GE Investing $1.4 Billion Into Saudi Arabia, Leading The Charge To Open Up The Oil-Dependent Kingdom

On Monday, General Electric GE announced their plan to invest in Saudi Arabia’s non-oil related sectors shortly after the Saudi government’s announcement of its plan to overhaul the oil-dependent economy. The Wall Street Journal’s Nicolas Parasie wrote how GE will play a crucial role in efforts to diversify the Saudi business network.

In addition to building a $400 million manufacturing facility with Aramco, General Electric “signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly invest $1 billion in several sectors such as water and aviation by 2017” according to Parasie. This agreement includes an additional $2 billion worth of investments after 2017.

“Together we will contribute to the long-term economic competitiveness and diversified growth of the Saudi economy,” said Abdullatif Al-Othman, chairman of SAIIC, the entity with which GE is planning the investments.

As foreign investment starts to pour into the Arabian kingdom, iShares MSCI Saudi Arabia Capped ETF KSA may be a good opportunity to take advantage of Saudi Arabia’s recovery. The highly anticipated ETF was initiated in September of 2015 and seeks to track the investment results of the MSCI Saudi Arabia Investable Market Index (IMI) 25/50.