Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the kingdom’s main sovereign wealth fund (PIF) will surpass its target of increasing its assets to $600 billion by 2020, as part of a plan to reduce the economy’s dependence on oil, Reuters reports.
“We are now above $300 billion, we’re getting close to $400 billion. Our target in 2020 is around $600 billion. I believe we will surpass that target in 2020,” the prince said in a Bloomberg interview.
He added that the fund, with more than 50 percent of its investments located in Saudi Arabia, will be investing in more places next year.
The fund would invest another $45 billion in Softbank Vision fund, the world’s largest private equity fund, backed by Japan’s Softbank Group and the PIF, which invests in technology sectors such as artificial intelligence and robotics.
“We have a huge benefit from the first one. We would not put, as PIF, another $45 billion if we didn’t see huge income in the first year with the first $45 billion,” the prince said.
Locally, one of the biggest investments for the PIF is a planned $500 billion business and industrial zone called NEOM extending into Jordan and Egypt, announced in October 2017.
Prince Mohammed said the first town in NEOM will be ready in 2019 or 2020, with the entire site completed by 2025.