On the sidelines of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to Washington, and with the participation of some 400 CEOs of major Saudi and American companies, the Saudi-American Investment Forum will convene tomorrow (Wednesday). It will focus on the fields of technology, energy, artificial intelligence, healthcare, tourism, and entertainment.
CEO participation
An informed source predicted on Tuesday that the investment forum would include CEOs from Chevron, Qualcomm, Cisco Systems, General Dynamics, and Pfizer. The source also noted
the participation of senior executives from IBM, Alphabet's Google, Salesforce, Andreessen Horowitz, Halliburton, Adobe, Aramco, State Street Corporation, and Parsons Corporation.
The source confirmed that American companies have a growing interest in a wide range of sectors closely aligned with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.
Diversification of the Saudi economy
The Kingdom's desire to diversify its economy under Vision 2030 is the primary incentive for major American companies to focus on the Saudi market.
CNN reported that the White House extended invitations to the CEOs of leading corporations to attend a dinner with the Crown Prince, providing an opportunity to showcase key developments and partnership and investment opportunities in the Kingdom.
The investment forum is expected to explore new investment prospects in vital sectors, including energy, technology, financial services, infrastructure, and healthcare.
The Crown Prince's visit is certain to boost the influx of American companies, which already constitute the majority of those that have relocated their regional headquarters to Riyadh. This comes at a time when the Kingdom's mega-projects, including NEOM, Diriyah Gate, the Red Sea Project, and New Square, have emerged as clear magnets for American investment.
Investments of $100 billion
Riyadh aims to attract foreign investments of around $100 billion annually by the end of this decade, and American investments could be the cornerstone of achieving this goal, especially as they have witnessed remarkable growth in recent years.
According to data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, the stock of US direct investment in Saudi Arabia last year amounted to $13.2 billion, an increase of 11.3% compared to 2023.
Last January, the Kingdom announced its intention to increase its investments and trade with the United States by $600 billion over four years.
Boosting sovereign wealth fund investments
Ways to increase Saudi investments in the United States are expected to be at the forefront of the issues on the table, especially after the meeting that brought together US Treasury Secretary Scott Bisent and the Governor of the Public Investment Fund, Yasser Al-Rumayyan, last Tuesday, in which they discussed ways to enhance the Fund’s investments in the US market; “which enhances economic growth and builds long-term relations between our two countries,” according to a statement by the Treasury Secretary.
