The changes state that any conventional attack on Russia, aided by a nuclear power, could be considered to be a joint attack
world3 days ago
Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund plans to cut its overseas investments by about a third, its governor told a conference in Riyadh on Tuesday, as the Kingdom taps into its resources to fund plans to wean the economy off oil.
Speaking on a panel of business, technology and finance leaders, Public Investment Fund Governor Yasir Al Rumayyan said the sovereign wealth fund was more focused on the domestic economy and aiming to bring the fund's international investments down to between 18% and 20% of the total from 30%.
Global business, technology and financial leaders have converged on the Saudi capital for the annual Future Investment Initiative (FII) summit, an opportunity for attendees to forge relations with some of Saudi Arabia's biggest companies and its $925 billion sovereign wealth fund.
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.
This year, the event may also test investor appetite in Saudi Arabia's economic transformation at a time when there are fears of widening conflict in the Middle East. The sovereign wealth fund is the main vehicle for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plans to steer the Saudi economy away from oil, with investments of hundreds of billions of dollars to develop new sectors and create more sustainable revenue streams.
However, the fund has been scaling back some of its flagship "giga-projects" due to rising costs.
Al Rumayyan said there had been a shift in the way the fund deploys its investments towards establishing joint ventures with both international and local companies.
"Now we see a shift from people who want us to invest or take our money to invest from there to co-investments," he told the conference.
Other high profile speakers on the Tuesday morning panel included Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman and Alphabet President and CIO Ruth Porat.
Most executives on the morning panel spoke about the potential life changing impact of artificial intelligence, while Citadel CEO Ken Griffin said that markets expected Donald Trump to win the US election on November 5 but that the outcome remained "almost a coin toss".
Blackstone Group CEO Steve Schwarzman, who has endorsed Trump, initially said he wouldn't comment on the election before saying that Trump had a better understanding today of the how the presidency works than in 2016.
While the first panel made no mention of wars in the region, it was followed by a speech by economist Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University that was critical of the United States and Israel.
"We don't need artificial intelligence in war, we need human intelligence to stop the wars," he said to applause. "We don't need more smart weapons, we need negotiations."
Sachs said Israel and the US were blocking the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
"Until there is (a Palestinian state), there is going to be no peace in the region," he said speaking of wars in Gaza and Lebanon and concerns there may be a wider regional conflict.
Saudi Arabia's investment minister said the number of companies in the kingdom with a regional headquarters had reached 540, ahead of a 2030 target of 500.
"Our target was 500 regional headquarters by 2030. I'm glad to announce we have reached 540 by this morning," Khalid Al Falih said during the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh.
"Some of them are the major multinational companies and they will be individually announcing their RHQ," he added.
ALSO READ:
The changes state that any conventional attack on Russia, aided by a nuclear power, could be considered to be a joint attack
world3 days ago
The country launched a probe in March 2021 into WhatsApp's privacy policy, which allowed data sharing with Facebook and its units, sparking global backlash
world4 days ago
This time around, Trump wants the Senate to give up that gatekeeping role and allow him to make 'recess appointments'
world4 days ago
Police allege the offences took place between 2001 and 2019 against 8 victims; the youngest was 17 at the time of the offence
world4 days ago
The two countries have a mutual defence treaty dating back to 1951, which could be invoked if either side came under attack, including in the South China Sea
world4 days ago
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu conferred the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger on Narendra Modi in Abuja on Sunday
world5 days ago
The titleholder's winning answer focused on using each individual's strengths
world5 days ago
The suspects would be interrogated jointly with the Shin Bet internal security agency, police said
world5 days ago