#Saudi Firms Outline $51 Billion to Spend Toward Diversification - Bloomberg

Saudi Firms Outline $51 Billion to Spend Toward Diversification - Bloomberg

Saudi Arabia outlined plans for 192 billion riyals ($51 billion) of investments by local companies including Saudi Aramco and mining giant Maaden under a government incentive program as it seeks to accelerate a plan to diversify its economy away from oil.

The program, called Shareek, was begun in 2021 by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and is part of his “Vision 2030” plan to transform the oil-dependent Gulf kingdom and raise it to the ranks of the world’s top 15-largest economies by 2030. Saudi Arabia was the world’s fastest-growing among the Group of 20 economies in 2022.

In an event held Wednesday at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh, which the crown prince attended briefly, officials said more than 60% of the financing for the projects will come from eight companies led by Saudi Aramco by 2030.

The projects are set to add almost 467 billion riyals to the kingdom’s gross domestic product and create more than 64,000 jobs by 2030, according to Abdulaziz Al-Arifi, chief executive officer of the Shareek program.