$607 billion.. Investment plans for the Saudi sovereign fund

The Saudi sovereign fund has ambitious investment plans, during the current year 2023, as it seeks to reach net assets of $607 billion, to reach $1.8 trillion in 2030.

 Since the beginning of this year, the fund has achieved important deals that support its local investments, in addition to plans aimed at acquiring stakes in large companies in the Arab region and others globally, and the fund ranked sixth among the largest sovereign funds in the world by the end of 2022.

• Expansion of local investments

 The Saudi Crown Prince, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, announced the inclusion of the “Diriyah” project in the major projects owned by the Public Investment Fund, and the project is one of the most important development projects in the Kingdom during the current decade, and aims to preserve the historic world heritage site.

Diriyah is located 20 minutes northwest of the city center of Riyadh, and it will turn into one of the most important modern destinations in the world for culture and heritage. The total cost of the project is $50 billion, of which $20 billion is the cost of the first phase of the project.

• Companies in which the Fund invests

The fund announced an investment of $1.3 billion in 4 companies in the local building and construction sector, namely “Nesma and Partners Contracting, Al-Saif Contracting Engineers, Al-Bwani Holding, and Al-Mabani General Contractors,” to support the sector that is implementing pioneering projects throughout the Kingdom.

• A new offering of green bonds

 The Saudi sovereign fund raised $ 5.5 billion from the sale of green bonds in three tranches, the second debt offering before, within four months, and the fund received requests for more than $ 32 billion for bonds with maturities of 7, 12 and 30 years.

Last October, the fund succeeded in raising $3 billion through its first issuance of dollar bonds, which is also its first issuance in ethical financing.  The PIF plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, to finance, refinance and invest in green projects.

• Injecting new investments in the field of electronic games

 The sovereign fund increased its stake in a Japanese game company, which produces a number of video game films, most notably the Mario movie, bringing the fund’s stake to 7% from 5% last May, compared to $2.9 billion.

The volume of investments in the sector exceeded $200 billion, and the Chinese electronic games company, VSPO, announced that the Saudi sovereign fund had bought a stake worth $265 million in the company, as part of the Kingdom’s continued expansion of its business in the gaming market.

• Strong increases in the wealth of funds

 A report issued by the Japanese banking group, Mitsubishi UFJ, expects the net wealth of sovereign funds in the Gulf to reach $5.6 trillion by 2026, compared to about $3.8 trillion currently, an increase of $1.8 trillion, supported by oil prices.