Carlyle Group Chairman: Saudi Arabia Will Encourage More Capital Attraction

David Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, Reuters
David Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, Reuters
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Carlyle Group Chairman: Saudi Arabia Will Encourage More Capital Attraction

David Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, Reuters
David Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, Reuters

Carlyle Group Chairman David Rubenstein said on Thursday that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has become more attractive for foreign investment after the introduction of Vision 2030.

In a broadcast interview, the chairman of one of the world's largest investment firms said: "I have been in Saudi Arabia for more than 25 years and I am already investing in Saudi Arabia, but the atmosphere is now more encouraging and will encourage more capital attraction."

Rubenstein’s statements come as the Saudi Public Investment Fund launched its 2018-2020 program, aimed at achieving "Vision 2030."

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, announced the Saudi Vision 2030 for the Kingdom in April 2016, which aims to diversify the Saudi economy and reduce dependence on oil.

The vision includes the establishment of the largest sovereign investment fund with a total value of more than $2 trillion, after the privatization of Saudi Aramco, which will also become the largest company in the world.

Economists, experts, investors and analysts are currently awaiting the listing of the Initial Public Offering for the 5% sale of the company.

Among other positive developments, Saudi Arabia also announced in May 10 programs of strategic importance to achieve Vision 2030.

The goal of Vision 2030 is to make the Kingdom's economy more prosperous and more vibrant while adhering to Islamic values and a well-established national identity.

PIF’s recently published program maps out the next three years in order to achieve four main objectives: establishing new sectors, localizing advanced technologies and information, and building strategic economic partnerships.

More so, PIF eyes strengthening its role as an effective engine to diversify the economy in Saudi Arabia, in addition to deepening the impact and role of the Kingdom across the regional and global scene.

In the next three years, PIF's program includes 30 initiatives—details were laid out in the program’s outline, which will raise the Fund's assets to 1.5 trillion riyals ($ 400 billion) by 2020 and generate some 20,000 local jobs directly - half of which would require high skills - and 256,000 construction jobs.

The PIF program emphasizes integration with the Saudi private sector through brand new local investment portfolios distributed among Saudi companies. They involve investments aimed at developing promising sectors, real estate projects and infrastructure development, and the Saudi investment margin for major projects.



China Hits Back at US and Will Raise Tariffs on American Goods from 84% to 125%

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
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China Hits Back at US and Will Raise Tariffs on American Goods from 84% to 125%

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura

China announced Friday that it will raise tariffs on US goods from 84% to 125% — the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown.

While US President Donald Trump paused import taxes this week for other countries, he raised tariffs on China and they now total 145%. China has denounced the policy as “economic bullying" and promised countermeasures. The new tariffs begin Saturday.

Washington's repeated raising of tariffs “will become a joke in the history of the world economy,” a Chinese Finance Ministry spokesman said in a statement announcing the new tariffs. “However, if the US insists on continuing to substantially infringe on China’s interests, China will resolutely counter and fight to the end.”

China’s Commerce Ministry said it would file another lawsuit with the World Trade Organization against the US tariffs.

“There are no winners in a tariff war,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping said during a meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, according to a readout from state broadcaster CCTV. “For more than 70 years, China has always relied on itself ... and hard work for development, never relying on favors from anyone, and not fearing any unreasonable suppression.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday said China stands firm against Trump’s tariffs not only to defend its own rights and interests but also to “safeguard the common interests of the international community to ensure that humanity is not dragged back into a jungle world where might makes right.”

Wang made the remarks when he met Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Beijing. Wang said China will “work together with other countries to jointly resist all retrogressive actions in the world.”

Trump's on-again, off-again measures have caused alarm in stock and bond markets and led some to warn that the US could be headed for a recession. There was some relief when Trump paused the tariffs for most countries — but concerns remain since the US and China are the world's No. 1 and No. 2 economies, respectively.

“The risk that this escalating trade war tips the world into a recession is rising as the two largest and most powerful countries in the world continue to punch back with higher and higher tariffs,” Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital markets, wrote Friday. “No one truly knows when this will end.”

Chinese tariffs will affect goods like soybeans, aircrafts and their parts and drugs — all among the country's major imports from the US Beijing, meanwhile, suspended sorghum, poultry and bonemeal imports from some American companies last week, and put more export controls on rare earth minerals, critical for various technologies.

The United States' top imports from China, meanwhile, include electronics, like computers and cell phones, industrial equipment and toys — and consumers and businesses are likely to see prices rise on those products, with tariffs now at 145%.

Trump announced on Wednesday that China would face 125% tariffs, but he did not include a 20% tariff on China tied to its role in fentanyl production.

White House officials hope the import taxes will create more manufacturing jobs by bringing production back to the United States — a politically risky trade-off that could take years to materialize, if at all.