Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund, plans to invest 90 billion Saudi riyals ($24bn) in the broader Middle East and North Africa region to expand its portfolio of assets and boost regional economies.
PIF is setting up five investment companies after the launch of the Saudi Egyptian Investment Company in August.
The PIF’s new investment vehicles will seek opportunities in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Oman and Sudan, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on Wednesday.
Together, the six companies will invest in several key sectors including infrastructure, real estate development, mining, health care, financial services, food and agriculture, manufacturing, telecoms, technology and other strategic industries.
The announcement comes on the second day of the Future Investment Initiative (FII), the kingdom’s annual forum in Riyadh, which is attended by government leaders, policymakers, investors and finance and technology leaders from around the world.
The launch of the five new companies will “contribute to an increase in regional investment opportunities for PIF’s portfolio companies and Saudi Arabia’s private sector”, PIF said in a statement.
The move will bolster “attractive financial returns over the long term and create more avenues for strategic economic collaboration with the private sector in the target countries as well as enabling the Saudi private sector”, it said.
The potential investments by PIF align with the fund’s strategy, which includes seeking new investment opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa to build lasting strategic economic partnerships and achieve sustainable returns, grow PIF’s assets under management, and diversify Saudi Arabia’s sources of revenue, while underscoring the objectives of Vision 2030, the fund said.
PIF, which invests on behalf of the government in domestic and international markets, is at the heart of the kingdom's efforts to diversify its economy away from oil. It is mandated to pump $40bn to $50bn into the local economy to generate jobs and boost the non-oil economic base of the kingdom.
The fund, chaired by Prince Mohammed, has stakes in global companies including ride-hailing company Uber and is a cornerstone investor in SoftBank’s vision fund that invests in global technology companies. It currently has assets of $620bn and plans to boost it to $2 trillion by 2030.
PIF’s Saudi Egyptian Investment Company has already started investing capital in the Egyptian market.
In August, it acquired minority stakes worth about $1.3bn in four companies listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange, Egypt’s planning ministry announced at the time.
The four companies are Abu Qir Fertilisers and Chemical Industries, Alexandria Container and Cargo Handling, E-Finance for Financial and Digital Investments. and Misr Fertilisers Production Company.
Earlier this month, the investment vehicle also acquired a 34 per cent stake in Egypt’s BTech, the 25-year-old consumer electronics retailer, for an undisclosed sum from Development Partners International, an Africa-focused investment company based in the UK.
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Know your camel milk:
Flavour: Similar to goat’s milk, although less pungent. Vaguely sweet with a subtle, salty aftertaste.
Texture: Smooth and creamy, with a slightly thinner consistency than cow’s milk.
Use it: In your morning coffee, to add flavour to homemade ice cream and milk-heavy desserts, smoothies, spiced camel-milk hot chocolate.
Goes well with: chocolate and caramel, saffron, cardamom and cloves. Also works well with honey and dates.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
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It's Monty Python's Crashing Rocket Circus
To the theme tune of the famous zany British comedy TV show, SpaceX has shown exactly what can go wrong when you try to land a rocket.
The two minute video posted on YouTube is a compilation of crashes and explosion as the company, created by billionaire Elon Musk, refined the technique of reusable space flight.
SpaceX is able to land its rockets on land once they have completed the first stage of their mission, and is able to resuse them multiple times - a first for space flight.
But as the video, How Not to Land an Orbital Rocket Booster, demonstrates, it was a case if you fail, try and try again.
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
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RESULTS
2pm: Maiden Dh 60,000 (Dirt) 1,400m. Winner: Masaali, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer).
2.30pm: Handicap Dh 76,000 (D) 1,400m. Winner: Almoreb, Dane O’Neill, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
3pm: Handicap Dh 64,000 (D) 1,200m. Winner: Imprison, Fabrice Veron, Rashed Bouresly.
3.30pm: Shadwell Farm Conditions Dh 100,000 (D) 1,000m. Winner: Raahy, Adrie de Vries, Jaber Ramadhan.
4pm: Maiden Dh 60,000 (D) 1,000m. Winner: Cross The Ocean, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
4.30pm: Handicap 64,000 (D) 1,950m. Winner: Sa’Ada, Fernando Jara, Ahmad bin Harmash.
PSA DUBAI WORLD SERIES FINALS LINE-UP
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Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY)
Ali Farag (EGY)
Simon Rosner (GER)
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Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Nick Matthew (ENG)
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Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Laura Massaro (ENG)
Joelle King (NZE)
Camille Serme (FRA)
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Company%20Profile
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The biog
Name: Sarah Al Senaani
Age: 35
Martial status: Married with three children - aged 8, 6 and 2
Education: Masters of arts in cultural communication and tourism
Favourite movie: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
Favourite hobbies: Art and horseback ridding
Occupation: Communication specialist at a government agency and the owner of Atelier
Favourite cuisine: Definitely Emirati - harees is my favourite dish
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Manchester United v Liverpool
Premier League, kick off 7.30pm (UAE)
Honeymoonish
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
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How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
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Roger Federer's 2018 record
Australian Open Champion
Rotterdam Champion
Indian Wells Runner-up
Miami Second round
Stuttgart Champion
Halle Runner-up
Wimbledon Quarter-finals
Cincinnati Runner-up
US Open Fourth round
Shanghai Semi-finals
Basel Champion
Paris Masters Semi-finals
AL%20BOOM
No%20Windmills%20in%20Basra
Sweet%20Tooth
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
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Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
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Retail gloom
Online grocer Ocado revealed retail sales fell 5.7 per cen in its first quarter as customers switched back to pre-pandemic shopping patterns.
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The group added that a 15 per cent drop in customer basket size offset an 11.6. per cent rise in the number of customer transactions.
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Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
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F1 The Movie
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
