MEED is the primary source of intelligence for all business sectors in the Middle East. Since its launch in 1957, MEED has been tackling news issues head-on with ground-breaking exclusives that shape the Middle East. It is a subscription-based online business intelligence service and has a weekly magazine. It is based in Dubai and owned by Top Right Group of the UK..

MEED has several sister information services including:

MEED Projects This subscription-only service offers in-depth project tracking through its database (www.meedprojects.com), which monitors projects from inception and feasibility through to financial close, the awarding of engineering, procurement and construction contracts and completion. Its data is used to track the market with the Gulf Projects Index, updated weekly.

MEED Events MEED’s portfolio of events has been developed over the past decade to cover all of the region’s key business sectors. From large-scale summits and conferences to breakfast briefings and webinars, MEED’s events are well known for their high-level participation and senior speakers. Events include Saudi Arabian Energy EPC Projects, Arabian World Construction Summit, Saudi Utilities and Saudi Mega Infrastructure Projects.

MEED Insight MEED Insight is MEED’s premium research division. It brings together MEED’s data-rich archives and unique relationships with key business decision-makers across the region to produce authoritative reports. Recent publications include the Mena Projects Forecast & Review, the Saudi Arabia Projects Market Report 2012 and market reports for Kuwait, Libya and Qatar.

MEED Cost Indices MEED Cost Indices is a premium service that allows subscribers to identify and manage escalation-related risk in the UAE and Qatar construction sectors. It uses exclusive data to show historic pricing developments and future trends to help predict the profitability of projects and estimate fluctuations in materials, labour, equipment and fuel costs.

AMEinfo AMEinfo.com is a news and business website dedicated to providing information about the Middle East. It keeps its 2.5 million readers, located in 150 countries, up to date with news, reports, analysis and video broadcasting from major Middle East events.

Saudi Press Agency (SPA)

Established in 1971, SPA is Saudi Arabia’s official news agency. It is part of the Ministry of Information and is available online in English, Arabic and French (www.spa.gov.sa). As well as government affairs, it covers topics including science, sports and business.

Television

The Broadcasting Service of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the state television provider and controls all broadcasts in the kingdom. It is controlled by the Ministry of Information. Private television channels may not broadcast from the kingdom, but Saudi investors own regional television giants such as Dubai-based MBC. MBC’s news channel, Al-Arabiya, is seen by many as a counterpoint to the occasionally anti-Saudi Al-Jazeera, Qatar’s Arabic news channel.

Media regulation

All media is heavily regulated in Saudi Arabia and self-censorship is prevalent, with broadcasters and publishers preferring to tread cautiously rather than risk having their licences revoked. Topics including criticism of the state or the royal family, discussion of Islam, politics, human rights and anything that seems pornographic (no matter how mild it might appear) is unlikely to be broadcast or published. According to the UK’s BBC, about 400,000 websites are blocked in the kingdom.