RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has created half a million jobs through its 54 companies operating in 10 different sectors, according to its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan. 

While speaking at the FII Priority Summit in New York on Sept. 22, Al-Rumayyan, who is also the chairman of the Future Investment Initiative, said the ultimate aim of PIF is to generate even more employment opportunities.

“We want to create 1.8 million jobs, and these are quality jobs. It is not only the figures we are looking at, but the quality of these figures, the quality of these jobs,” said Al-Rumayyan.  

He added that PIF is playing a major role in stimulating the Saudi economy.

Al-Rumayyan further noted the PIF has a dedicated initiative to ensure that targets outlined every five years are being fulfilled, and it will also outline goals for the upcoming half-decade cycle.

“We assure every five years; the first time in 2017 and the second time in 2021, and it is something called the Vision Realization Program,” said Al-Rumayyan, adding: “It is a public document that we have on our website, and in this document, we put our focus on what exactly we want to do in the coming five years.” 

“We have achieved the first targets for the first Vision Realization Program,” he said.

The PIF governor noted that the Saudi wealth fund has six pools of investments; four pools that invest domestically and two pools that invest internationally. 

He pointed out that PIF has promising Giga projects, along with strategic investments and a balanced portfolio. 

According to Al-Rumayyan, global warming is not the only concern that should be addressed, as importance should be given to the worldwide ecosystem. 

“You cannot say that the fossil fuel industry is evil and bad for the world because without it the world would stop moving. The agriculture sector emits a lot of carbon dioxide, does that mean agriculture is an evil thing? Of course not. We should find the right solutions to mitigate these risks,” said Al-Rumayyan. 

He revealed that Saudi Aramco — of which he is also chairman — is one of the least emitting oil and gas producers in the world. 

“We emit 10.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide per barrel, while the average of the industry is 25 kilograms,” he added.