By Innovation-sa on October 25, 2018 in News
The first day of Future Investment Initiative (FII) saw Saudi Arabia sign at least 25 deals worth more than $50 billion, of which 12 were described as “mega deals”.
The investment conference, hosted under the leadership of Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman from October 23- 25 at Riyadh, struck major deals in oil, gas and infrastructure sectors including the second phase of Haramain high-speed railway, development of Saudi Land Bridge project,and a rail line connecting the Red Sea coast with Riyadh.
Backed by its sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the Kingdom also entered into deals with global companies like commodities trading house Trafigura Group, French oil giant Total SA, Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Norinco, Schlumberger, oil-service provider Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes. State owned oil giant Saudi Aramco signed 15 initial agreements worth $34 billion.
The business deals and projects come in line with the policies of Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia’s ambitious reform plan to reduce the country’s dependence on oil and gas revenues and diversify its economy.
The conference also counted dignitaries such as Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman, Jordanian King Abdullah, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne, and PepsiCo Vice Chairman Mohmood Khan among dozens of other global representatives.
The event, that debuted in the Kingdom last year is a global platform focussing on identifying future trends and opportunities, defining the future of industries and discussing how investment can contribute to overall global prosperity and development.
Arab News– 23 October 2018