Saudi ‘Jada’ Plans Attractive Investment Funds in NEOM

Part of the ‘Catalyze Saudi’ initiative activities in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Part of the ‘Catalyze Saudi’ initiative activities in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi ‘Jada’ Plans Attractive Investment Funds in NEOM

Part of the ‘Catalyze Saudi’ initiative activities in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Part of the ‘Catalyze Saudi’ initiative activities in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia’s Jada Fund of Funds plans launching funds to attract investments in favor of NEOM, revealed Jada CEO Adel Al-Ateeq.

“We are looking to increase the volume of Jada’s investment by more than SAR 4 billion ($1.06 billion),” Al-Ateeq told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Since the beginning of Jada’s launch, we have invested in more than 20 investment funds,” said Al-Ateeq.

“The volume of investment in these funds exceeded SAR2 billion ($533.3 million), distributed among a number of venture capital and private equity funds in the Kingdom,” revealed the CEO.

Al-Ateeq stressed that Jada will continue to invest in venture capital and private equity in the Kingdom. He reaffirmed that the fund would carry on with the momentum it started with three years ago.

He pointed out that Jada’s capital initially amounted to SAR 4 billion ($1.06 billion) but hoped to increase its value in the future.

“We invested SAR 2 billion in 3 years... and I expect to continue at the same level during the next three years... We invested in 20 funds in several companies,” said Al-Ateeq, adding that Jada has capitalized in 350 local and regional companies.

“NEOM is still in the process of being established, and it is working to establish many targeted projects... Therefore, we are looking forward to launching investment funds that will give NEOM a share of its investments when its projects are launched,” revealed Al-Ateeq.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment (MISA) and Jada had formed a partnership to bolster the Kingdom’s start-up and innovation sector and support economic diversification under the ‘Catalyze Saudi’ initiative.

Jada, owned by the Public Investment fund (PIF), provides funding to start-ups in the Kingdom through commercially sustainable investments in venture capital and private equity funds.

MISA and Jada aim to connect leaders from government agencies, start-up entrepreneurs, investors and leading family business representatives from the Kingdom to participate in roundtable discussions and reinforce the private sector’s impact on the local economy.

The ‘Catalyze Saudi’ initiative is in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 which aims to raise small and medium sized enterprises’ (SMEs) contribution to GDP from 21% to 35% by 2030.



Saudi-GCC Non-Oil Trade Surplus Achieves 203% Annual Growth

An oil tanker is being loaded at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. (Reuters)
An oil tanker is being loaded at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. (Reuters)
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Saudi-GCC Non-Oil Trade Surplus Achieves 203% Annual Growth

An oil tanker is being loaded at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. (Reuters)
An oil tanker is being loaded at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. (Reuters)

The non-oil trade surplus of Saudi Arabia with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries recorded an annual growth rate of 203.2% to more than SAR2 billion in April, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Friday. It soared to around SAR3,511 million from SAR1,158 million in the same month last year.

According to preliminary data from the International Trade Bulletin for April, published by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT), the total volume of non-oil trade, including re-exports, between Saudi Arabia and GCC countries amounted to around SAR18,028 million. This reflects a year-on-year growth of 41.3%, with an increase of SAR5,271 million from SAR12,757 million in April 2024.

Non-oil commodity exports, including re-exports, rose by 55%, totaling SAR10,770 million, up from SAR6,958 million in April of the previous year, an increase of over SAR3,812 million.

Meanwhile, the value of national non-oil commodity exports reached around SAR3,031 million, compared to SAR2,675 million in April 2024, achieving a year-on-year growth rate of 13.3%, with an increase estimated at SAR356 million.

Additionally, the value of re-exports surged by 81%, reaching SAR7,738 million compared to SAR4,282 million, an increase of SAR3,456 million.

Saudi Arabia’s imports from GCC countries stood at SAR7,258 million in April 2025, compared to SAR5,799 million last year, achieving a year-on-year growth of 25.2%, with an increase of SAR1,459 million.

The data indicated that the United Arab Emirates ranked first in terms of non-oil trade volume with Saudi Arabia, amounting to SAR13,533 million, representing about 75.1% of the total.

Bahrain followed in second place with a trade value of SAR1,798 million (10%), while Oman ranked third with SAR1,454 million (8.1%). Kuwait was fourth with SAR819.9 million (4.5%), and Qatar came next with a value of SAR422.1 million (2.3%).