عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

Saudi Arabia Announces $6.4 Billion Investments in Future Tech

Participants at LEAP 2022 in Riyadh. (Bashir Saleh)
Participants at LEAP 2022 in Riyadh. (Bashir Saleh)
TT
TT

Saudi Arabia Announces $6.4 Billion Investments in Future Tech

Participants at LEAP 2022 in Riyadh. (Bashir Saleh)
Participants at LEAP 2022 in Riyadh. (Bashir Saleh)

Saudi Arabia showcased its huge potential as a regional hub for technology and innovation, which is one of the goals of its Vision 2030.

Riyadh kicked off the LEAP Tech Event 2022 and announced several investment deals worth over $6.4 billion to support future technologies, startups, and tech entrepreneurship.

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and the Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones organized the event.

The conference is in line with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's drive to seize opportunities in the digital economy and enhance the Kingdom's global leadership as the regional hub for technology, innovation, and digital entrepreneurship.

Saudi Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Abdullah al-Sawaha said that with the support of the Crown Prince, the Kingdom is the most significant and fast-growing in the digital economy, with the most prominent technology market and the highest concentration of digital capabilities and the fastest growing in venture capital investments.

"These investments and initiatives are a manifestation of the Kingdom's push towards the growth of the digital economy for the greater good of people," he added.

Deputy Governor for IT and Emerging Technologies at the CITC, Raed al-Fayez stated that smart cities reduce energy use by 50 percent and have many positive social and economic impacts.

The Kingdom has a solid digital infrastructure to enable the applications of these cities, he said.

Assistant Deputy Governor for Planning and Development at the CITC, Nayef Shesha explained that the ICT sector has a huge potential that contributes to enabling a sustainable future and the smart solutions provided by this sector.

LEAP's $6.4 billion deals

Aramco launched Prosperity7 Ventures, a $1 billion venture capital fund designed to develop next-generation technologies and business models and help entrepreneurs across the globe build transformative startups.

Aramco Chief Technology Officer Ahmed al-Khowaiter said: "Through the breadth of the Saudi Aramco ecosystem, its vast resources, and its far-reaching footprint across geographies and sectors, Prosperity7 can present unparalleled opportunities for scalability and impact."

Khowaiter noted that this potential would be instrumental in creating stronger foundations for success for its portfolio companies.

Meanwhile, Saudi Telecom (STC) announced the MENA Hub, a $1 billion investment in regional connectivity and infrastructure, which will support Saudi Arabia's rapidly expanding digital and cloud sector.

As part of its investment, NEOM announced the launch of the world's first cognitive metaverse, XVRS, that will serve residents and visitors of the smart giga-project. It also launched M3LD, a unique data management platform that gives back data control to the user.

J&T Express Group, one of the world's fastest-growing logistics companies, announced an investment of $2 billion with eWTP Arabia Capital and other partners.

The investment will see J&T establish its MENA headquarters in Riyadh and set up an extensive network of smart logistics and distribution facilities to extend Saudi Arabia's reach as the regional center for advanced logistics.

Joseph Bradley, CEO of NEOM, said that cognitive meta cities would define the future. It is a vision focused on experiences rather than scale.

"XVRS puts human needs at its core. It is designed to give people more time, space, and enhanced safety. M3LD, meanwhile, will place data ownership back in the hands of users and restore trust in the data economy."

Furthermore, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) signed a $2 billion joint venture with a subsidiary of the Chinese giant Alibaba.

Digital content

The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) announced $1.4 billion in funds to support digital content, including an initiative known as The Garage, a space in the capital Riyadh that will host startups specialized in new technologies and supporting digital content.

On the sidelines of the conference, the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) launched the Startup Passport to make it quicker, easier, and less expensive for startups to do business across borders.

Meanwhile, several investments in digital entrepreneurship, venture capital, and startup funds, amounting to more than $300 million, were announced at LEAP.

With the government's support, the Kingdom has become the most significant technological and digital market using the applications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The investments and deals allow Saudi Arabia to be the fastest growing market in digital competitiveness among the G20, with the highest growth in digital content and digital payments.

International participation

Saudi Arabia launched LEAP, the global technology platform, to address future challenges such as healthcare technologies to improve the quality of life and increase life expectancy, empowering humans through robots and technologies.

Held under the theme "One Eye on the Stars," LEAP seeks to discuss the most prominent social and cultural challenges facing the world through modern technologies with the participation of more than 350 speakers from 80 countries and 700 innovators and startups from around the world.

Lord Stephen Carter CBE, former Minister of Communications UK and Group CEO Informa PLC, stressed the importance of enhancing cooperation in developing digital transformation tools.

Carter called for boosting collaboration between Riyadh and London in digital transformation, cybersecurity, and next-generation technologies.

The official stated that Saudi Arabia has made rapid and great strides in automation and environmentally friendly energy, noting that collaboration in this field boosts the economy and strengthens public and private sectors.

Finnish Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Ville Skinnari, and UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications Omar al-Olama addressed innovation and digital transformation legislation.

They emphasized the need to legitimize data protection law, referring to the diverse Saudi capabilities in Information Technology and Communication.

Most Viewed

 
 
Business

Al-Rumayyan: PIF Investments in Local Content Exceed $157 Billion

Yasir Al-Rumayyan speaks to the audience in the opening speech of the Public Investment Fund Private Sector Forum (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Yasir Al-Rumayyan speaks to the audience in the opening speech of the Public Investment Fund Private Sector Forum (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
TT

Al-Rumayyan: PIF Investments in Local Content Exceed $157 Billion

Yasir Al-Rumayyan speaks to the audience in the opening speech of the Public Investment Fund Private Sector Forum (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Yasir Al-Rumayyan speaks to the audience in the opening speech of the Public Investment Fund Private Sector Forum (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), announced that spending by the sovereign fund’s programs, initiatives, and companies on local content reached 591 billion riyals ($157 billion) between 2020 and 2024.

He added that the fund’s private sector platform has created more than 190 investment opportunities worth over 40 billion riyals ($10 billion).

Speaking at the opening of the PIF Private Sector Forum on Monday in Riyadh, Al-Rumayyan said the fund is working closely with the private sector to deepen the impact of previous achievements and build an integrated economic system that drives sustainable growth through a comprehensive investment cycle methodology.

He described the forum as the largest platform of its kind for seizing partnership and collaboration opportunities with the private sector, highlighting the fund’s success in turning discussions into tangible projects.

Since 2023, the forum has attracted 25,000 participants from both public and private sectors and has witnessed the signing of over 140 agreements worth more than 15 billion riyals, he pointed out.

Al-Rumayyan emphasized that the meeting comes at a pivotal stage of the Kingdom’s economy, where competitiveness will reach higher levels, sectors and value chains will mature, and ambitions will be raised.

PIF Private Sector Forum aims to support the fund’s strategic initiative to engage the private sector, showcase commercial opportunities across PIF and its portfolio companies, highlight potential prospects for investors and suppliers, and enhance cooperation to strengthen the local economy.

Business

Pakistan’s Finance Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: We Draw Inspiration from Saudi Arabia

The Pakistani Finance Minister during his meeting with Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference (SPA)
The Pakistani Finance Minister during his meeting with Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference (SPA)
TT
TT

Pakistan’s Finance Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: We Draw Inspiration from Saudi Arabia

The Pakistani Finance Minister during his meeting with Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference (SPA)
The Pakistani Finance Minister during his meeting with Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference (SPA)

Pakistani Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb discussed the future of his country, which has frequently experienced a boom-and-bust cycle, saying Pakistan has relied on International Monetary Fund (IMF) programs due to the absence of structural reforms.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies, Aurangzeb acknowledged that Pakistan has relied on IMF programs 24 times not as a coincidence, but rather as a result of the absence of structural reforms and follow-up.

He stressed the government has decided to "double its efforts" to stay on the reform path, no matter the challenges, affirming that Islamabad not only has a reform roadmap, but also draws inspiration from "Saudi Vision 2030" as a unique model of discipline and turning plans into reality.

Revolution of Numbers

Aurangzeb reviewed the dramatic transformation in macroeconomic indicators. After foreign exchange reserves covered only two weeks of imports, current policies have succeeded in raising them to two and a half months.

He also pointed out to the government's success in curbing inflation, which has fallen from a peak of 38 percent to 10.5 percent, while reducing the fiscal deficit to 5 percent after being around 8 percent.

Aurangzeb commented on the "financial stability" principle put forward by his Saudi counterpart, Mohammed Aljadaan, considering it the cornerstone that enabled Pakistan to regain its lost fiscal space.

He explained that the success in achieving primary surpluses and reducing the deficit was not merely academic figures, but rather transformed into solid "financial buffers" that saved the country.

The minister cited the vast difference in dealing with disasters. While Islamabad had to launch an urgent international appeal for assistance during the 2022 floods, the "fiscal space" and buffers it recently built enabled it to deal with wider climate disasters by relying on its own resources, without having to search "haphazardly" for urgent external aid, proving that macroeconomic stability is the first shield to protect economic sovereignty.

Privatization and Breaking the Stalemate of State-Owned Enterprises

Aurangzeb affirmed that the Pakistani Prime Minister adopts a clear vision that "the private sector is what leads the state."

He revealed the handover of 24 government institutions to the privatization committee, noting that the successful privatization of Pakistan International Airlines in December provided a "momentum" for the privatization of other firms.

Aurangzeb also revealed radical reforms in the tax system to raise it from 10 percent to 12 percent of GDP, with the adoption of a customs tariff system that reduces local protection to make Pakistani industry more competitive globally, in parallel with reducing the size of the federal government.

Partnership with Riyadh

As for the relationship with Saudi Arabia, Aurangzeb outlined the features of a historic transformation, stressing that Pakistan wants to move from "aid and loans" to "trade and investment."

He expressed his great admiration for "Vision 2030," not only as an ambition, but as a model that achieved its targets ahead of schedule.

He revealed a formal Pakistani request to benefit from Saudi "technical knowledge and administrative expertise" in implementing economic transformations, stressing that his country's need for this executive discipline and the Kingdom's ability to manage major transformations is no less important than the need for direct financing, to ensure the building of a resilient economy led by exports, not debts.

Business

Oil Drops 1% as US, Iran Pledge to Continue Talks

The sun rises behind the Tishrin oil field in the eastern Hasakah countryside, northeastern Syria (AP)
The sun rises behind the Tishrin oil field in the eastern Hasakah countryside, northeastern Syria (AP)
TT
TT

Oil Drops 1% as US, Iran Pledge to Continue Talks

The sun rises behind the Tishrin oil field in the eastern Hasakah countryside, northeastern Syria (AP)
The sun rises behind the Tishrin oil field in the eastern Hasakah countryside, northeastern Syria (AP)

Oil prices fell 1% on Monday as immediate fears of a conflict in the Middle East eased after the US and Iran pledged to continue talks about Tehran's nuclear program over the weekend, calming investors anxious about supply disruptions.

Brent crude futures fell 67 cents, or 1%, to $67.38 a barrel on Monday by 0444 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $62.94 a barrel, down 61 cents, or 1%.

"With more talks on the horizon the immediate ‌fear of supply disruptions ‌in the Middle East has eased ‌quite ⁠a bit," IG ‌market analyst Tony Sycamore said.

Iran and the US pledged to continue the indirect nuclear talks following what both sides described as positive discussions on Friday in Oman despite differences. That allayed fears that failure to reach a deal might nudge the Middle East closer to war, as the US has positioned more military forces in the area.

Investors are also worried about possible disruptions to supply ⁠from Iran and other regional producers as exports equal to about a fifth of the world's ‌total oil consumption pass through the Strait of ‍Hormuz between Oman and Iran.

Both ‍benchmarks fell more than 2% last week on the easing tensions, their ‍first decline in seven weeks.

However, Iran's foreign minister said on Saturday Tehran will strike US bases in the Middle East if it is attacked by US forces, showing the threat of conflict is still alive.

"Volatility remains elevated as conflicting rhetoric persists. Any negative headlines could quickly reignite risk premiums in oil prices this week," said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at ⁠Phillip Nova.

Investors are also continuing to grapple with efforts to curb Russian income from its oil exports for its war in Ukraine. The European Commission on Friday proposed a sweeping ban on any services that support Russia's seaborne crude oil exports.

Refiners in India, once the biggest buyer of Russia's seaborne crude, are avoiding purchases for delivery in April and are expected to stay away from such trades for longer, refining and trade sources said, which could help New Delhi seal a trade pact with Washington.

"Oil markets will remain sensitive to how broadly this pivot away from Russian crude unfolds, whether ‌India’s reduced purchases persist beyond April, and how quickly alternative flows can be brought online," Sachdeva said.