Saudi Arabia's biggest investors, including the Public Investment Fund and figures close to US President Donald Trump's inner circle, convened in Florida for an investment forum as the Iran war entered its fourth week.
Saudi Arabia's fourth Future Investment Initiative (FII) summit, in Miami, brings together some of the leading players in finance and investment from Washington and Riyadh. Mr Trump is expected to attend in person on Friday.
Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner; Massoud Boulos, US senior adviser for Arab and African Affairs; and Mr Trump's son Donald Jr will also be in Miami.
The Saudi delegation attending this week includes the kingdom's ambassador to the US, Princess Reema Bandar Al Saud; PIF governor Yasir Al Rumayyan; Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan and Humain chief executive Tareq Amin.
Others in the line-up include Meta vice president Dina Powell McCormick; Ripple chief executive Brad Garlinghouse; former Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin; Riyadh Air chief executive Tony Douglas; IBM vice chairman Gary Cohn; State Street president Yie-Hsun Hung and Fifa president Gianni Infantino. Emirati businessman Mohamed Alabbar, who is the founder of real estate company Emaar Properties, addressed the gathering online.
This year's gathering in Miami comes as businesses and investors reckon with the economic cost of the Iran war. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz and repeated Iranian attacks on key energy sites across the Gulf have created one of the greatest supply disruptions yet.
With the kingdom's $1 trillion US investment pledge as backdrop, Mr Al Rumayyan said the PIF remains committed to its global investments despite the war.
“The Saudi macroeconomic and fiscal position remains strong, stable and resilient, and the PIF's portfolio is well-diversified and structurally resilient,” he said, adding that he expects to unveil the fund's new five-year strategy in the coming weeks.
The PIF, which managed a portfolio of more than $900 billion in assets last year, is the primary vehicle for Saudi Arabia's economic diversification drive away from oil.
Mr Rumayyan's comments echoed those of the UAE's Minister of State and ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba, who this week reaffirmed the Emirates' $1.4 trillion US investment commitment pledge. Both Gulf countries had pledged more than $2 trillion of investments during Mr Trump's visit to the Gulf in 2025.
The Saudi Finance Minister struck a resilient note on the kingdom's economic outlook.
“What we saw in the last few weeks has an impact beyond what we have seen post-Covid in terms of supply chain disruption. I think if this continues, we'll see more impact,” said Mr Al Jadaan.
US and Gulf companies are expected to negotiate deals worth billions of dollars this week, FII chief executive Richard Attias said in an interview with The National last week.
AI and other themes
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Co-operation Council members are in the middle of plans to diversify their economies away from oil by the end of the decade.
Riyadh has been investing heavily in artificial intelligence under its Vision 2030 programme as the kingdom aims to become a global hub in technology.
PIF-backed Humain, which secured US approval for Nvidia chips last year, is at the forefront of the data centre boom in Saudi Arabia.
The event is also likely to attract investments into media and sports sectors, with David Ellison, who is leading a Gulf-backed bid to buy Warner Bros Discovery, also scheduled to speak.
