RIYADH: With assets worth $607.42 billion, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has maintained the sixth spot in the list of top sovereign wealth funds in the world, according to the latest data.
Data released by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute suggested that China Investment Corp. topped the list with $1.350 trillion in assets, followed by Norway Government Pension Fund Global and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority with assets worth $1.13 trillion and $790 billion respectively.
Kuwait Investment Authority ranks fourth with $750 billion, while Singapore’s GIC Private Limited is placed fifth, with assets of $690 billion.
According to the SWF Institute data, the aggregate assets of the world’s sovereign wealth funds hit $10.30 trillion by the end of 2022, up from $10.12 trillion in September 2022.
The PIF is now leading the economic diversification journey in Saudi Arabia, playing a crucial role to achieve the goals outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
Currently, the PIF owns 71 companies in 10 different sectors and has created more than 500,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Earlier in November, PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan said that the fund is planning to create even more employment opportunities.
“We want to create 1.8 million jobs, and these are quality jobs. It is not only the figures we are looking at, but the quality of these figures, the quality of these jobs,” said Al-Rumayyan.
In October, Al-Rumayyan had said that PIF has a detailed strategy to increase the fund’s assets to reach between $2 to $3 trillion by the end of this decade.
“We want to reach $1 trillion by 2025. And we are almost now less than $700 billion, we need close to $400 billion to reach this size of assets,” said Al-Rumayyan, during an interview given to the Thmanyah podcast.
He added: “We have a complete plan from now till 2030, on how to reach a trillion and reach between $2 to $3 trillion, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is determined to reach it.”
In 2022, PIF also launched two major companies; Saudi Coffee Co. and Halal Products Development Co.
Saudi Coffee Co. aims to develop sustainable coffee production in the southern Jazan region, home to the world-famous Coffea Arabica, while the HPDC eyes turning the Kingdom into a global halal hub.
