Saudi PIF Strengthens Expansion Strategy With Key Appointments

Logo of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF)
Logo of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF)
TT

Saudi PIF Strengthens Expansion Strategy With Key Appointments

Logo of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF)
Logo of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF)

The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced a string of new appointments in its executive team under the framework of an expansion strategy to achieve its goals, as one of the main engines of the Kingdom’s economy.

The appointments announced Tuesday included Yazeed al-Humied, as new Head of the Fund’s Local Holdings Investments and Rashed Sharif, as Managing Director and CEO of the merged entity of NCB Capital and Samba Capital, a key strategic PIF portfolio company.

Leading Saudi financier, Rania Nashar was appointed as Senior Advisor to PIF Governor, Yasir al-Rumayyan. In addition, Fahad Alsaif was named as the new Head of Corporate Finance, Alireza Zaimi appointed to the role of Special Advisor to Rumayyan, and Saad al-Kroud as acting PIF Chief of Staff.

The Fund said that the new appointments aim to support and bolster its ambitious strategy by enhancing the expertise of its executive team.

It described Nashar as a “prominent name in the banking world”, adding that she is the first woman to lead a banking Group in Saudi Arabia as CEO of Samba Financial Group.

She brings more than 20 years of professional experience in the banking industry and assumed various roles in different divisions within Samba, and is a member of various boards including the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).

Fahad al-Saif was formerly the CEO of the National Debt Management Center and advisor to the Minister of Finance. He and brings more than 20 years of corporate and investment banking leadership experience to the role.

He will become a member of PIF’s Management Committee.

The Fund has an executive management team with extensive experience in various fields, and with the growth of its diversified local and international investment activities, bolstering these experiences will support efforts to achieve the ambitious goals.

“I would like to welcome Rania and Fahad to PIF. As we continue PIFs ambitious strategy they will bring extensive global capital finance and banking experiences to their positions, which will play an integral role in helping accelerate PIF’s growth trajectory,” said Rumayyan.

He also congratulated and thanked “Yazeed, Rashed, Alireza, and Saad for the significant contributions they have made to PIF, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with all of them in their new roles.”

The governor indicated that these appointments are critical to ensuring PIF continues to achieve its ambitious growth trajectory and important mandate on behalf of the people of Saudi Arabia.

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) is one of the world’s largest and most impactful sovereign wealth funds. It is the main engine helping to drive Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation as part of the country’s Vision 2030.

Last week, PIF surpassed the 1,000-employee mark, expanding from an initial 40 employees in 2016.

The Fund has also grown to over $347 billion AUM and has invested a total of $82.9 billion in the Saudi economy during the past four years while contributing to the creation of more than 190,000 new jobs in the country.



WTO Chief Economist Views Geopolitical Tensions as Main Risk to Int'l Trade

Ships and containers are seen at a Chinese port. Reuters file photo
Ships and containers are seen at a Chinese port. Reuters file photo
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WTO Chief Economist Views Geopolitical Tensions as Main Risk to Int'l Trade

Ships and containers are seen at a Chinese port. Reuters file photo
Ships and containers are seen at a Chinese port. Reuters file photo

Geopolitical tensions, notably those in the Middle East, remain the main risk to international trade, World Trade Organization (WTO) Chief Economist Ralph Ossa has said.

Escalating Middle East tensions could lead to supply shortages and a resulting spike in oil prices, Ossa told Xinhua news agency. "Increased oil prices would then affect macroeconomic activity and also international trade."

In a report released in early October, the WTO projected global merchandise trade volume to grow by 2.7 percent in 2024, a slight increase from its April forecast of 2.6 percent.

One significant update in the new report is the regional outlook. "We see Asia doing stronger than we had expected ... Europe was doing weaker than we had expected," said Ossa, adding that "Asia continues to be the main driver of international trade, both on the import side and the export side."

Meanwhile, exports in Asia are expected to grow by 7.4 percent in 2024 compared with a 4.3 percent rise in imports, he said.

"We were expecting a recovery of trade in April, and continue to expect a recovery of trade today, (which) is in large part due to the normalization of inflation and the corresponding easing of monetary policy," Ossa said.

China showed a strong performance on the export side, and the recent stimulus policy carried out by the Chinese government could prop up domestic demand in China and help rebalance international trade, he said.

In order to tackle multiple challenges, Ossa called for defending the multilateral trade system with the WTO at its core, adding that it is also important to make the WTO fit for the 21st century.

Speaking on the impact of artificial intelligence, Ossa highlighted AI's potential to reduce trade costs, overcome language barriers, and expand digitally delivered services.