Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will direct about 80 per cent of its $925 billion portfolio into domestic investments under its new five-year strategy, scaling back international exposure to 20 per cent from a peak of 30 per cent.
PIF governor Yasir Al Rumayyan clarified that no projects have been cancelled at Saudi Arabia's $500 billion mega-city Neom, stressing instead that a realignment of investments is taking place.
“The reassessment of our investments is continuous and natural,” Mr Al Rumayyan said, citing fast-evolving technologies such as artificial intelligence as factors.
The PIF's new plan, which runs to 2030, will concentrate on what it terms as ecosystems, including tourism, travel and entertainment; urban development and livability; advanced manufacturing and innovation; industrials and logistics; clean energy, water, and renewables infrastructure, as well as Neom.
The reorganisation of spending strategies at Neom in Saudi Arabia's far north-west region is a natural process in a changing economic landscape, he added.
The comments were his first public statements after years of speculation about the status of projects at Neom, which was billed as a pillar of Riyadh's economic diversification.
The PIF board, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has approved the fund’s strategy for 2026 to 2030, which is focused mainly on driving long-term economic transformation.
Mr Al Rumayyan also stressed the need to identify which projects are fundamental to Neom, citing Oxagon, which was billed as the largest floating industrial complex in the world when it was announced in 2021.
Development is also continuing on The Line, the 170km “cognitive city” designed to house about 9 million people.
“Is having The Line by 2030 important? I don’t think so. It would be good to have, but it’s not a must. What we must have is Oxagon,” he said.
Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's biggest economy, has been aggressive in implementing its Vision 2030 economic diversification programme with several projects and initiatives designed to attract investments.
When the Ministry of Finance unveiled the 2026 budget in December, it forecast that its deficit would narrow to 165.4 billion riyals ($44 billion) – or 3.3 per cent of its gross domestic product – from 245 billion riyals in 2025. Public revenue was estimated at 1.147 trillion riyals.
Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan at the time said having a deficit was “by design” and would continue until 2028.
The ministry said it remains focused on enhancing spending efficiency and improving the quality of essential services while continuing to implement gigaprojects and other strategies under Vision 2030. Mr Al Jadaan had also said the kingdom would be willing to scale back on some of the gigaprojects.
The budget made no specific mention Neom. Mr Al Jadaan said any potential cancellation of the futuristic city would be up to the PIF, which is leading Saudi Arabia's diversification efforts, Bloomberg had reported.
