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00:00You've just got back from Saudi Arabia, and that's a place that I gather you've been visiting for decades.
00:05First of all, how have you seen the country change?
00:07No, from a physical comfort, lifestyle point of view, but also from, you know, the quality of life point of view for people that live there.
00:21Tom, I think it's been remarkable.
00:23And certainly it has been on a changed trajectory for two decades that I've been going there.
00:30But I would say in the last five years, maybe the last 10 years, the change has accelerated.
00:36I think the quality of office buildings, the quality and number of restaurants that are really top, top end, not just a place to get a meal, but a place to really kind of have an afternoon or have an evening.
00:53I, you know, I point to the VA Riyadh Center next to the Ritz-Carlton where I was staying when I was there.
01:00That wasn't there a couple of years ago in terms of the quality of shops, the quality of restaurants, the quality work that was done to do it.
01:09So I think, you know, for the people who live in Riyadh certainly, and I've spent a fair amount of time in Jeddah as well, clearly the quality of life has changed immensely.
01:27So I think that's a good thing.