Saudi Arabia: Bin Salman to sell more Aramco shares to raise funds January 29, 2021 at 2:17 pm | Published in: Middle East, News, Saudi Arabia
Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed Bin Salman in Saudi Arabia on 5 January 2021 [Royal Council of Saudi Arabia/Anadolu Agency] January 29, 2021 at 2:17 pm
Saudi Arabia s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has announced his intention to sell more shares of the state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco to boost his faltering economic plan known as Vision 2030.
The de-facto ruler raised $25.6 billion by selling under two per cent of Aramco in the initial public offering in 2019. Two years since its flotation on the stock market, Bin Salman has said that he is looking to offer further shares in what many consider to be the Crown Jewel of the Kingdom. The company is valued at $2 trillion dollars.
Saudi Arabia s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman
has announced that a second listing of Saudi Aramco could happen in the coming years as part of his plans to raise funds for the FIP. The Saudi authorities are considering issuing an additional package of shares in the state-owned oil company in order to finance the sovereign wealth fund.
Saudi Arabia s de facto leader expressed the Kingdom s intentions during a conversation with former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at the fourth virtual edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) forum.
Saudi Arabia is hosting this year s event to
attract investors to the kingdom, two weeks after announcing its $6 trillion investment blueprint for the next decade. The FII aims to review the state of the global economy and is known as the Davos of the desert .
Biden suspends arms deals to Saudi Arabia, UAE
President Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware 7 November 2020 [Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images] January 28, 2021 at 11:27 am
The US administration of President Joe Biden has temporarily suspended the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, in a significant move against the two US allies and in opposition to the preferential treatment given to the Gulf states by former President Donald Trump.
In a White House press conference yesterday, the new Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that he was reviewing the commitments guaranteed by the US towards Arab states who had normalised ties with Israel, despite praising and endorsing those agreements.
DUBAI: The growing attraction of Riyadh as an economic, financial and investment hub has been underlined by the decision of 24 multinational companies to establish regional headquarters in the Saudi capital.
The companies - including such heavyweights as PepsiCo, Schlumberger, Bechtel and Boston Scientific - announced their plans on the second day of the Future Investment Initiative (FII). In a sign of the growing appeal of Riyadh as a consumer hub, Canadian fast food chain Tim Hortons will also set up there.
The news came after Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman announced ambitious plans to accelerate the city’s growth to join the ranks of the top 10 city economies in the world and double the size of its population by 2030.
As economic progress stalls, Saudi looking to entice multinationals to relocate to Riyadh January 26, 2021 at 1:34 pm | Published in: Middle East, News, Saudi Arabia
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin takes part in a panel discussion during the Future Investment Initiative (FII) forum at the King Abdulaziz Conference Centre in Saudi Arabia s capital Riyadh, on October 30, 2019 [FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images] January 26, 2021 at 1:34 pm
Saudi Arabia is in talks with a number of multinationals in a bid to lure them into setting up operations within the kingdom. According to Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) – the sovereign wealth fund of the Gulf monarchy, Riyadh is already in discussion with a number of companies in the health sector.