Saudi launches $1.3 trillion private sector investment push

Saudi Arabia is trying to wean its economy off its reliance on oil exports, which account for more than half its income.

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince says oil firm Aramco and petrochemical firm SABIC will lead investments of five trillion riyals ($1.3 trillion) by the country’s private sector by 2030 under an economic diversification programme. The move, announced on Tuesday, aims to mobilise the Gulf Arab state’s private sector to help wean the economy off its reliance on oil exports, which still account for more than half the state’s income, and develop new sectors to help create jobs for millions of Saudis. The programme is part of 12 trillion riyals ($3.2 trillion) worth of investments planned by 2030, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in televised remarks. That also includes three trillion riyals ($800bn) from the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and four trillion riyals ($1.1 trillion) under a new Saudi investment strategy, of which some two trillion rials ($533bn) would be foreign investment.