MUST-READS

• As regional violence rages, Saudi Arabia pitches itself as investment hub

  “In a world marked by uncertainty, countries that can mobilize capital and bridge gaps between east and west, north and south, are essential,” said Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, or PIF, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund. “Saudi Arabia stands as a super connector, with its unique resources and strategic geographic location,” he said. “Democracies are messy; benign monarchies are efficient,” said Peter Diamandis, a summit board member and entrepreneur. With fewer regulations, less oversight and massive amounts of capital, Saudi Arabia, he predicts, will see rapid progress in technologies from AI to autonomous vehicles.

• Saudi Arabia’s Hassana eyes investment in Brookfield Middle East fund
  Hassana, the investment arm of Saudi Arabia's main pension fund, is considering becoming an anchor investor in Brookfield's (BN.TO), opens new tab new $2 billion Middle East fund, it said on Thursday. That would bring Hassana on board with the kingdom's PIF sovereign wealth fund, which announced on Wednesday that it had entered a non-binding agreement to become an anchor investor in the Brookfield Middle East Partners fund.

• Saudi commercial property market thrives as office investment interest hits 6-year high
  Saudi Arabia remains one of the strongest commercial property markets in the world, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Global Construction Monitor Q3 2024. Overall occupier demand reported a very strong reading (+56 per cent net aggregate), and this growth is found among every commercial property sector, with office property recording an exceptionally strong +76 per cent result. There is exceptionally strong international investor demand growth, particularly for office property, which posted a +88 per cent reading – a record since the monitor was established in Q4 2018.

• Saudi Arabia aims to enable direct investment by GCC residents: ElKuwaiz

  ElKuwaiz sees two prominent amendments to expand the scope of foreign investment. The first is to work on reviewing the rules of opening investment accounts, considering dealing with GCC residents as Saudi residents regarding investing in stocks, and thus allowing them to invest directly in the Saudi market.   This will be followed—after a year—with a review of the investor regulations to liberalize them in terms of the targeted categories and ratios, which have become a restricted factor for foreign investors.

• At a Glitzy Saudi Investment Forum, Almost No Mention of War

  “Notwithstanding the regional war ensuing, the Gulf political elites, in particular in Saudi Arabia, need to project that they are open for business,” said Aziz Alghashian, director of research at the Observer Research Foundation Middle East, a think tank. “Restructuring the economy is not a matter of preference or desire, but the Saudis are considering the restructuring of the economy as an existential matter,” he added. “They need to make sure regional turmoil does not hinder these economic ambitions.”

• Saudi Arabia Looks for More Global Investments in Chemicals Push

  The kingdom is already in talks to buy stakes in companies in China and the state-run Saudi Aramco has said it wants more deals this year and the next. Investing in plants that produce chemicals — which Riyadh sees as a driver of growth of future oil demand — as a way to ensure it has a ready market for its vast crude supply. “We will be using oil to chemicals, domestically and abroad, and that’s why you see us, or you see Aramco investing a lot in China and we will be investing a lot everywhere else on planet Earth,” Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman said at the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh. “In this room in 2019, I did say we will monetize every molecule of energy this land has. Period.”

• Saudi Arabia pushes for Africa debt relief as private investments set to reach $25B

  Public debt in Africa reached $1.8 trillion in 2022, with such high levels constraining the ability of countries to cope with unexpected crises or invest in development. Jadaan said Saudi Arabia's plans to help Africa with its debt crisis — first proposed during Riyadh's hosting of the G20 in 2020 — have "directly impacted" countries such as Chad, Zambia, Ghana and Ethiopia. "Saudi Arabia believes in the importance of these efforts, and we are committed to continue exerting them," he added. During the 2020 G20 summit, Saudi Arabia called for the suspension of African debt payments. At the inaugural Saudi Arabia-Africa summit in November 2023, Riyadh continued to press for resolving debt issues in Africa.

• Saudi wealth fund to cut overseas investments
  Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund plans to cut its overseas investments by about a third, its governor told a conference in Riyadh on Tuesday, as the Kingdom taps into its resources to fund plans to wean the economy off oil. Speaking on a panel of business, technology and finance leaders, Public Investment Fund Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan said the sovereign wealth fund was more focused on the domestic economy and aiming to bring the fund's international investments down to between 18% and 20% of the total from 30%.

• Finance minister expects Saudi investments in Africa’s private sector to reach $25 billion

  Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan forecasted on Monday that Saudi investments in the private sector across Africa will amount to $25 billion over the next ten years. During the Future Investment Initiative New Africa Summit in Riyadh, Al-Jadaan mentioned that $5 billion of these investments are currently being implemented. He emphasized Africa's pivotal role in addressing global challenges and highlighted the accelerating partnership between the Kingdom and the continent.

• Aramco’s Venture Arm Allocates $100 Million for AI Investments

  Saudi Aramco’s venture arm has earmarked $100 million to invest in artificial intelligence startups as it looks to accelerate Saudi Arabia’s push to become a more competitive force in global AI. Wa’ed Ventures has appointed an advisory board made up of former employees from companies including Meta Platforms Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. to explore early-stage investments in the sector. Money will be deployed over the next three years, according to the company. “This investment will not only incentivize local entrepreneurs but also support the localization of global talent,” Anas Algahtani, acting chief executive officer of Wa’ed, said in a statement on Sunday.

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