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King Salman Bin Abdulaziz issued a royal order on 19 September approving the by-laws of the King Salman Foundation, a non-profit body focusing on cultural issues.

In decades past, Saudi Arabia used to try and extend its international influence by leveraging its status as the home of Islam’s holiest cities and by funding mosques and madrassas around the world. That strategy often drew unfavourable attention and these days it seems to pay more attention to garnering favourable coverage from social media influencers or hosting sporting events. Might artificial intelligence offer another path to promote its soft power status?

Saudi Arabia is trying to close the gap in artificial intelligence infrastructure with the UAE, by building up its network of data centres, developing more large language models and investing in local AI companies. Many thorny issues still need to be addressed though, including ideas around ‘digital sovereignty’ and the huge power requirements of the sector.

China’s Premier Li Qiang has called for faster progress on free trade negotiations with the GCC during a trip to Riyadh. At the same time, the GCC has been holding trade talks with Indonesia and Turkey, Oman has been pursuing a bilateral deal with India, and the UAE has been making changes to its approach to trade pacts after mixed results from its initial deals.

Prince Fahd Bin Mansour led the Saudi delegation to the StartUp20 summit in São Paulo in September, as part of the host country’s presidency of the G20.

After a 12-year gap, Saudi Arabia has reopened its diplomatic base in Damascus, although ambassador Faisal Bin Saud Al-Mejfel has yet to take up his post in the Syrian capital.

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman on 4 September led the funeral prayers for his aunt, Princess Latifa Bint Abdelaziz, who had died a day earlier.

In a series of royal orders issued on 29 August, the Saudi monarch replaced the Joint Forces commander and the chiefs of staff of the navy and land forces.

Saudi Arabian Military Industries chief executive Walid Abukhaled resigned from his position in late August, after four years at the helm. The development was announced on the same day that King Salman ordered a significant reshuffle of senior military officers.

Two former managers of PetroSaudi International – set up by Prince Turki Bin Abdullah in the early 2000s – were convicted of fraud and money laundering for their part in a $1.8bn scheme to extract funds from sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

A string of American and European lobbying and PR firms have been opening new outposts in the region in search of government contracts, with Riyadh and Abu Dhabi the main hubs of activity.

The sovereign wealth fund has seen its international assets fall from 29% of its overall portfolio in 2021 to around 20% in 2023, with a commensurate rise in investments in the Saudi economy. The shift is a clear response to Riyadh’s efforts to develop new sectors of the domestic economy.

The FII Institute has signed a contract with Prosek Partners worth more than $50,000 a month to provide it with communications and public relations support.

In late July, just as the UAE was wrapping up several of its latest bilateral free trade deals, a GCC delegation was in Ankara from 29-31 July for the first round of discussions on a free trade deal with Türkiye.  That was soon followed on 1 August by the official launch of negotiations on a free trade agreement between the GCC and Indonesia.

Saudi Arabia has outlined the details of its bid to host the 2034 football tournament, in bid documents that were formally submitted to the sport’s governing body Fifa in late July.