https://arab.news/b93jy
RIYADH: Saudi-listed Riyadh Cement Co. has announced its board of directors' decision to appoint Salah Al-Rashed as board chairman.
The cement producer’s board has also appointed Khaled Al-Mulhem as vice chairman, the company said in a bourse filing.
Riyadh Cement produces building materials for commercial and architectural use, including exterior and interior walls, ceilings, mosaic tiles, terrazzo flooring, and white cement-based products.
DUBAI: Over a third of Middle Eastern employees worry that their jobs will be replaced by new technologies over the next three years, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey released in June 2022.
According to PwC Middle East’s Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2022, 32 percent of the employees said their companies use technology to improve the workplace, slightly higher than the global survey average.
However, around 41 percent of the surveyed people were worried about new technologies replacing their jobs over the next three years.
So, the question that may arise in their minds is: Will robots take over jobs? Short answer, no.
Scott Nowson, the artificial intelligence leader at PwC Middle East, told Arab News how these fears are unfounded because more use cases will emerge as technology advances. As a result, more value will be gained from investing in robotics, designing new experiences and envisioning new ways to live and work.
“As this happens, the knock-on effect will be that more people are required to train the robots, demonstrate how a task is to be done and create the rules that the robot should follow,” he added.
What they are up against
According to Nowson, robots will not displace most jobs soon or in the long run. While some jobs will be automated, there will be an increased demand for people to work in other areas, which means more job opportunities, he added.
Nowson said that most robots are purely functional and capable of performing only one task. Today’s most advanced robots include Boston Dynamics’ range — robots that can navigate uneven woodlands and dance.
“There has been no negative impact on job opportunities, except on the industrial level, which has not been widely adopted in the regional market,” Doaa Sulaiman, robotics director of Proven Robotics, told Arab News.
“Technology will free us from routine toil and give us the freedom to redefine work in ways that are more constructive and useful to society,” she added.
Despite doubters, technology has created millions of jobs and makes up 10 percent of the US’ gross domestic product, according to Sulaiman.
Proven Robotics, based in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, works with customers who require robotics for visitor management, process automation and acceleration of functions that require a robot instead of a human. These companies and entities range from banking and healthcare to education and events.
“Other companies are government offices that need to organize the check-in process for their buildings and facilities,” she added. Adding to the robotics world is Ameca, an AI-powered humanoid robot that will interact with Dubai’s Museum of the Future visitors.
The AI-powered Ameca, manufactured by the UK-based Engineered Arts, is described as a perfect platform for human-robot interaction. Her “smooth, lifelike motion and advanced facial expression capabilities mean Ameca can strike an instant rapport with anybody,” the manufacturer’s website said. According to a statement, the humanoid robot Ameca is considered the “most advanced” in the world.
Anas Batikhi, the managing director of health tech firm Santechture, believes that such technologies will ultimately shift focus to developing workforce talent and investing in people skills development rather than process improvements.
The company uses AI through its software solutions to help healthcare professionals administer, document and bill patients intelligently.
Communication and technological understanding is critical, said PwC’s Nowson.
The fact that 53 percent of respondents in the region reported limited opportunities to learn from colleagues with advanced technological or digital skills is concerning, he added.
It is difficult for companies to use AI and robots as the technology is not fully understood, primarily because traditional management thinking is skeptical toward change and lacks innovation when it comes to medium- and long-term investments, according to Batikhi.
Therefore, if robotics is to be introduced at scale to any workforce sector, there must be a better understanding and awareness of its impacts. Most importantly, opportunities for education and additional skills must be provided for all, Nowson said.
Over the past two years, businesses have started to seriously look at robots and robotics solutions as contributing to business processes instead of just for show, Sulaiman said.
“AI is changing how we work,” she said. Tech companies are creating jobs and opportunities for employee growth by adapting to these technologies, Sulaiman added. AI now automates repetitive tasks so employees can focus on more critical tasks.
While AI technologies have improved and advanced many functions everywhere, including office processes, airports and facilities, physical robots still have a long way to go, Sulaiman said.
For handling everyday robot processes, it is considered a vital training aspect and a skill that most entities, especially universities and schools, are adding to their resource pools, Sulaiman added.
“A unique curriculum has been added to pregraduate and postgraduates studies, with many graduation projects now focusing on robots and robotics,” she said.
There are many ways available for Proven Robotics clients to adopt robotics solutions in their operations, from welcoming visitors and making boardroom reservations to delivering mail and food.
Therefore, Nowson concluded that the intention behind robotics and AI is to augment humans, not replace them.
Companies are always looking for ways to automate new tasks at work, and robotics is just one example.
In dangerous physical environments, automation reduces the risk of human life, but it can also reduce burnout in an office setting, Nowson said.
“Even if a task is 99.9 percent identically repetitive, there will always be a need for a human for the remaining 0.1 percent,” he concluded.
RIYADH: Egypt-based mass e-commerce solutions Kenzz raised $3.5 million in a seed funding round led by Outliers Venture Capital.
Founded in 2022, the company offers a mass e-commerce platform for online shopping in Egypt, the Middle East and Africa.
“We are delighted to complete this seed fundraise, and we thank all our investors for their support. The time is ripe to fully optimize eCommerce in Egypt and MENA,” Ahmed Atef, CEO of Kenzz, said in a statement.
Kenzz will utilize its capital to recruit talent, grow its product categories and invest in its technology to launch its new app.
SINGAPORE/LONDON: US Treasury yields held near multiyear highs on Friday, with markets seeing no end to tightening from the Federal Reserve, causing shares to slip and the dollar to strengthen, particularly on the yen, against which it hit a new 32 year top, according to Reuters.
The benchmark US 10-year yield edged up as high as 4.291 percent, its highest level since June 2008, having risen nearly 10 basis points overnight.
This dragged on shares, with Europe’s STOXX index falling 1.3 percent, US S&P500 futures sliding 0.6 percent and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.92 percent, languishing near the two-and-a-half year intraday low it touched the day before.
“It’s all so tenuous... The problem is the macro environment still remains difficult,” said Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP Capital, adding that the market is in a tug of war between investors who see opportunities and those who are focused on the difficult backdrop.
Global markets have been extremely volatile as investors worry that hefty rate hikes will push major economies into recessions before inflation is tamed, while the resulting stronger dollar could wreak havoc in emerging markets.
Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker on Thursday suggested the central bank will “keep raising rates for a while,” while US economic data showed persistent labor market tightness.
Third-quarter corporate earnings have offered little help to equities. On Friday Adidas shares dropped 10 percent as the German sporting goods maker cut its full-year outlook, citing weaker demand.
European retail shares were down 3.8 percent, also hurt by Friday data showing British shoppers reined in their spending more sharply than expected in September.
Chinese blue chips slid 0.3 percent, with China watchers waiting for Sunday when members of the ruling Communist Party’s elite Politburo Standing Committee are set to be unveiled at the conclusion of its twice-a-decade congress. Xi Jinping is set to clinch a third five-year term as China’s leader.
Higher US yields were also being felt in currency markets, where the dollar climbed nearly 1 percent to a fresh 32-year peak on the yen of 151.59.
“This rate environment continues to (cast) doubts (on) the sustainability of any rally in equities, and chances that the dollar will receive more safe-haven flows are elevated,” said Francesco Pesole foreign exchange strategist at ING in a note to clients.
The Japanese currency, which was heading for its 13th straight session of declines, is particularly sensitive to moves in US yields as the Bank of Japan has a policy of keeping benchmark Japanese government bond yields near zero.
Fresh threats of intervention to support the yen made by Japanese policymakers have kept investors on alert, although there has been no official announcement of further action since the Ministry of Finance’s dollar-selling, yen-buying intervention last month.
Sterling was also under pressure, down 1 percent against the dollar, as Conservative lawmakers jostled to replace Liz Truss, after initially rising when she announced that she was stepping down as prime minister.
“The field seems to be narrowing to: (Rishi) Sunak, (Penny) Mordaunt, and (Boris) Johnson. Mordaunt and Johnson are the risk-off/cable-off/gilts-off candidates, while Sunak is probably the opposite,” said BMO Capital Markets analysts in a note.
Cable is the sterling/dollar currency pair, gilts are British government bonds.
European bond yields are also rising and Germany’s benchmark bond yield hit a new 11-year high of 2.512 percent.
Brent crude was last up 0.37 percent at $92.69 per barrel, while spot gold was down 0.25 percent and set for its second weekly decline.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and Zhang Jianhua, China’s national energy administrator, discussed ways to strengthen cooperation and bilateral ties in the field of energy, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday.
During the online meeting, the two highlighted the importance of regularly exchanging viewpoints as two significant global energy producers and consumers, according to SPA.
The officials confirmed their willingness to work together to support the stability of the international oil market, continue close communication, and strengthen cooperation to address the emerging risks and challenges.
They also highlighted the importance of long-term and reliable oil supplies to stabilize the global market, noting that the Kingdom continues to be China’s most reliable partner and supplier of crude oil, SPA reported.
The two sides also discussed cooperation and joint investments as well as stressing the importance of cooperation in the field of electricity and renewables, and to collaborate in the field of clean hydrogen through research and development.
They agreed to cooperate within the framework of the Bilateral Cooperation Agreement in Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy between the Chinese and Saudi governments.
Later on Friday, Prince Abdulaziz, who is also chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Economy and Investment in the Saudi-Indian Strategic Partnership Council, paid a visit today to India, where he held meetings with the Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Power Raj Kumar Singh, and a number of leaders of the Indian business sector.
The meetings dealt with enhancing integration between the Kingdom and India and opportunities for joint cooperation.
RIYADH: The Saudi Agricultural Development Fund has financed 467,000 loans, with a total value of SR55 billion ($14.6 billion), since its inception in 1962 until the end of 2021.
The figures were revealed within the Agricultural Exhibition Forum sessions on the sidelines of the Saudi Agriculture Exhibition 2022 and the Saudi Agri-Business Forum, under the title “Securing the Kingdom's diversified food needs in various sub-sectors.”
The services are represented in financing specialized projects such as poultry, greenhouses, fish farming, and food manufacturing industries, the ADF advisor Alaa Siddid explained.
Development loans target farmers, livestock breeders, beekeepers and fishermen, in addition to financing external agricultural investment projects, Siddiq said.
He added that the loans also focus on the working capital initiative to import agricultural products with the aim of enhancing food security and supporting strategic stocks.
Third Milling Co. board member Ahmad Hijazi reviewed the importance of activating innovative methods in increasing production.
The company succeeded in investing this by raising the production capacity from 100,000 tons to 400,000 tons per year, with the same available resources and factories, in order to secure local production of flour and feed, Hijazi explained.
Fahad Aljadaan, marketing and business development director at Alkhorayef Commercial Co., talked up the importance of using new technologies and automation on innovative equipment to ensure maximum returns, reduce losses and costs, and increase production efficiency.
The company exports irrigation devices to 40 countries — ranking fourth in the world — and the sprinkler system was able to introduce modern irrigation techniques, raise production efficiency and reduce consumption by up to 30 percent, he said.
Organic production in the Kingdom amounted to 105,000 tons in 2021, with a value of SR1.03 billion per year, and an area of more than 27,100 hectares, and an increase in organic production areas that reached 138 percent, Saudi Organic Farming Association Director Yazeed Alfifi said, citing the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture data.
The Kingdom achieved second place in the world in the development of the organic sector during the period from 2018 to 2021, he said.