Global Alliance for Railway Project to Link Eastern and Western Saudi Arabia

Officials speak at a panel discussion on the sidelines of the Municipal Investment Forum on Tuesday (Yazid Al-Samrani)
Officials speak at a panel discussion on the sidelines of the Municipal Investment Forum on Tuesday (Yazid Al-Samrani)
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Global Alliance for Railway Project to Link Eastern and Western Saudi Arabia

Officials speak at a panel discussion on the sidelines of the Municipal Investment Forum on Tuesday (Yazid Al-Samrani)
Officials speak at a panel discussion on the sidelines of the Municipal Investment Forum on Tuesday (Yazid Al-Samrani)

Saudi Minister of Transport and Logistics Eng. Saleh Al-Jasser unveiled on Tuesday an international coalition led by a Chinese company, with 11 other international firms, to complete the design of the railway Landbridge Project that will connect the eastern and western parts of the Kingdom.

The minister pointed to the presence of 22 investment opportunities, including four regional airports, to be offered to the private sector.

He made his comments at the second edition of the Municipal Investment Forum (Furas), which was held in Riyadh and attended by a number of ministers and officials.

He noted that partnership and cooperation with the municipal and housing system, and the national strategy for transportation and logistics included investments exceeding 600 billion riyals ($160 billion).

Speaking during the same event, Majid Al-Hogail, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, announced the adoption of the Municipal Investment Portal (Furas) as a unified national portal for offering real estate investment opportunities with Saudi government agencies.

Al-Hogail added that municipal investments were related to five programs of Vision 2030, including privatization, housing, quality of life, serving the guests of Rahman, and financial sustainability.

Eng. Khaled Al-Falih, Minister of Investment, talked about the distribution of investment opportunities according to the National Investment Strategy, which was estimated at 12.4 trillion riyals ($3.3 trillion).

He explained that 20 percent of investments went to the real estate sector at a value of 2.5 trillion riyals ($666 billion), while 14 percent for transportation and logistics services, at a value of 1.7 trillion riyals ($453 billion), followed by tourism (9 percent), with a value of 1.1 trillion riyals ($293 billion).

Bandar Alkhorayef, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, stated that the National Strategy for Industry enables Saudi Arabia to embrace advanced industries with high economic value, revealing efforts to increase the number of factories from 12,000 to 36,000 in the next stage.

On the sidelines of the event, Al-Hogail attended the signing of three agreements, including an executive program agreement for bilateral cooperation between his ministry and South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The forum featured more than 5,000 investment opportunities, suitable for all segments of investors, including entrepreneurs, owners of small and medium enterprises, and large investors in various economic activities across Saudi cities.



Saudi PIF Completes $7 bln Inaugural Murabaha Credit Facility

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) logo
The Public Investment Fund (PIF) logo
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Saudi PIF Completes $7 bln Inaugural Murabaha Credit Facility

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) logo
The Public Investment Fund (PIF) logo

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) completed on Monday a $7 billion inaugural murabaha credit facility.
In a statement, PIF said the credit facility is supported by a syndicate of 20 international and regional financial institutions.
PIF head of the Global Capital Finance Division and head of Investment Strategy and Economic Insights Division Fahad AlSaif said: “This inaugural murabaha credit facility demonstrates the flexibility and depth of PIF’s financing strategy and use of diversified funding sources, as we continue to drive transformative investments, globally and in Saudi Arabia”, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday.
This financing complements PIF’s successful sukuk issuances over the past two years, the statement added. It also underpins PIF’s strong financial position, as well as its best-practice approach to debt financing.
PIF is rated Aa3 by Moody’s with stable outlook and A+ by Fitch with stable outlook. PIF has four main sources of funding: capital injections from government, government asset transfers, retained earnings from investments, and loans and debt instruments.