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First day of Future Investment Initiative sees mega-deals and nod to future technologies

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Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with Jordan's King Abdullah II at the Future Investment Initiative forum in Riyadh. (FII)
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The spectacular light show to open the Future Investment Initiative event. (Arab News)
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Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum in attendance at the opening ceremony of the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh. (AFP)
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Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, right, with Saudi business executive Lubna Olayan during a panel at opening day of the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh. (AFP)
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Yasir Al-Rumayyan, head of the Public Investment Fund, gives his welcome speech. (Arab News)
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Yasir Al-Rumayyan, head of the Public Investment Fund. (Ziyad Alarfaj / AN)
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Opening day panel at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh. (Ziyad Alarfaj / AN)
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Saudi business executive Lubna Olayan. (Ziyad Alarfaj / AN)
Updated 23 October 2018
Arab News
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First day of Future Investment Initiative sees mega-deals and nod to future technologies

Updated 23 October 2018
Arab News

RIYADH: The Future Investment Initiative (FII) kicked off in Riyadh on Tuesday, with the head of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund saying the event can do "business for good." He also said the event would see countries coming together to "collaborate for the future.”

The event in Riyadh also saw a raft of deals worth $50 billion being finalized, including 12 so-called “mega-deals” being signed.

 

 

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, head of the Public Investment Fund and the opening speaker at the event, also said his fund was targeting a $2 trillion portfolio by 2030.

 

 

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Khaldoon Al-Mubarak, CEO and MD of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company as well as Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, were all in attendance on Tuesday.

Khan said, during the panel on emerging opportunities, that his country was looking for a mix of loans from the IMF and “friendly governments.” Khan added that he had spoken to Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about boosting investment ties between the two countries.

Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih praised CEO of French energy giant Total, Patrick Pouyanne, for standing by Saudi Arabia in this difficult period.

"We see what partnership means when you have difficult times," Pouyanne responded as he shared the stage with Falih.

"This is when you really strengthen a partnership."

 

 

On the energy and investment panel, Al-Falih noted that global oil demand would hit 120 million barrels a day in the next few decades, and that the Kingdom could boost its crude production by 1-2 million barrels a day.

 

 

The world's media turned their attention to a future technology presentation when the Crown Prince and Jordan's King Abdullah II arrived.

 

At the session, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Communications and IT Abdullah Al-Sawahah said: "Saudi Arabia is moving at light speed in becoming the tech hub of the region."

Meanwhile, Emirati investor Mohamed Alabbar added: "There is so much room for technology growth in the Middle East, especially in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the whole region."

The three-day FII event will likely see more investment partnerships from Russia and China being forged, as noted by Ellen Wald, president of the Transversal Consulting think-tank and author of the recent book “Saudi Inc,” with executives still looking to do business at the Riyadh meeting despite some having pulled out.

Click for more coverage of the event: Future Investment Initiative.

Topics: FII FII2018 Future Investment Initiative (FII) Future Investment Initiative 2018 Saudi Arabia Investment

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Saudi minister at Davos urges collaboration on minerals

Global collaboration on minerals essential to ease geopolitical tensions and secure supply, WEF hears. (Supplied)
Updated 20 January 2026
Arab News
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Saudi minister at Davos urges collaboration on minerals

  • The reason of the tension of geopolitics is actually the criticality of the minerals
Updated 20 January 2026
Arab News

LONDON: Countries need to collaborate on mining and resources to help avoid geopolitical tensions, Saudi Arabia’s minister of industry and mineral resources told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday.

“The reason of the tension of geopolitics is actually the criticality of the minerals, the concentration in different areas of the world,” Bandar Alkhorayef told a panel discussion on the geopolitics of materials.

“The rational thing to do is to collaborate, and that’s what we are doing,” he added. “We are creating a platform of collaboration in Saudi Arabia.”

Bandar Alkhorayef, Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources 

The Kingdom last week hosted the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh. Alkhorayef said the platform was launched by the government in 2022 as a contribution to the global community. “It’s very important to have a global movement, and that’s why we launched the Future Minerals Forum,” he said. “It is the most important platform of global mining leaders.”

The Kingdom has made mining one of the key pillars of its economy, rapidly expanding the sector under the Vision 2030 reform program with an eye on diversification. Saudi Arabia has an estimated $2.5 trillion in mineral wealth and the ramping up of extraction comes at a time of intense global competition for resources to drive technological development in areas like AI and renewables.

“We realized that unlocking the value that we have in our natural resources, of the different minerals that we have, will definitely help our economy to grow to diversify,” Alkhorayef said. The Kingdom has worked to reduce the timelines required to set up mines while also protecting local communities, he added. Obtaining mining permits in Saudi Arabia has been reduced to just 30 to 90 days compared to the many years required in other countries, Alkhorayef said.

“We learned very, very early that permitting is a bottleneck in the system,” he added. “We all know, and we have to be very, very frank about this, that mining doesn’t have a good reputation globally.

“We are trying to change this and cutting down the licensing process doesn’t only solve it. You need also to show the communities the impact of the mining on their lives.”

Saudi Arabia’s new mining investment laws have placed great emphasis on the development of society and local communities, along with protecting the environment and incorporating new technologies, Alkhorayef said. “We want to build the future mines; we don’t want to build old mines.”
 

 

Topics: WEF 2026 Davos Switzerland Saudi Arabia

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