Saudi investment minister urges more private sector role in giga-projects - As-salamu alaykum
As-salamu alaykum. Saudi Arabia’s Investment Minister said on Tuesday it’s time for the kingdom’s sovereign fund and government to take a step back and let private capital play a bigger role in building the country’s big projects planned for completion by 2030.
Khalid Al Falih told a conference in Riyadh that the message to the private sector is: you’ve seen us deliver on our promises and beat our targets, so now we should scale back government and PIF spending and invite private investors to join in.
He added this is being worked on every day across the Ministry of Investment, the PIF and other government bodies.
Saudi Arabia - the world’s largest oil exporter - is pushing to diversify its economy under Vision 2030, launched in 2016. The plan includes major developments, called giga-projects, such as the futuristic Neom and other large-scale initiatives to expand renewables, mining and industrial zones.
Many of these schemes were funded and developed by the PIF, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds with hundreds of billions in assets. But the rapid scale-up has faced challenges, including rising costs. For example, Neom’s projected costs have ballooned far beyond original estimates, prompting a rethink of some plans like The Line and encouraging the kingdom to seek more private investment.
At the investment forum, Mr Al Falih highlighted Saudi Arabia’s strong investment performance - noting that while global FDI fell last year, Saudi FDI rose significantly - and said most of the foreign investment coming in is outside the oil sector.
PIF governor Yasir Al Rumayyan noted that foreign investment into Saudi Arabia grew last year and said the kingdom has been promoting itself globally and is now attracting international attention to events and future opportunities.
The minister and PIF continue to encourage private partnerships so these national projects can move forward with broader participation and shared responsibility.
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