Saudi Crown Prince introduces five new PIF-backed funds

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will start five new investment companies in nations throughout the Middle East, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, stated on Wednesday. The new companies are aimed at investing in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, and Sudan.
The announcement follows the launch of the Saudi Egyptian Investment Company (SEIC) in August 2022. Together, all six companies will invest SAR90 billion ($24 billion) across a range of sectors in each country.
Sectors that the funds will focus on will include infrastructure, real estate development, mining, healthcare, financial services, food and agriculture, manufacturing, telecoms, and technology, among other strategic sectors and industries in each country.
“The establishment of the five new companies will contribute to an increase in regional investment opportunities for PIF’s portfolio companies and Saudi Arabia’s private sector, bolstering attractive financial returns over the long term, and creating more avenues for strategic economic collaboration with the private sector in the target countries as well as enabling the Saudi private sector,” SPA reported.
The funds will help the PIF achieve its strategy of investing across the Middle East and North Africa region in a bid to build economic partnerships, grow PIF’s assets under management, and increase returns.
The PIF, the enormous sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, is a key component of the country’s Vision 2030 plan, which calls for using the fund as a massive investment vehicle to diversify the economy of the kingdom and get it ready for the post-hydrocarbon era.