Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Yazeed Alhumied, head of MENA Investments at the Public Investment Fund (PIF), said that PIF enables the private sector to enter areas that may be difficult for it to launch from scratch.

He cited the automotive industry as an example of this while addressing the PIF and the Private Sector Forum, which started here on Tuesday.

Alhumied said that PIF’s investments in the tourism sector will not cover 20-25 percent of the sector’s size and programs set by the state.

“The PIF’s role as a long-term investor is to bear higher risks, and one of those sectors is the car manufacturing sector, for which all possibilities were developed many years ago, and no one has come forward to invest in it from the private sector. That is why we have invested in Lucid, which is currently building factories in Saudi Arabia, and launched two companies,” he said while emphasizing that the PIF will not work in this sector alone, because it represents a supply chain for car manufacturing that creates great opportunities even for small investors.