SAUDI ARABIA. The Public Investment Fund (PIF) has approved its 2026-2030 strategy, strengthening domestic investment while prioritising tourism, travel and entertainment in its diversification push.
The Board of Directors of the PIF, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who also serves as Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, has approved the new five-year plan, marking a continuation of its long-term strategic direction.
The PIF is a central investment engine for Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme, the government’s economic and social transformation blueprint aimed at opening the Kingdom to the world, with tourism playing a pivotal role. It invests in projects, companies and partners to diversify the Saudi economy, stimulate growth in every major sector, and create new opportunities for investment and employment.
The investments include initiatives across the travel retail ecosystem, such as the establishment of Al Waha Duty Free Company as announced in March 2025, the Kingdom’s first Saudi-owned duty-free operator.
Under the 2026-2030 strategy, the Public Investment Fund has structured its investments into three portfolios.
The Vision Portfolio focuses on leveraging synergies across strategic sectors, maximising value for portfolio companies and supporting local economic growth. It advances national priorities through six domestic ecosystems, while deepening investment integration and opening new opportunities for the domestic private sector, alongside attracting global partners and investors.
The six ecosystems comprise tourism, travel and entertainment; urban development and livability; advanced manufacturing and innovation; industrials and logistics; clean energy, water and renewables infrastructure; and NEOM.
The strategy also marks PIF’s transition from rapid expansion to sustained value creation, with greater emphasis on impact, investment efficiency, governance, transparency and institutional performance, as well as a stronger role for the private sector in sustainable economic development.
The Strategic Portfolio will manage key assets to maximise returns and economic impact, support capital attraction and global growth, and invest in opportunities shaped by long-term global trends.
Designed to deliver sustainable returns, the Financial Portfolio will strengthen the PIF’s financial position and support long-term national wealth creation. Its global investment approach focuses on maximising returns, diversifying assets and strengthening international partnerships to attract capital and expand access to global opportunities.
PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan said: “PIF’s strategy continues to deliver results as we grow domestically and internationally. In less than a decade, we have launched unprecedented projects, including giga-projects and major real-estate developments, in addition to unique investments in strategic sectors such as artificial intelligence, gaming and esports, and renewable energy.
“PIF also grew assets under management six-fold and attracted global partners and capital to take part in Saudi Arabia’s transformation.
“PIF will continue to support Saudi Vision 2030 objectives by delivering competitive domestic ecosystems, investing in national champions that have the potential to scale globally, and forming global economic partnerships, building on what has been achieved under PIF’s 2021-2025 strategy.
“The 2026-2030 strategy is a natural next step in PIF’s growth journey. It offers our partners more opportunities to invest in high-quality assets and ecosystems, alongside PIF.
“In the next five years, we will continue to build on our great achievements and strengthen our global leadership to deliver success for PIF and Saudi Arabia.”
The strategy builds on PIF’s strong performance, including growth in assets under management from US$150 billion in 2015 to over US$900 billion, and an annualised total shareholder return of more than 7% since 2017.
Between 2021 and 2025, the fund invested over US$199 billion in domestic projects, contributed US$243 billion to non-oil GDP, and spent US$157 billion with the local private sector alongside its portfolio companies. ✈
