Saudi Arabia's PIF, Bahrain's Mumtalakat Sign MoU to Promote Cooperation, Investment in Strategic Sectors 

The MoU provides multiple benefits to PIF and its portfolio companies by providing investment opportunities aimed at boosting PIF’s investments in Bahrain. (SPA)
The MoU provides multiple benefits to PIF and its portfolio companies by providing investment opportunities aimed at boosting PIF’s investments in Bahrain. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia's PIF, Bahrain's Mumtalakat Sign MoU to Promote Cooperation, Investment in Strategic Sectors 

The MoU provides multiple benefits to PIF and its portfolio companies by providing investment opportunities aimed at boosting PIF’s investments in Bahrain. (SPA)
The MoU provides multiple benefits to PIF and its portfolio companies by providing investment opportunities aimed at boosting PIF’s investments in Bahrain. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Mumtalakat Holding Company, the sovereign wealth fund of Bahrain, signed on Tuesday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to expand cooperation and enable new and promising investment opportunities in Bahrain.

The MoU provides multiple benefits to PIF and its portfolio companies by providing investment opportunities aimed at boosting PIF’s investments in Bahrain. It also allows for the creation of additional opportunities for the private sector in both countries, said a PIF statement.

“We are pleased to cooperate with PIF. This cooperation is an extension of the strong relations that bring the two kingdoms together,” said Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company CEO Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.

“The memorandum signed today aims to enhance cooperation between Mumtalakat and PIF by establishing strategic partnerships and stimulating partnership opportunities for the private sector to support the diversification of the economy in the two brotherly countries."

He added: “This is also in line with Mumtalakat’s efforts to invest in promising economic sectors, provide quality job opportunities, continue to contribute to the national economy, and work towards achieving the goals of Bahrain Vision 2030.”

Deputy Governor and head of MENA Investments at PIF Yazeed A. Al-Humied said: “The MoU with Bahrain’s Mumtalakat Holding Company is an important step that aims to contribute to enhancing collaboration and investment opportunities in various sectors in Bahrain.”

“The MoU also supports PIF’s objectives of building long-term strategic regional partnerships that bring additional value to local economies and create more partnership opportunities for the private sector. It also enables the achievement of sustainable returns that further contribute to maximizing PIF’s assets and diversifying the economy in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.”

Through this agreement, PIF seeks to increase its investments in multiple targeted sectors in Bahrain, while Mumtalakat aims to explore attractive investment opportunities for cooperation and partnership with PIF.

The MoU follows the establishment of the Saudi-Bahraini Investment Company – a PIF subsidiary – which aims to invest up to $5 billion in multiple promising sectors in Bahrain. The company has recently inaugurated its office, in Manama, to expand its range of investment activities.

PIF is one of the largest and most impactful sovereign wealth funds in the world. It plays a leading role in advancing Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation and diversification, as well as contributing to shaping the future of the global economy. Since 2017, PIF has established 93 companies in 13 strategic sectors locally and globally.

Mumtalakat Holding Company owns shares in more than 50 commercial companies covering a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, real estate and tourism, logistics, technology and media, communications, financial services, public services, consumer goods, healthcare, and education.



Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.