Saudi summit sees deals worth $56b

TOP OFFICIALS SAY THAT MEGA PROJECTS SUCH NEOM WILL CONTINUE

Saudi Arabia has signed $56 billion (Dh205.52 billion) of deals at an investment conference that concluded yesterday and expects the US to remain a key business partner despite a partial boycott of the event over the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“There were more than 25 deals signed worth $56 billion,” Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al Falih told state television, adding that US companies accounted for most of those contracts. “The US will remain a key part of the Saudi economy because the interests that tie us are bigger than what is being weakened by the failed boycotting campaign of the conference.”

State oil firm Saudi Aramco said it had signed deals with 15 international partners worth more than $34 billion at the conference. The firms included US oilfield services giants Schlumberger, Halliburton and Baker Hughes.

There were also deals to bring foreign investment and technology into Saudi Arabia’s education, health care and housing construction industries. Some of the deals were memorandums of understanding which may never progress to the stage of firm contracts, and other deals had already been planned for months.

Economy Minister Mohammad Al Tuwaijri told the conference that the government had received many expressions of interest from Asian and European companies in buying Saudi state assets. Finance Minister Mohammad Al Jadaan said non-oil revenue in the third quarter jumped 48 per cent from a year ago while spending surged 25 per cent.