous peoples of Makkah had limited varieties of food. That gradually changed when pilgrims coming from different countries around the world, each with their own traditional dishes, introduced a wide variety of cuisines to the people of Makkah.

Source : Khalil Hanware / 20 June 2013

Saudi Arabia topped the list as foreign direct investment (FDI) into Arab states rose by 9.8 percent last year.

Despite unrest in some of them, FDI in Arab states exceeded $ 47 billion in 2012 compared with $ 42.9 billion the previous year, the Kuwait-based Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corp. (AIECGC) said in its annual report released yesterday.

Source : Al Arabiya / 18 June 2013

Saudis are expected to spend around 19.5 billion riyals ($5.1bn) on their summer vacations, marking an 8 percent rise on last year, according to the Aleqtisadiah newspaper.

The number of trips from Saudi is expected to reach 6 million this summer, while foreign tourists are expected to make 4.8 million trips to Saudi Arabia, according to a report by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities.

By AFP / 10 June 2013

Some 180,000 illegal foreign workers have left Saudi Arabia since April 1 under an amnesty that allowed them to try to sort out their papers or leave without paying a penalty, a report said on Sunday.

“Between the beginning of April and the start of June, 180,000 foreigners left the kingdom for good,” the Okaz daily quoted Badr Malek, spokesman for the passports department, as saying.

By Sarah Abdullah / 7 June 2013

Saudi Arabia is the largest pharmaceutical market in the Gulf, valued at SR 19.1 billion, according to a report issued by Alpen Capital on the GCC pharmaceutical market. Despite these figures, Saudi customers have cited concerns regarding the quality and effectiveness of locally manufactured medicine.

Source : Reuters / 25 May 2013

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that it would help Saudi Arabia dig deeper into deadly outbreaks of a new SARS-like virus to draw up advice ahead of the annual haj pilgrimage, which attracts millions of Muslims.

Source : Arab news / 13 May 2013

The trade of the 18 countries in the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) grew 11 percent in 2012 to $ 2.1 trillion, according to new IMF trade data. This built on two prior years of strong trade growth of over 20 percent. However, most of the increase is the result of higher hydrocarbon prices rather than increases in the real volume of trade, according to QNB Group.

Source : Al Arabiya with Agencies / 13 May 2013 

Fifteen people in Saudi Arabia have died from a SARS-like virus out of 24 people who contracted it since last August, Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabia said on Sunday, AFP reported.

“The number of people who contracted the virus in the kingdom since August/September is 24, of whom 15 have died,” Rabia told a news conference in Riyadh.