At the beginning of November, Saudi Arabia recorded investment commitments amounting to 173 billion dollars across all sectors. Driving forces included a new law allowing foreigners to acquire property in certain areas of the kingdom, as well as numerous trade fairs in the capital Riyadh and the trade metropolis Jeddah on the Red Sea.

Conferences to attract more capital

In particular, the Biban Forum attracted more than 100,000 visitors and generated agreements worth over 38 billion Saudi Riyals (10 billion dollars), reports the English-language daily «Arab News». The four-day event, held under the motto «Global Destination for Opportunities,» also attracted great international interest.

The inaugural edition of the tourism fair TOURISE Summit secured investments worth 113 billion dollars. As part of the government program «Vision 2030,» Saudi Arabia aims to welcome more than 150 million visitors by the end of this decade to its beaches, cities, and historical monuments such as those in Al-Ula. The Saudi Intermobility Expo in Jeddah, the largest transport and logistics fair in the Gulf region, also recorded lively interest.

The ninth edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) recorded over 50 billion US dollars in signed agreements and investment pledges, spanning artificial intelligence, cutting-edge technology, renewable energies, and infrastructure.

«Sanctions? No, thank you.»

Because Saudi Arabia does not support the trade restrictions imposed by the EU and the USA against Russia and China, great powers sometimes clash in the Gulf.

US-President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Republicans are working on a law that will impose sanctions on any country that does business with Russia. «As you know, I suggested it, so any country that does business with Russia will be very severely sanctioned,» Trump told reporters.

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de facto ruler Salman bin Mohammed will meet Trump on Tuesday at the summit in Washington.

Saudi-Russian trade was significant in 2024: according to Trading Economics, Saudi Arabia imported goods worth around 3.41 billion dollars from Russia. A substantial part of this trade consisted of agricultural products. Russia’s agricultural exports to Saudi Arabia increased by 24 percent in 2024, driven by shipments of barley, poultry, and beef. Due to a lack of fertile agricultural land, the Gulf states have to import nine-tenths of their food requirements.

The IT giant Huawei from Shenzhen is transforming the port city of Jubail into a smart city — thanks to a digital gatekeeper system for road traffic and by installing virtual classrooms. Recently, Tareq Amin, CEO of the AI startup Humain, had to humbly pledge before US investors «never to buy equipment from Huawei.» Otherwise, his company, which is supported by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF, would not be allowed to purchase high-performance chips from Silicon Valley.

Already in spring, Ma Jian, minister counselor of the Chinese embassy in Riyadh, described the US tariffs under the Trump administration as «economic bullying.»

Highly contested growth market

The International Monetary Fund expects economic growth of about 3.5 percent for Saudi Arabia (population 35.3 million) in 2025. For 2026, growth of around 3.9 percent is forecast, partly due to the gradual lifting of OPEC+ production cuts. Non-oil sector growth is estimated at about 3.4 percent for 2025 and is expected to remain close to 4 percent until 2027, before settling at around 3.5 percent by 2030.