News

Saudi Arabia Set To Invest $1 Trillion In The Real Estate Sector

Backed by a young population and expanding urbanization, the property sector has impressive future growth potential.

Published

4 years ago

December 12, 2022

saudi arabia set to invest $1 trillion in the real estate sector

S&P Global Ratings, a major US credit rating agency, has forecast sustained market growth for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as $1 trillion is set to be pumped into infrastructure and real estate projects over the coming decade.

As well as a young and growing population, expanding urbanization is a significant reason for S&P’s promising predictions, with at least eight new cities being planned along the Red Sea coast by 2030. During the Distinguished Cities Projects Exhibition in Riyadh, nine agreements worth $533 million were signed by the National Housing Company and other national strategic partners.

Saudi Arabia’s large-scale real estate programs will provide 1.3 million new homes overall, invigorating the business and financial sectors, and pumping money into both commercial and residential building via investments.

Saudi Arabia’s economy has also benefited from government initiatives to attract multinational companies, with tech startups, in particular, gravitating to the Kingdom and boosting the occupancy rates of commercial and office real estate across the region.

Also Read: Metaverse Will Bring $15B Annually To Gulf Economies By 2030

S&P also noted that many new programs had been initiated to scale up local housing and revitalize the financial sector, potentially benefiting commercial real estate across the country. As the tourism sector continues to grow rapidly, even more real estate investment opportunities will present themselves as companies and private individuals seek to relocate to Saudi Arabia.

As well as experiencing a dramatic flourishing of the commercial and residential real estate sectors, Saudi Arabia’s 2030 vision is also bringing a boost to energy, healthcare and the wider digital economy.

News

Samsung And Spotify Offer Free Premium Deal In MENA

Nearly seven in ten streams in the region come from 18-to-34-year-olds — the audience Samsung is hoping to entice into its ecosystem.

Published

6 days ago

August 7, 2026

Nour Nasir

Samsung

Samsung has announced a partnership with Spotify spanning the Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye, bundling Spotify Premium with select devices across its ecosystem. The headline offer — up to four months of Premium for free — is a first for the region.

Customers in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Türkiye who buy any OLED or 98-inch television, or any Galaxy S or Z series mobile device, get four months of Spotify Premium. The offer, tiered by market and device, is available at retail and on Samsung.com, and redeemed through the Samsung Promotion and Samsung Members apps.

For Samsung, the strategy is less about free music than about lock-in. The Korean tech giant’s pitch is continuity: a track starts on a Galaxy smartphone through Galaxy Buds on the commute, moves to a Samsung TV and soundbar in the living room, and stays controllable from a Galaxy Watch. The more seamlessly music travels between those devices, the harder it becomes to swap any one of them for a rival’s.

“Technology should bring people closer to the things they love, and few things connect people the way music does,” said Omar Saheb, Regional VP of Marketing and Online Business at Samsung Electronics MENA. The partnership, he added, gives customers “a genuine reason to choose Samsung for the experience, not only the product”.

Also Read: Shokz OpenFit Pro Review: Open-Ear Audio Finally Grows Up

For subscribers, Premium brings the usual package: ad-free listening, offline downloads, richer audio quality on Galaxy Buds and Samsung sound devices, and Jam, which lets friends build a shared queue.

“At Spotify, we are always working to make every listening moment feel more personal, meaningful, and worth it,” said Rami Jamal, Head of Partnerships at Spotify for South Asia, Middle East, and Africa.

The demographics go a long way to explaining the strategy. Across MENA, Türkiye, and Pakistan, nearly seven in ten Spotify streams come from listeners aged 18 to 34, according to the company — precisely the audience Samsung wants inside its hardware ecosystem before buying habits harden.