The Saudi Ministry of Investment has announced that 49 deals amounting to $925 million have been signed in the second quarter of 2022. These deals are expected to create 2000 jobs, according to the ministry.

According to a statement issued by the ministry, these deals have been signed in various sectors, including advanced manufacturing, construction and real estate, information and communications technology, tourism, entertainment, and sports.

Among the key deals that have been signed during this period include an agreement worth $133.3 million between the Saudi Ports Authority and DP World to build a logistics park at Jeddah Islamic Port and a $37 million funding to HyperPay led by MasterCard.

The ministry’s Q2 2022 Investment Highlights report also lists Novartis’ agreement to develop biotechnology capabilities in the kingdom, a $50 million investment by Saudi Aramco’s Entrepreneurship Center, and an agreement with Maaden Company to build the world’s largest solar-powered plant to support the aluminum industry.

While the country’s oil sector is doing particularly fine, these investments are being made in non-oil sectors – underlining the substantial global interest in the Saudi economy.

The report states that the Saudi non-oil sector has experienced a 5.4% year-on-year growth in the second quarter of this year, and the real gross domestic product has also seen an uptick of 11.8 % compared to last year. 

The report also highlights the industrial production sector’s post-pandemic performance, which was recorded at 24% in May. The Industrial Production Index figures for March, April, and May were the highest of all the quarters in the last three years.

“The National Investment Strategy is a catalyst to deliver on our Vision 2030 national objectives of seeing the private sector contribute 65 percent to GDP and growing foreign direct investment to 5.7% of GDP,” said Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih.

According to the IMF, the Saudi economy is expected to register the highest growth rate among all the global economies. The kingdom has also set up a new investment agency – Saudi Investment Marketing Authority, to help introduce $3 trillion in investment into the economy by 2030.