The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom discussed boosting economic ties and investment at a high-level roundtable in Riyadh, attended by UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer and Saudi Minister of Investment, H.E. Eng. Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih.
More than 20 leading executives from major Saudi companies joined the meeting – including seven of the 10 largest listed firms in the Kingdom – highlighting the unique opportunities on offer as both economies prioritize growth.
Discussions focused on bilateral opportunities in financial services, clean energy, healthcare, innovation, education, and giga-projects aligning with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 objectives to diversify its economy and strengthen resilient industries.
The meeting identified the following key sectors for furthering investment:
- Financial Services – including cross-border funding and improved capital markets access. Saudi issuers have raised over SAR 268.7 billion in London since 2022, with nearly 53 billion of that for green, social, and sustainable finance.
- Clean Energy – both sides explored opportunities to drive forward their decarbonization efforts, with milestone projects including Al Fanar’s Lighthouse Green Fuels project in the UK, set to be the largest sustainable aviation fuel project of its kind in Europe.
- Healthcare – potential for more joint research and investments as well as the role UK
- firms can play in Saudi’s plans to establish 4,000 new primary health clinics.
- Education – academic exchange is a key area ripe for investments, with 7 international British schools in Riyadh, and three more planned. 14,000 Saudi students also study in the UK.
- Innovation & Giga-projects – the UK and Saudi Arabia are set to deepen their collaboration in technology and innovation through initiatives like the Saudi/UK Tech Hub, established in 2022. Saudi giga-projects such as NEOM – which opened its first international office in the UK last year – offer global investors the chance to be part of cutting-edge innovations.
The roundtable builds on the strong ties between the two Kingdoms, with trade reaching a record SAR 78.9 billion in 2023. Trade ties could be boosted by a planned comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between the UK and the GCC. Saudi investments in the UK up to 2022 totaled more than SAR 40 billion. UK foreign direct investment in Saudi reached SAR 18 billion as of 2023. Additionally, more than 60 UK firms and companies have established their regional headquarters in the Kingdom, with almost 30,000 British professionals living in Saudi Arabia.
