Saudi Arabia opens major conference with eye on investment
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia on Tuesday opened a major investment conference aimed at shining a spotlight on the country’s efforts to overhaul its economy and society after being jolted into action following a plunge in oil prices that threatened the kingdom’s main source of revenue and its long-term stability.
The conference, dubbed the Future Investment Initiative , is being hosted by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The event is being attended by giants in the business world and top Saudi officials.
At the heart of the conference are Saudi reform efforts to transform its sovereign wealth fund into the world’s largest. The kingdom hopes to do this by listing less than 5 per cent of state-owned oil giant Aramco on the Saudi stock exchange and an international exchange, and transferring ownership of Aramco to the Public Investment Fund, also known as PIF.
Saudi Arabia says this could put some $2 trillion under PIF’s control— double that of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, which is currently the world’s largest. It’s unclear exactly how much PIF currently controls. Analysts have also suggested Aramco’s market value could be half of the government’s projection.