Saudi Crown Prince pledges to boost investment to more than $600bn in US in call with Trump

Saudi Arabia is willing to expand its investments and trade with the US by $600 billion “and potentially beyond that” in the next four years, the kingdom's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has told US President Donald Trump.

In a call with Mr Trump, Prince Mohammed “noted the US administration’s ability to create unprecedented economic prosperity and opportunity through anticipated reforms”, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.

“The kingdom seeks to participate in these opportunities for partnership and investment,” it added. It did not reveal specific details about how the amount will be invested.

Mr Trump, in a virtual appearance at Davos, said he hoped the Crown Prince would “round” the investment amount up to $1 trillion.

“It's also reported today in the papers that Saudi Arabia will be investing at least $600 billion in America. But I'll be asking the Crown Prince, who's a fantastic guy, to round it out to around $1 trillion. I think they'll do that because we've been very good to them. And I'm also going to ask Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down the cost of oil,” Mr Trump said.

Prince Mohammed and Mr Trump, who share close ties, discussed ways to enhance bilateral ties in various areas, promote peace, security and stability in the Middle East, and combat terrorism, SPA said.

Saudi Arabia's leaders maintained close ties with the US under Mr Trump's first stint in the White House. The US leader has several business interests in the region and also chose the kingdom for his first official visit as president in 2017.

In December, the Trump organisation also said it aimed to launch projects in Saudi Arabia and unveiled a two billion Saudi riyal ($533 million) residential development in Jeddah in partnership with London-listed Dar Global. It is looking to start two more projects in Riyadh, executive vice president Eric Trump, the President's son, told The National.

Saudi Arabia’s “market is thriving, you have a country that is pro-growth”, Eric Trump said at the time.

Meanwhile, the US President is also seeking to attract more investment in his country from the Gulf. This month, the UAE's Damac Properties made a $20 billion investment in the US to build data centres, Mr Trump said.

Damac said the centres with a capacity of two gigawatts would be built over the next four years. The first phase will focus on eight US states in the southern and Midwest regions, acquiring land banks, existing data centres and other platforms.

Hussain Sajwani, founder and chairman of the Dubai-based developer, also said it could increase its investment under the right market conditions.