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Saudi Arabia Vision 2030

PIF backs Fifa Club World Cup in the US   

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will be the official partner of the month-long Fifa Club World Cup 2025, which will take place in the US from June 14. The sovereign wealth fund has signed an agreement with football’s governing body, Fifa, to fuel growth and engagement in football, the $940 billion Saudi sovereign wealth […]

Medina is opening its doors to tech startups, aiming to blend tradition with innovation to enhance urban life and accommodate growing religious tourism

Startups invited to solve Medina’s challenges

Saudi Arabia is inviting startups to tackle infrastructure challenges in Medina, one of Islam’s holiest cities, as it ramps up efforts to expand religious tourism. Madinah-Tech, an accelerator backed by the regional municipality and private investors, has opened applications for its first cohort as the city struggles to keep pace with growing visitor numbers. The […]

PIF unit Ardara said the first phase of AlWadi in Aseer province includes retail space, apartments and villas and two hotels

PIF unit commits millions to back Aseer province growth

Ardara, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is making multi-million-dollar investment in Aseer province in the south of the kingdom to support urban development in line with Vision 2030. Work was launched this week on AlWadi – meaning “the valley”– after it was first announced in October 2023, the state-run Saudi Press […]

Ahmed Al Khateeb, the Tourism Minister of Saudi Arabia, is attending the 8th meeting of the Tourism Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states in Doha, Qatar, on February 19, 2024. (Photo by Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto)NO USE FRANCE

Saudi Arabia ‘has no plans to allow sale of alcohol’

Saudi Arabia has denied media reports saying that it plans to license alcohol sales next year. “These claims lack any official confirmation from relevant authorities and do not reflect existing policies or regulations in Saudi Arabia,” Arab News reported, citing informed sources.  A post on a wine blog last week suggested that the Saudi authorities […]

Saudi Comic Con IPO, Time Entertainment IPO, Saudi entertainment

Saudi Comic Con organiser sells shares in IPO

The organiser of World Wrestling Association events in Saudi Arabia and the first Comic Con, a convention celebrating comic books, is selling shares to the public as the kingdom offers more entertainment opportunities to its population. Riyadh-based Time Entertainment is selling 200,000 shares, a 20 percent stake, to raise as much as SAR16 million ($4.27 […]

A construction worker wearing a yellow hard hat and safety vest is working on a building site, kneeling on a steel framework. The background shows an unfinished building structure and a crane.

AI adoption could help meet ambitious Vision 2030 targets

Construction companies in Saudi Arabia are increasingly looking to artificial intelligence to reduce waste and speed up delivery times, industry experts say. AI software is already in use in the country to help speed up the design and development of billions of dollars in projects.  But increased adoption of cutting-edge technology is needed to meet […]

As Saudi Arabia gears up for mega-events like the 2034 World Cup, a significant skills gap in tourism and hospitality looms

Skills shortage a concern for Saudi’s big-ticket events

Saudi Arabia’s tourism and hospitality sector is suffering a skills shortage which it urgently needs to address before hosting some of the world’s biggest events, the CEO of one of the kingdom’s giga-project companies said. Of these events, perhaps the biggest is the 2034 World Cup. But before that lies a host of others as […]

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and U.S. President Donald Trump co-chair the Saudi-American Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and U.S. President Donald Trump co-chair the Saudi-American Summitat the Royal Court at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 13, 2025. Photo by Saudi Press Agency Riyadh Riyadh Saudi Arabia 130525_Saudi_Arabia_SPA_3_002 Copyright: xapaimagesxSaudixPressxAgencyxxapaimagesxNo Use Switzerland. No Use Germany. No Use Japan. No Use Austria

PIF plans $100bn ‘Project Paradise’

Saudi Arabia’s $925 billion Public Investment Fund is drawing up plans for a $100 billion development in Riyadh, even as it reins in spending across some of its flagship projects, according to sources. The mixed-use project, known internally as “Project Paradise”, is in the early planning stage and is expected to be located southwest of […]

Al Haram Mosque and Kaaba, Mecca. With Saudi Arabia aiming for 150 million tourist visits by 2030, Best Western is expanding to service increasing demand, including religious travellers

Best Western Hotels to increase Saudi footprint

Best Western Hotels and Resorts plans to increase more than six-fold the number of hotels it operates in Saudi Arabia to tap a growing market in domestic and international business and leisure travel, the Arizona-based company said. BWH currently runs seven hotels, has 21 under development and is targeting as many as 45 by the […]

Operators at a Saudi Aramco facility. Impacted by lower oil revenues, Aramco's first quarter profits suffered a significant drop

Aramco profits down – and worse is to come, say analysts

Saudi Aramco announced a drop in net income for the first three months of the year on Sunday, due to rising oil prices and higher operating costs. With state and state-affiliated institutions dependent on the national oil company dividends to fund numerous Vision 2030 infrastructure projects, the downturn throws Aramco’s investment plans into doubt. Oil […]

Elm said its assets were worth SAR9.5 billion at the end of last year

Profits jump for PIF’s Elm digital services company

Elm Company, a digital services company controlled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, said first-quarter profit surged more than 40 percent on higher sales. Net profit in the three months to March 31 jumped to SAR495 million ($132 million), the company said in a statement to the Saudi stock exchange, where 30 percent of its […]

Falling oil prices and a growing budget deficit may force Saudi Arabia to prioritise completion of the more time-sensitive Vision 2030 projects such as Riyadh Expo in 2030

Saudi Arabia to ‘roll with the punches’ on oil price

Saudi Arabia may have to tighten its reins on spending on the back of a decline in international oil prices, analysts have said. The country’s first-quarter budget deficit of SAR59 billion ($16 billion), reported this week, was the biggest in three years. “A deficit was broadly expected, says Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial […]

Workers at a Saudi Aramco onshore rig. Excluding the oil major, Saudi Arabia has about $600bn of domestic assets it could sell

Oil price fall poses spending dilemma for Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has various assets it could sell as the drop in oil prices pushes up the country’s 2025 budget deficit, economists have said. The country could also opt to plug the gap by issuing more debt or altering its spending plans. Saudi Arabia’s debt-to-GDP ratio is only 29 percent, according to S&P Global Ratings, […]

PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan. Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has raised $5.25bn from debt markets this year

PIF raises $1.25bn from year’s second debt sale

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has sold $1.25 billion in 7-year sukuk, tapping the bond market for the second time this year. The sovereign wealth fund was able to lower the price guidance to 110 basis points (bps) over US Treasuries from 140 bps over the same benchmark released earlier in the day after […]

Saudi Aramco's Shaybah oil field in the Empty Quarter. Riyadh has been angered by Kazakhstan and Iraq producing above their Opec+ targets

Saudi Arabia signals it can live with lower oil prices

Saudi Arabian officials are briefing allies and industry experts to say the kingdom is unwilling to prop up the oil market with further supply cuts and can handle a prolonged period of low prices, sources said. This possible shift in Saudi policy could suggest a move toward producing more and expanding its market share. This […]

AlUla, Saudi Arabia. The destination, rich in history and nature, saw 286,000 visitors in 2024 and with a renewed international focus is aiming for 1.2 million annual visitors by 2030

AlUla expects record tourism in 2026 after marketing push

AlUla, one of Saudi Arabia’s flagship tourism projects, is expecting a record year for visits in 2026, following an international marketing campaign targeting overseas travellers who typically stay longer and generate more yield. The oasis resort in Medina province received 286,000 visitors last year, up by a fifth on 2023, according to the Royal Commission […]

Saudi Arabia's 130 GW renewable target by 2030 hinges on securing equipment and local expertise for its growing solar and wind farms

Equipment and workforce key for Saudi renewables

Nacelles and blades, battery energy storage systems (BESS) and high voltage direct current (HVDC) cables, solar modules and wafers. A surge in large-scale renewable projects – such as the 2GW Al Shuaibah 2 solar project and 1.5GW Dawadmi wind farm – means the kingdom needs to secure equipment and expertise if it is to come […]

The PIF Tower in Riyadh. Despite some misses, Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 shows progress in key areas like Public Investment Fund growth

Saudi Vision 2030 exceeds PIF targets, but others lag

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) exceeded its 2024 target for assets under management by $60 billion, but the kingdom missed other annual goals in its Vision 2030 economic transformation and social development strategy. PIF now manages about $940 billion of assets, nearly 7 percent above its $880 billion target for the year, according to […]

Saudi Arabia reports record non-oil exports in 2024

Saudi Arabia’s exports of goods and services – excluding oil – hit a record SAR515 billion ($137 billion) last year, the state-run SPA news agency reported, as the world’s second largest oil producer seeks to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons. The exports, which include re-exports, rose 13 percent over the last year and have […]