PIF launches new company to run Expo 2030

Saudi Arabia’s $925 billion sovereign wealth fund PIF has launched a new unit that will be responsible for building and operating the facilities for the Expo 2030 world fair.

The company will be called Expo 2030 Riyadh Company, PIF said in a statement to Reuters.

The masterplan for the project covers an area of six million square meters to the north of the city, close to the future King Salman International Airport.

Expo 2030 is set to take place the same year Saudi Arabia’s de-facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s economic diversification plan culminates.

Under the programme, dubbed Vision 2030, the country is pouring billions into various sectors including tourism to wean its economy off oil revenues.

Expo 2030 represents another large-scale building project that the kingdom has committed to on a strict deadline, even as its economy has been hamstrung by lower oil prices.

The kingdom faces a widening budget deficit with the International Monetary Fund saying Riyadh needs the oil price to be over $90 per barrel to balance its books.

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Oil prices have jumped to the mid-seventies as investors weighed the chance of supply disruptions from the Iran-Israel conflict.

Saudi Arabia is committed to hosting several other large international events in succession, each of which require significant spending on construction and development, including the 2029 Asian Winter Games and the 2034 World Cup.

Expo 2030 Riyadh is projected to attract more than 40 million visits and, once operational, is expected to contribute around $5.6 billion to Saudi Arabia’s GDP, PIF said.