Key Developments
Oil Shifts and Saudi Market Boom: The oil prices started to weaken against the background of reduced geopolitical concerns and the expected increase in supply by OPEC+, however, they are poised to achieve two consecutive month-on-month increases. At the same time, the Saudi equity capital market has continued to perform well in the first half of 2025, with six IPOs unlocking a total amount of 2.8 billion dollars, which helps to ensure that Tadawul is solidly in place in the region. These are dynamic changes that underlie the commodity markets in the world and robust performance of the capital markets in major regional economies.
Digital Tax Retreat– Canada has canceled its digital services tax which has been viewed as controversial, a direct fallout of the abrupt suspension of trade talks by President Trump. The action points to the short-term value of U.S. economic leveraging and more general rebalancing of trade relations across North America, the focus of which would be on the broader agreements rather than on particular policies of digital taxation.
Crisis of Gaza Conflict Escalation: Islamic attacks left 72 dead bodies in Gaza giving rise to the whole death toll and the healthcare system of the area to an ?obliterated status? as stated by the Red Cross. This situation of attacks on shelters highlights an extreme humanitarian crisis despite Presidential efforts to reach a ceasefire and passage of aid.
The Nuclear Shadow of Iran: IAEA has warned about a grim possibility that the same Iran will be in a situation to restart its process of uranium enrichment in a matter of months. This evaluation affirms that the recent global efforts have never completely been able to tear down the Iranian nuclear facility, sustaining a point of much-needed tension and more concerns on global nuclear proliferation.
Pakistan’s Water Victory: IWT Position Vindicated. Pakistan is positively receiving the pronouncement made by the Court of Arbitration, which it perceives as confirmation of its position about the Indus Waters Treaty. The move has huge consequences on chronic water-sharing conflicts in the area and might affect any subsequent relations (diplomatic) between countries related to shared resources.
Push of Moscow: The military of the city of Moscow conquered the village of Dachnoye in the Eastern Central of the region of Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine). This allegation is in line with the one made by Russia that it has snatched 950 square KM of territory over two months, though they await confirmation by Ukraine sources at the time of this reporting or the Russian Defence ministry. This evolution displays the evidence of the constantly changing territories and the difficulty of validating battlefield statements in the middle of the war.
Upcoming Developments
2025 HLPF: Next month, the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) is to take place at UN Headquarters with the theme, Advancing sustainable, inclusive, science and evidence-based solutions to the 2030 Agenda. In this decisive event, some major SDGs such as health, gender equality, and economic growth will be revised, and 37 countries will project their improvements.
Pak-China Eye New Regional Bloc: SAARC is perceived to be dormant, and due to that, Pakistan and China are actively trying to get a proposal to form a new regional organization, which will likely take the place of SAARC and lead to more integration and connectivity in South Asia.
Specifically, about Nuclear Shift in Russia and Central Asia, Rosatom of Russia wants to construct nuclear power stations in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan, which marks the shift towards nuclear energy, which is the strategy of Central Asia to cover the increased demand.
In Kazakhstan, a plan by Rosatom to build the country first NPP, equipped with two 1,000 MW units, has been chosen, its roadmap being approved to be developed near Lake Balkhash.
Uzbekistan has also agreed a large capacity NPP near to Tuzkan lake as this country desperately requires more electricity production.
• Kyrgyzstan’s project timeline is yet to be set. One of the first companies that can address the major power deficit in the country is Rosatom.
