Latest news with #SaudiInvestments
Arabian Business
13-05-2025
- Business
- Arabian Business
Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia as $600bn investment in US businesses announced
Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia saw deals announced worth around $600bn as the Kingdom invests heavily in US businesses. Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and President Donald J. Trump of the United States co-chaired the Saudi-US Summit at the Royal Court in Al-Yamamah Palace. The summit addressed bilateral relations and coordination efforts to enhance the strategic partnership between the two friendly countries across various sectors. Discussions also covered the latest regional and international developments, issues of mutual interest, and efforts to promote security and stability. Donald Trump announces massive Saudi investments in US In addition to diplomatic talks there was a slew of multi-billion dollar business announcements. President Donald J. Trump announced Saudi Arabia's $600bn commitment to invest in the United States. The first deals under the announcement include security, defence industry, technology and infrastructure deals. The United States and Saudi Arabia signed a $142bn arms deal, which the White House dubbed as the 'largest defence sales agreement in history' to kick off the investment drive. The US Government said the deal will supply 'Saudi Arabia with state-of-the-art warfighting equipment and services from over a dozen US defence firms'. The sales fall into five broad categories: Air force advancement and space capabilities Air and missile defence Maritime and coastal security Border security and land forces modernisation Information and communication systems upgrades The package also includes extensive training and support to build the capacity of the Saudi armed forces, including enhancement of Saudi service academies and military medical services. The first stop of Donald Trump's four-day diplomatic tour to the Gulf states was aimed at securing big deals and spotlighting the benefits of Donald Trump's transactional foreign policy. US tech firms were other big winners as Saudi Arabia confirmed big deals for AI and technology companies during Donald Trump's visit. Oracle is accelerating investments in Saudi Arabia and has announced an investment of $14bn over the next 10 years to bring the cloud and AI technology to the Kingdom. The tech giant said the partnership will help improve the lives of the Saudi people, while bringing greater security and intelligence to the Kingdom, strengthening its sovereignty and deepening its alliance with the United States. Safra Catz, CEO of Oracle, said: 'Thanks to the decisive actions and strong leadership of President Trump and his administration, Oracle is providing the world's most advanced cloud and AI technology to Saudi Arabia. 'Our expanded partnership with the Kingdom will create new opportunities for its economy, deliver better health outcomes for its people, and fortify its alliance with the United States, which will create a ripple effect of peace and prosperity across the Middle East and around the world.' Nvidia said it will sell hundreds of thousands of AI chips in Saudi Arabia. The sales begin with more than 18,000 of its 'Blackwell' chips going to Saudi-backed AI startup Humain. Chip giant AMD also announced a deal with Humain, with a $10bn collaboration. DataVolt moving forward with plans to invest $20bn in AI data centres and energy infrastructure in the United States Google, DataVolt, Oracle, Salesforce, AMD, and Uber committing to invest $80bn in cutting-edge transformative technologies in both countries American companies including Hill International, Jacobs, Parsons, and AECOM building key infrastructure projects, including King Salman International Airport, King Salman Park, The Vault, Qiddiya City, and more, totalling $2bn in US services exports Additional major exports include GE Vernova's gas turbines and energy solutions worth $14.2bn and Boeing 737-8 passenger aircraft for AviLease totalling $4.8bn In the healthcare sector, Shamekh IV Solutions will invest $5.8bn, including a plant in Michigan to launch a high-capacity IV fluid facility Investment partnerships include several sector-specific funds with a strong emphasis on US deployment—such as the $5bn Energy Investment Fund, the $5bn New Era Aerospace and Defence Technology Fund, and the $4bn Enfield Sports Global Sports Fund
Argaam
13-05-2025
- Business
- Argaam
Al-Jadaan says Saudi investments in US 'remarkable', reflect strength of economic ties
Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said the volume of Saudi investments in the United States is 'remarkable' and reflects the strength of economic ties between the two countries, noting that US investments have been flowing into the Kingdom since the launch of Vision 2030. Speaking at the Saudi-US Investment Forum, Al-Jadaan added that the scale of investments highlights the depth of the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States, noting that ties with the US continue to strengthen year after year. He said Saudi Arabia aims to leverage US expertise and innovation to advance its economic transformation, adding that the Kingdom represents one of the world's strongest growth opportunities, with a tech-savvy young population and a government capable of decisive action.
New York Times
12-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Trump Wants Saudi Arabia to Invest Its Money in the U.S. All of It.
President Trump embarks on a visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday with a $1 trillion wish list for investments in the United States — a sum equivalent to the kingdom's entire gross domestic product last year. The Saudi crown prince is offering $600 billion during Mr. Trump's presidency. Neither figure is realistic, economists say. With a laundry list of its own costly megaprojects to build and with oil prices well below the level needed to finance its spending, Saudi Arabia is facing a budget deficit that could balloon to more than $70 billion this year. It is increasingly borrowing money rather than lending it. But that did not stop Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of the authoritarian Saudi monarchy, from pledging in January to invest $600 billion in the United States while Mr. Trump is in office. Not long after that, Mr. Trump called him a 'fantastic guy.' Then the president said he would ask the crown prince to round that figure up to $1 trillion. And bring down the price of oil — the source of the kingdom's vast wealth — to boot. 'We've been very good to them,' Mr. Trump said. Economists said that Saudi investments in the United States would probably increase during Mr. Trump's administration, but were unlikely to even approach $1 trillion. The figure Mr. Trump is seeking exceeds the value of all assets in the kingdom's hefty sovereign wealth fund, which is worth about $925 billion and largely tied up in domestic holdings. 'I don't see how they get anywhere close to $600 billion, let alone $1 trillion,' said Tim Callen, an economist and former International Monetary Fund mission chief to Saudi Arabia. In fact, at the crown prince's flagship investment forum in October, Yasir al-Rumayyan, head of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, said he was aiming to decrease the percentage of the fund's assets that were invested abroad. 'We're more focused on the domestic economy,' he said, calling this a 'big paradigm shift.' But for Mr. Trump and Prince Mohammed, these finer details are not necessarily the point. They speak the same language, Mr. Callen said, describing them as 'two guys who like throwing very large numbers around.' Mr. Trump has cultivated strong business ties with Saudi Arabia. During his first term, his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, developed a close relationship with Prince Mohammed and the two shared a transactional mind-set. Mr. Trump and the Saudi crown prince both have a penchant for eye-popping declarations, leaving questions about feasibility for their underlings to sort out. In some cases, Prince Mohammed's grand pronouncements have come to fruition. He has rapidly loosened social restrictions in the once-ultraconservative kingdom, enabling women to pour into the labor force and teenagers to dance at raves in the desert. Other plans, such as a $200 billion solar energy project that would have been the largest in the world, have been quietly swept aside. Mr. Trump has claimed that, during his 2017 Saudi visit, he secured $450 billion of investments in the United States. But Mr. Callen said he analyzed public data and determined this amount did not fully materialize. The export of American goods and services to Saudi Arabia while Mr. Trump was in office from 2017 to 2020 totaled $92 billion, Mr. Callen found, less than the total during President Barack Obama's second term, which ended in 2017. Asked about this discrepancy and about Mr. Trump's target of securing $1 trillion in investments on the coming visit, the White House communications director Steven Cheung said that the president 'has already successfully secured more than $5 trillion in new investments into the U.S. economy — bringing manufacturing, boosting production, and creating high-paying jobs.' Mr. Trump has said that it was the prospect of hundreds of billions of dollars in investments that prompted him to prioritize Saudi Arabia to kick off his first major overseas tour of this term — as he did in 2017 during his first term. After Saudi Arabia, the president will visit two other wealthy Gulf allies on this trip, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. His state visit to Saudi Arabia this week is expected to be a spectacular affair, full of pageantry that contrasts sharply to President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s relatively chilly visit to the kingdom in 2022. During Mr. Trump's first Saudi state visit, he was welcomed with a traditional sword dance and an image of his face projected onto the facade of the lavish Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh, the capital. As they did last time, Saudi officials are planning to announce a flurry of deals after the president arrives. The government is hosting an investment forum on Tuesday with a long roster of American business leaders, including the chief executives of IBM, BlackRock and Citigroup. Many of them already have Saudi ties. This month, the State Department announced that it had approved a potential sale of $3.5 billion of air-to-air missiles to Saudi Arabia. A memorandum of understanding with the U.S. over mining and mineral resources is also expected. Some deals could be tentative agreements that never materialize. Others could repackage previous deals, something that could serve to pad the total figure of investments that Mr. Trump can say he secured. Saudi Arabia is still the world's largest oil exporter, bringing in hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue each year. Its U.S. investments are extensive, including more than $100 billion of Treasury holdings and $2 billion in a fund managed by Mr. Kushner. Overall, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund has invested $110 billion in the United States since 2017, plus another $58 billion of procurement spending, the fund said in a statement to The Times. It did not respond to questions about expanding its investments in the country and the Saudi Finance Ministry also did not respond to a request for comment on the topic. The Saudi state spends much of its revenue on public sector salaries. And under Prince Mohammed, it has invested in a growing number of domestic megaprojects. The government is predicting budget deficits through at least 2027. The costliest megaproject is Neom, the prince's crown jewel. It is an entire new region that he wants to build in the remote northwestern corner of the kingdom, with a mountain ski town and a skyscraper that stretches horizontally for 100 miles. When he announced Neom in 2017, he called it a $500 billion project. But estimates of its potential cost have since soared into the trillions, and $50 billion has already been spent on the basic infrastructure alone. Diriyah Gate, a vast culture and tourism hub in Riyadh, is now forecast to cost more than $60 billion, a number that has ballooned from early estimates of $20 billion. A luxury tourism project on the Red Sea has already cost more than $20 billion. The kingdom also plans to host the World Expo in 2030 and the men's soccer World Cup in 2034 — both events that will require hefty spending on infrastructure. Accounting for spending by its sovereign wealth fund, Saudi Arabia needs oil prices at about $108 a barrel for the state to simply break even, said Ziad Daoud, Bloomberg's chief emerging-market economist. The price of Brent crude is currently hovering above $60 a barrel. Saudi officials could invest large sums in the United States, but they would need to borrow to do it, Mr. Daoud said. 'And $1 trillion is far-fetched,' he added. Many people think of Saudi Arabia as a country 'that gives grants and loans and investments,' but that has changed, Mr. Daoud said. To invest more in the United States, Saudi officials could also rebalance their portfolio — perhaps by selling assets in other countries, said Farouk Soussa, a Middle East economist at Goldman Sachs. But it is improbable that they could free up $1 trillion. Mr. Soussa estimated that the kingdom's total assets abroad were about $1.4 trillion, much of which is already in the United States. 'How much is available to shift into the U.S. is anyone's guess,' he said.
