Overview
- Investment Minister Khalid Al‑Falih told FII it is time to scale back government and PIF spending on giga‑projects and invite private capital as projects like the Red Sea, Diriyah Gate and Qiddiya move toward operations.
- Public Investment Fund governor Yasir Al‑Rumayyan said FII has catalyzed $250 billion in deals since 2017 and reported foreign direct investment of $31.7 billion in 2024, a 24% rise despite a global decline.
- Saudi policy makers emphasized that more PIF capital is being deployed at home, overseas investments will be about one‑third of commitments, and non‑oil activity now accounts for just over half of GDP with non‑oil revenue covering roughly half of budget spending.
- Saudi Arabia highlighted AI as a new growth engine, pledging investment in applications and large language models and promising data centers at unprecedented scale and competitive cost.
- Saudi Arabia and Pakistan launched an Economic Cooperation Framework covering energy, industry, mining, IT, tourism, agriculture and food security, with MoUs planned for energy cooperation and an electricity interconnection and implementation to be steered through their Supreme Coordination Council.