News

Amazon Is Planning To Create Over 1,500 Jobs In Saudi Arabia

Published

5 years ago

March 23, 2021

Amazon

E-commerce giant, Amazon, has recently announced its plan to open 11 brand new buildings across Saudi Arabia. Once all the new buildings are opened, which should happen by the end of 2021, they will create over 1,500 new jobs.

Right now, Amazon has three warehouses in Saudi Arabia, referred to as fulfillment centers, located in Riyadh and Jeddah. With the planned buildings, Amazon’s total floor area is supposed to reach 867,000 square feet, or about 80,000 square meters.

Amazon wants to enhance its storage capacity by 89 percent and its geographical delivery network by 58 percent to better cope with the growing demand for its services in the region. In addition to building new facilities, the company will also upgrade existing ones to enable faster, smarter, and more consistent deliveries of products to customers.

“These new investments reiterate our commitment to Saudi Arabia, contributing to the local economy through the creation of new job opportunities,” said Prashant Saran, Amazon’s Middle East and North Africa director of operations.

“Our investments in technology and infrastructure align with Saudi’s digital transformation goals, enabling world-class fulfillment offerings to our independent seller partners, and faster delivery on an expanded product selection to our customers,” Saran added.

Amazon is among the biggest winners of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its net profit increased by 84 percent to $21.3 billion as revenue grew 38 percent to $386.1 billion. In January of this year, the company launched its Amazon Prime service in Saudi Arabia, offering many convenient perks to Saudi shoppers, including free same-day and next-day delivery.

Also Read: Tinder Will Soon Let You Background Check Your Matches

A small survey of nearly 1,000 Saudi shoppers conducted by advertising platform Criteo last year found that 58 percent of Saudis now prefer online shopping to in-store shopping, and 35 percent see the cost of shipping as a big factor in their decision-making process.

With the new facilities, Amazon will be ready to expand its presence in the region even further to meet customers’ growing expectations.

News

Lebanon Ministers Meet Visa Over National Digital Payment Platform

Finance and technology ministers say a comparative study and roadmap will follow before any decision on adopting a model.

Published

1 day ago

May 5, 2026

Joanna Melki

lebanon ministers meet visa over national digital payment platform

Lebanon’s finance and technology ministers met representatives from Visa last week to discuss a proposed unified national digital payment platform for government services, according to a readout from the Ministry of Finance.

The meeting brought together Finance Minister Yassin Jaber, Minister of State for Technology and Artificial Intelligence Kamal Shehadeh, a Visa delegation, and experts from both ministries. Discussion focused on whether Lebanon could establish a single platform through which citizens and institutions would pay taxes, fees, fines and other official transactions electronically, using mobile phones and other digital channels.

The Visa delegation presented examples from countries that have adopted unified government payment platforms, including the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Estonia and Jordan. According to the readout, the examples were presented as having increased collection rates and expanded financial inclusion.

Talks covered settlement mechanisms, direct transfer to the treasury account, financial reconciliation, risk management, cybersecurity, fees, and an operational model that would involve the private sector. The parties agreed to continue technical and institutional consultations, prepare a comparative study, and develop an implementation roadmap before any decision on adopting a model for Lebanon.

Jaber said the Ministry of Finance had already enabled citizens to pay using credit cards and e-wallets through transfer companies, but described the proposed platform as a further step. He framed the development of electronic payment and collection systems as a priority within the ministry’s modernization plan.

Also Read: Deezer Says AI Tracks Now Make Up 44% Of Uploads

Shehadeh outlined the citizen-facing concept as a single mobile application through which users could settle obligations to ministries, government institutions and other bodies.

“The idea, in short, is that any citizen downloads an application on their mobile phone, through which they can pay all service obligations for all ministries, government institutions, or those owned by the Lebanese state, and others as well, as the platform is not limited only to state institutions,” he said.

Shehadeh added that the platform would not displace banks and money transfer companies that currently provide collection services to the state, calling it complementary to their work.