Dubai’s Emirates NBD on Monday announced the expansion of it operations in Saudi Arabia, solidifying its foothold in the market as Opec’s biggest oil exporter continues to transform its economy.
Emirates NBD, the biggest bank in Dubai by assets, said it has expanded its footprint with the recent opening of its branch in Saudi Arabia’s commercial hub, Jeddah. The lender plans to “soon" open a branch in Khobar and a second branch in the kingdom’s capital Riyadh, it said in a statement. Saudi Arabia now hosts Emirates NBD’s biggest branch network outside of the UAE and Egypt, it said.
“Our presence in Saudi Arabia leverages the UAE’s strong economic, financial and commercial ties with the kingdom,” Hesham Al Qassim, vice-chairman and managing director of Emirates NBD, said. “As Saudi rolls out its transformative Vision 2030 plan, we are delighted to deepen our relationship and continue to support Saudi individuals and businesses looking for a trusted banking partner.”
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Financial institutions are keen to establish a presence in the Saudi Arabia, the biggest Arabian Gulf economy, as it continues to diversify away from oil. Its economic agenda includes development of local non-oil industries and sale of some of the state assets including Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil producer, in a public float. Deals such as these and a booming population in the country offer growth opportunities for local, regional and international lenders.
US-based Citi on Monday also announced the formal opening of its new offices in Riyadh, in a ceremony attended by Ibrahim Al Omar, Governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, and top Citi officials including its chief executive Michael Corbat.
“The expansion to Saudi is in line with our strategy to be present in the region’s biggest economy and contribute to its transformation,” said Mr Corbat. “Citi continues to support the Kingdom’s national agenda for a diverse and sustainable economy and we aim to play a key role towards realising this vision.”
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What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
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TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
