Gulf and Red Sea Regions

The role of women in various aspects of Saudi society has been changing dramatically in recent years. One area where great strides has been made is the arts and culture scene, including in various Saudi regions. The women’s art movement in Baha is elevating the Saudi art scene by showcasing regional and national heritage. Visual artist Samia Al-Othman told the Saudi Press Agency that the women’s art movement in Baha has witnessed significant development in recent years. Al-Othman has taken part in local and international exhibitions and forums, and undergone training courses in different art schools, utilizing a range of techniques since 2012. Nada Al-Jabiri said that she discovered her talent at an early age, adding that aspirations for the future can be seen in her drawings, which aligns with empowering women and using their artistic ideas. Women artists in Baha have been influenced by local and global experiences, which is reflected in many of their works. (SPA) She added that visual art is sending a great message by highlighting national identity and introducing Saudi cultural, historic, social and artistic heritage to the world.

The Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah is to host a global summit on reaching peace in Ukraine on Saturday (5 August). The summit will be attended by some 40 countries including many countries of the "Global South", as well as China. Russia was not invited to the talks, however, and Moscow has said that they will "monitor" the summit. The discussion and future implementation of Ukraine's Peace Formula, set out by President Volodymyr Zelensky during an address to the G20 in November, will be the subject of the summit in Jeddah.

The 2nd High-level Political Dialogue between the European Union and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was held on 31 July in Brussels, the European Union's External Action Service has announced in a press release. It was co-chaired by Deputy Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Mr. Enrique Mora and Ambassador H.E. Dr. Rayed Krimly, Head of Policy Planning at the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Turkish prime minister, Recip Tayip Erdogan, on Monday embarked on a tour of the Gulf region which will see him visiting Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. The trip, coming shortly after Erdogan's re-election as President, is seen as part of an effort to consolidate a strategic partnership with the Gulf countries, based on new realities that have emerged in recent years. The rift between Turkey and Saudi Arabia and UAE has now been fully healed, and this visit is no longer about fixing the past, but is definitely about charting the future. Economic co-operation, and co-operation in the defence sector are key elements of Erdogan's agenda.

European Union diplomacy is often criticised for not giving enough attention to the countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC). In a signal that things are about to change, in June it appointed its first Special Representative for the region. The EU has a number of these Special Representatives, know as EUSRs, usually dealing with regions or topics that cannot be addressed through the bilateral delegations that the EU has in most countries of the world. But the announcement that the EU was going to appoint former Italian Prime Minister, Luigi Di Maio, as its first EUSR for the Gulf countries came as a bit of a surprise. Too senior, some said; too much political baggage from his time in Italian politics, said others. But after a brief moment of hesitation the 27 member states finally agreed Di Maio's candidature. This week he finally arrived in the Gulf on his first visit in this role, ahead of an important EU-GCC foreign ministers meeting expected to take place in Oman in October. “I think that the world is changing and there are new partnerships to build,” Di Maio said during an interview on Thursday with the Saudi newspaper Arab News, that touched on topics ranging from the Russia-Ukraine conflict to the economic empowerment of women and young people in the Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia is keen to strengthen its partnernships with Hong Kong and mainland China, the Saudi communications and IT minister Abdullah Al-Swaha said on Sunday (2 July). Speaking at the "One Gateway Shared Vision — Hong Kong x Saudi Arabia" event in Hong Kong, Abdullah Al-Swaha said closer collaboration would help boost the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 reform agenda, a strategic framework to reduce Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil and diversify its economy, and develop public service sectors such as healthcare, tourism, education, infrastructure and recreation. "Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia are going through very promising transformations, where both economies are financial hubs in their own regions. We have an opportunity to build an innovation bridge, to leapfrog into the future with an innovation-based economy," he said. A "pro-partnership and pro-openness" Saudi Arabia was willing to do business with "any partner that can comply with our security and regulatory requirements," he said. Saudi authorities would look to work closely with Hong Kong across a range of sectors, including health sciences and biotechnology, environmental, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and smart cities, he said. Al-Swaha's visit to Hong Kong the Arab-China Business Conference held in Riyadh last month, at which Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih said the Kingdom could serve as China’s gateway to the Arab world.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar have become the latest Gulf countries to resume diplomatic ties in a string of diplomatic rapprochements in the region. Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the decision in a tweet on Monday (19 June), adding that embassies and consulates would reopen and resume work on the same day. The restoration of ties "represents the will of both countries’ leaders to strengthen joint Arab collaboration and achieve the aspirations of both peoples," the ministry said in a statement. The UAE’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who is also the Prime Minister, exchanged congratulations on the return of embassies, with both officials hailing the restoration of ties as heralding a “new stage of cooperation and partnership” that confirms the deeply rooted relations that bind both countries, according to a statement on Emirates News Agency (WAM). The current regional trend was in large part set in train by the announcement on 10 March that Saudi Arabia and Iran would restore diplomatic ties that had been broken since 2016.