Can Saudi Arabia be the world’s next great aviation hub?

In the 10th episode of The TWENTY30, the hosts "celebrate" their "milestone" of 10 episodes before teasing two upcoming interviews as they start to introduce conversation segments to the program, featuring the some of the top voices and changemakers that are driving Saudi Arabia’s transformation plans. Regular publishing of that segment, called “The Mainstage,” begins in earnest this coming week as The TWENTY30 ramps up its operations.

On Monday, May 27th, in Episode 11, the hosts will talk with Chairman of the Board of UBS Saudi Arabia, Ramzi Abukhadra, a seasoned banker with a long career working in the finance sector in Saudi Arabia. The hosts will ask Ramzi about the development of banking in the Kingdom, how it has matured, how local banks are playing with a flood of international banks entering the market, and more. Ramzi is also working in the real estate space in Riyadh, so the hosts look forward to discussing the wildly fast evolution of Saudi Arabia's capital city, giga-projects, the private sector's role, and a lot more.

Then in Episode 12, airing on Thursday, May 30th, the hosts will sit down for an exclusive and in-depth conversation with one of Saudi Arabia's most significant contemporary artists working internationally, Manal Aldowayan, who is leading Saudi Arabia's presence at the Biennale in Venice this year with her immersive and multi-layered art experience, Shifting Sands: A Battle Song. The hosts will ask Manal about her journey to becoming an artist, sources of inspiration, her work in Venice, and Saudi Arabia as an emerging art scene.  

This week, Hanaa, back in London, and Lucien, still in Riyadh (with a makeshift audio situation — apologies for the quality 🙃) recap a busy week for Saudi Arabia. Lucien does a deep dive on Saudi Arabia’s aviation sector, discussing all the news and announcements from the Future Aviation Forum 2024 in Riyadh, where Lucien hosted a few on-stage panel discussions and more importantly, took some notes on a few of the more interesting facts that emerged from the Forum, both on aviation in general and Saudi Arabia’s pursuit of being the next global aviation hub. This lead to a discussion of Boeing and Airbus, turbulence, and much more.

Then hosts round out episode 10 with a discussion of some of the latest news from Saudi Arabia and the region, including:

•Saudi Arabia expressed on Monday its condolences over the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and a number of other senior officials in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

•The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has issued new regulations to create a legal framework from freelance and flexiwork. 

•The US and Saudi Arabia have reached a “near final set of arrangements” for a defense pact that includes a civil nuclear component but obstacles remain for a broader regional deal that would normalize relations between Israel and Riyadh, a senior US official said on Tuesday.

•Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal F. Alibrahim meets today in Riyadh with delegation from the US Chamber of Commerce headed by Vice President of Middle East Affairs, Steve Lutes.

•The Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF) and Vanity Fair Europe recently co-hosted a glittering “Women in Cinema” gala, shining a spotlight on six extraordinary women who are transforming the global film landscape.

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