PIF, Saudi Electricity Company Announce Launch of Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Company

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF)
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF)
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PIF, Saudi Electricity Company Announce Launch of Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Company

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF)
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF)

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) said on Sunday that it has partnered with the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) to launch an electric vehicle infrastructure company.

"PIF will own a 75% stake in the Company, while SEC will hold the remaining 25% stake," the sovereign wealth fund said in a statement.

The company aims to deliver best-in-class electric vehicle (EV) fast-charging infrastructure across Saudi Arabia, further unlocking the local automotive ecosystem and accelerating the adoption of EVs. It plans to establish presence in more than 1,000 locations, installing over 5,000 fast chargers by 2030 in cities across Saudi Arabia and on the roads that connect them, in line with applicable regulations and standards.

The company also aims to enhance Saudi Arabia’s automotive ecosystem, through collaboration with EV companies, by supplying the necessary charging stations to meet future demand. It seeks to promote private sector participation in the development of its network of charging stations and support the localization of R&D and manufacturing of technologically advanced materials, ultimately building domestic expertise and resilience.

“The Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Company will spearhead the EV transition by deploying best-in-class, widely available EV charging infrastructure to drive the growth of the EV ecosystem. Through our partnership with SEC, we will be able to accelerate the creation of synergies across the EV supply chain, driving economic growth and diversification in line with Vision 2030, and positioning Saudi Arabia as a leader in the new electrified era of the automotive industry,” said Omar Al-Madhi, Co-Head of MENA Direct Investments at PIF.

Khalid Bin Hamad Al-Gnoon, Chief Executive Officer at SEC, said: “SEC, as part of the nation’s wider energy ecosystem, develops and implements strategies that aim to enhance Saudi Arabia’s position as a sustainable energy leader, in line with the Kingdom’s efforts to promote advanced energy solutions and increase the value added by the energy sector.”

The launch of the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Company is in line with PIF’s strategy to expand Saudi Arabia’s automotive capabilities to promote the country’s competitiveness on the world stage, and ultimately position it as a global leader. It will aim to further Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification efforts, driving non-oil GDP growth and creating new jobs.



Draghi Urges Reform, Investment Drive to Revive Lagging EU

Italian former prime minister and economist Mario Draghi speaks during a press conference about the future of European competitiveness at the EU headquarters in Brussels on September 9, 2024. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)
Italian former prime minister and economist Mario Draghi speaks during a press conference about the future of European competitiveness at the EU headquarters in Brussels on September 9, 2024. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)
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Draghi Urges Reform, Investment Drive to Revive Lagging EU

Italian former prime minister and economist Mario Draghi speaks during a press conference about the future of European competitiveness at the EU headquarters in Brussels on September 9, 2024. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)
Italian former prime minister and economist Mario Draghi speaks during a press conference about the future of European competitiveness at the EU headquarters in Brussels on September 9, 2024. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)

The European Union needs far more coordinated industrial policy, more rapid decisions and massive investment if it wants to keep pace economically with rivals the United States and China, Mario Draghi said on Monday in a long awaited report.
The European Commission asked the former European Central Bank chief and Italian prime minister a year ago to write a report on how the EU should keep its greening and more digital economy competitive at a time of increased global friction.
"Europe is the most open economy in the world so when our partners don't play according to the rules, we are more vulnerable than others," Draghi told a news conference.
In the opening section of a report set to run to some 400 pages, Draghi said the bloc needed additional investment of 750-800 billion euros ($829-884 billion) per year, up to 5% of GDP - far higher even than the 1-2% in the Marshall Plan for rebuilding Europe after World War Two.
"Growth has been slowing down for a long time in Europe, but we've ignored (it)," Reuters quoted Draghi as saying.
"Now we cannot ignore it any longer. Now conditions have changed: World trade is slowing, China is actually slowing very much and is becoming much less open to us... we've lost our main supplier of cheap energy, Russia."
EU countries had already responded to the new realities, Draghi's report said, but it added that their effectiveness was limited by a lack of coordination.
Differing levels of subsidies between countries was disturbing the single market, fragmentation limited the scale required to compete on a global level, and the EU's decision-making process was complex and sluggish.
"It will require refocusing the work of the EU on the most pressing issues, ensuring efficient policy coordination behind common goals, and using existing governance procedures in a new way that allow member states who want to move faster to do so," the report said.
It suggested so-called qualified majority voting - where an absolute majority of member states need not be in favor - should be extended to more areas, and as a last resort that like-minded nations be allowed to go it alone on some projects.
While existing national or EU funding sources will cover some of the massive investment sums needed, Draghi said new sources of common funding - which countries led by Germany have in the past been reluctant to agree to - might be required.
"If the political and institutional conditions are met, these projects would also call for common funding," the report said, citing defense and energy grid investments as examples.
EU growth had been persistently slower than that of the United States in the past two decades and China was rapidly catching up. Much of the gap was down to lower productivity.
Draghi's report comes as doubts emerge over the economic model of Germany, once the EU's motor after Volkswagen weighs its first ever plant closures there.
Draghi said the EU was struggling to cope with higher energy prices after losing access to cheap Russian gas and could no longer rely on open foreign markets.
The former central banker said the bloc needed to boost innovation and bring down energy prices while continuing to decarbonize and both reduce its dependencies on others, notably China for essential minerals, and increase defense investment.