American Business Group

Events

US Consulate General in Jeddah relocates

JEDDAH : The US Consulate General in Jeddah is moving to a new consulate compound in Al-Mohammadiyah district on Sunday after being located on Falasteen Street in Al-Hamra district for over 65 years. The new consulate compound in Al-Mohammadiyah district is close to the new American School building.  

US-Saudi diplomatic relations began in 1948 when the US’ first diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia was located in a traditional house in Jeddah’s old city center, Al-Balad. In 1952, the Consulate General relocated to Al-Hamra district. As Jeddah grew, the city expanded around the Consulate.

The new US Consulate General will be open to the public for business on September 24. The public entrance for all consular services (visas and American Citizens services) is located on the west side of the new consulate on Al-Safa Street. Additional information on the new location can be found here.

Sheikh Khaled Juffali 

The ABJ Members and guests were honored to have Mr. Sheikh Khaled Juffali as our guest speaker.  His years of successes, depth of understanding, and delightful speech created one of the most notable evenings in our American Business Group’s history.  Our group enjoyed hearing about his father’s experiences and business journeys. Mr. Khaled Juffali anecdotes were fascinating giving us a close look at the land, culture, and people that we would not have gained in any other way.

KSA September 2019 Economy Summary

Key observations from Jedwa Investment report are as follows:

• Real Economy: July saw a rebound in POS transactions which grew by 19 percent year-on-year, whereas cash withdrawals were flat over the same period. Non-oil PMI index declined slightly in July, whilst cement sales rose for the second consecutive month.
• Government Finance: The net monthly change to government accounts with SAMA were down by SR36 billion month-on-month in July for the second consecutive month, affected by an equivalent decline in government deposits.
• SAMA foreign Reserve Assets: SAMA FX reserves declined by $9 billion month-on-month to stand at $503 billion in July, following a previous decline in June by $4 billion.
• Money Supply: M3 rose by almost 4 percent in July, year-on-year, but decreased slightly on a monthly basis by 0.6 percent. The rise in M3 was mainly supported by the continuous rise in bank deposits.
• Bank Deposits: Total bank deposits rose by 3.7 percent year-on-year in July, supported by a significant rise in private demand deposits by 6 percent year-on-year.
• Bank Credit: Total bank claims rose by almost 7 percent in July year-on-year. Claims on the public sector were up by 24 percent, meanwhile, credit to the private sector rose by 3.4 percent.
• Inflation: Prices continued to decline in July, by 1.4 percent year-on-year, but inched up by 0.1 percent on a monthly basis. “Rentals for housing” remained flat month-on-month, for the first time since December 2017.
• Oil-Global: A tit-for-tat rise in tariffs by both the US and China darkened investor sentiment and led to both Brent oil (down 9 percent) and WTI (down 5 percent) month-on-month.
• Oil-Regional: Saudi crude oil production dropped by 2 percent month-on-month in July, to 9.6 mbpd, the lowest level of output since August 2014.

JEDDAH:  Ryan M. Gliha arrived as Consul General of the U.S. Consulate General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on September 16, 2018.  A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, Ryan most recently served as Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim from November 2017 through August 2018 at the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar after serving as Deputy Chief of Mission there from 2015 through 2017.  Previously, Ryan served as Director of the Regional Media Hub and Arabic Language Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in London, United Kingdom from 2012-2015.  During that assignment, Ryan served temporarily as acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Media in the Bureau of Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. during the summer of 2014.