The PIF has been the primary driver for meeting the needs of Vision 2030, attracting foreign investments, and enhancing local content by increasing the private sector's contribution to its portfolio to 60% by the end of 2025. Vision 2030 aims to raise the share of GDP that comes from the Saudi private sector to 65% by 2030. According to Saudi Economy and Planning Minister Faisal Alibrahim, it is currently around 45%.
The fund has invested in establishing leading national companies across sectors like financial services, aviation, tourism, and industry, including Riyadh Air, Ma'aden mining company, Savvy Games Group, and Lucid Motors for electric vehicles. The PIF has invested tens of billions of dollars in acquiring stakes in foreign assets or purchasing them outright, along with significant investments in US and European stock markets. According to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, it ranks sixth globally among state-owned investment organisations.
Regional upheaval and impacted oil prices (despite voluntary production cuts) have necessitated a focus on specific investment areas to bolster Saudi Arabia's development in line with its evolving needs. As part of this, giant US asset manager BlackRock secured a $5bn investment from the PIF to establish a new investment company in Riyadh, with a primary focus on developing Saudi capital markets.
In February, the PIF launched Alat, a company aimed at transforming the Kingdom into a global hub for sustainable tech manufacturing. Its scope is vast but includes semiconductors, healthcare devices, gaming products, network equipment, EV charging facilities, and battery storage solutions. Alat plans to create over 39,000 jobs by 2030 by manufacturing over 30 product categories serving vital sectors such as robotics, communications, advanced computing devices, and digital entertainment. The advanced industries it focuses on, particularly electricity and clean energy, align with the goals of Vision 2030.
National strategy
Following the creation of the PIF, the National Investment Strategy (NIS) was launched in 2021 as a crucial enabler for Vision 2030. Goldman Sachs estimates that up to $1tn could be spent domestically by 2030 on investments in clean technology, metals and mining, transportation, logistics, digital transformation, and energy. The strategy aims to enhance the role of foreign direct investment (FDI), which is expected to grow to 34% of the GDP by 2025 and 57% by 2030.
One of the aims is to create jobs and reduce unemployment to below 7%. In 2023, FDI in Saudi Arabia totalled about $19.3bn. These investments are expected to increase local content to 57%, provide around 2 million jobs, and boost non-oil exports to around $155bn by 2030.
