's SABIC gets $1bn credit from Alinma Bank

by Souhail Karam

Saudi based Alinma Bank said it would grant a $1 billion credit facility to Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), plugging a financing gap at the world's biggest petrochemicals group.

In a statement confirming a report by Al Hayat online news service on Tuesday, Alinma said: "The facility will fund some of SABIC's petrochemical projects as part of its strategic plans to enhance financing performance, boost competitiveness and help it achieve (its) expansion and growth strategy."

It did not disclose the terms of the facilities, saying only they complied with Islamic law.

Alinma was set up by royal decree in 2006. Government owned pension funds are its biggest shareholders with a 30 percent stake while Saudi citizens hold the remaining 70 percent.

SABIC Chief Executive Mohamed al Mady declined to comment while Chief Financial Officer Mutlaq al Morished could not immediately be reached for comment. Alinma said Morished signed the agreement on behalf of SABIC.

SABIC's financial arm SABIC Capital delayed last month a benchmark dollar bond issue due to jitters that hit global credit markets over fiscal problems in some euro zone countries.

It was not immediately clear if there was a link between the Alinma deal announced on Tuesday and the delay in SABIC Capital's delayed bond issue.

Ratings agency Moody's assigned the planned bond an A+ rating and said it understood it would be used to refinance or repay debt at SABIC Innovative Plastics Holding, the renamed GE Plastics.

SABIC Capital was established in 2008 to look after the financing and tax operations of SABIC's investments in Europe and the United States after the acquisition of DSM Petrochemicals and GE Plastics.

Between July 2006 and May 2008, state controlled SABIC raised 16 billion riyals ($4.27 billion) from three Islamic bond issues. It raised $533.2 million in December 2009 from a private bond placement.

A typical benchmark bond issue is for a minimum $500 million. SABIC said that it has to repay $1.47 billion in long term loans in 2010 and $3 billion in 2011.

Source : Reuters

UAE, Saudi among world's top website censors - project

by Neeraj Gangal

The UAE ranks high among countries that have blocked most websites, a recent report has revealed.

Internet users in the country reported the eleventh highest rate of blocked websites from among the countries in the world, according to the Herdict project.

Herdict is a project of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. It seeks to gain insight into what users around the world are experiencing in terms of web accessibility. As on June 12, 11am UAE time, UAE users reported that 509 different webpages were flagged as “inaccessible”, the Herdict Web project statistics revealed.

China is the most reported country when it comes to website censorship, according to the report. From among the Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia ranked at No.4. and Bahrain at No.6 in the top 10 slots.

A noteworthy aspect of the report is that the Western countries were equally vigilant about restricting websites. Germany was ranked at No.2, US at No.3, France at No.7, Australia at No.8 and the UK at No.9.

According to the www.herdict.org website, Herdict is a portmanteau of 'herd' and 'verdict' and seeks to show the verdict of the users (the herd).
Speaking to the UAE’s The National newspaper, Jillian York, the social media manager for the project said that the websites that were found by UAE users to have been blocked ranged from pornography and dating websites to religious pages.

“But then, you also get some sites where you’ve got to wonder why they’re blocked – like Flickr.”

Top 10 countries that reported the most-restricted sites as on June 12, 11am, UAE time:

1. China (4,969)
2. Germany (6,972)
3. United States (5,162)
4. Saudi Arabia (2,364)
5. Iran (990)
6. Bahrain (1,004)
7. France (1,530)
8. Australia (911)
9. United Kingdom (1,237)
10. Philippines (909)

India seeks Saudi help on Haj passports

Siraj Wahab, Arab News

JEDDAH: Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed yesterday called on the Saudi government to exempt Indians intending to perform Haj 2009 from having international passports.

The Kingdom recently ruled that only those having valid international passports would be allowed into the country for the pilgrimage. The government said the step was taken for security measures.

Until last year, pilgrims from many countries, including India, were allowed into the Kingdom on a passport of limited validity. In India, these passports are known as “pilgrim passes” and are issued without going through the cumbersome and time-consuming bureaucratic process of acquiring an international passport.

In his meeting with Deputy Haj Minister Hatem Qadi here yesterday, Ahamed sought to postpone for Indian pilgrims the application of this rule by one year. “I explained to the Saudi authorities the difficulties our pilgrims face in acquiring international passports. Most of our pilgrims are from rural areas and it is very difficult for them to acquire international passports at such short notice.”

Speaking to Arab News, Ahamed said India would ensure that all pilgrims coming for Haj 2010 had international passports. “We are only asking for a one-year waiver because it is practically impossible for those who have applied for Haj this year to get international passports in time,” he said.

The minister said the Saudi deputy Haj minister had promised to look into Indian government’s request. “It will be actively considered,” Ahamed quoted the deputy Haj minister as saying.

Other countries too have requested Saudi Arabia to relax the international passport ruling for pilgrims. “However, coming from India, the request will definitely be carefully looked at,” said Ahamed. “I have come here in person just to make this request. We have excellent ties with the Kingdom and I am very hopeful Saudis will understand our situation.”

A series of delegations comprising top Indian Muslim religious leaders have met officials at the Saudi missions in New Delhi and Mumbai making a similar request.

If the Saudi government does not agree to the waiver, then the Indian Haj Committee chief Iqbal Ahmad Saradgi said he would request his government to simplify the procedure for issuing international passports.

“As everybody knows, the procedure for getting a normal passport is very time-consuming and complex; it could cause great hardship to a large number of pilgrims, especially those coming from rural areas,” said Saradgi.