The heyday of petroleum that moved the economies of rich countries in the Middle East has entered dusk. The fall in prices, the decline in reserves, and the transition of global energy sources to alternative and renewable energy pose a threat to foreign exchange rich in oil and gas kingdoms such as Saudi Arabia.
Despite efforts to maintain the economy of the Ibn Saud dynasty, the country was pursued in various ways, from increasing tourism to opening up to new business developments in the digital sector.
SoftBank (SFTBP)
Together with a telecommunications firm originating from Japan, SoftBank (SFTBP), the Saudi Arabian government raised investments of up to the US $ 100 billion (Rp 1,300 trillion).
"That will be the biggest investment fund in the technology sector for the next few decades," CEO of Softbank Masayoshi Son was quoted as saying, CNNmoney. com.
The move is believed to benefit both. Saudi Arabia is looking for ways to eliminate economic dependence on oil at the time of the collapse of world oil prices. Softbank's ambition is to become a global technology leader at a time of stagnation in economic growth in Japan.
"As a first step, the Saudis will place the US $ 45 billion (Rp. 585 trillion). Softbank is at least US $ 25 billion (Rp 325 trillion). Some big global investors will also join. "
Mohammed bin Salman
Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman led the efforts of the country where the Muslim orientation is to diversify the economy.
"The strong investment performance is Runci in new technology investments," he said.
This is not the only time that Saudi Arabia has invested in the online services business sector. Previously, Saudi Arabia injected the US $ 3.5 billion (Rp45.5 trillion) to the Uber application-based transportation company in June 2016.
Meanwhile, Softbank disbursed the US $ 32 billion (Rp416 trillion) to the British chip designer, ARM Holding, in July 2016. In fact, Softbank's move was not supported by shareholders after the loss of the purchase of the wireless sprint company in 2012.
Even so, their investment portfolio which was classified as smart when acquiring e-commerce giant Alibaba was appreciated by investors. Even the partnership with Saudi Arabia pushed Softbank shares up to 3.3%.
They are also unaffected by warnings from the valuation bubble of large tech startups originating in the United States and the recent decline in Indian Start-ups.
"We will further accelerate the information revolution by contributing to it," Son said.
In early 2016, Saudi Arabia announced an ambitious plan of investing up to 7 trillion Real Saudi, equivalent to the US $ 1.9 trillion until 2030. That became the largest investment data in the world.
Media Indonesia, Page-15, Saturday, Oct 15, 2016.
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