Gulf states use new oil riches to gain regional influence

Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in CNN’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, last week announced that the nation’s wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, is establishing five regional companies worth $24 billion across the Middle East. In a statement, PIF said that it was pursuing a “strategy of seeking new investment opportunities in the MENA region.” The investments are also meant to “diversify Saudi Arabia’s sources of revenue,” it added. In August, Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company, one of the emirate’s wealth funds, announced a number of investments in publicly listed companies in Egypt, “building on its long-term commitment to investing in the country’s economic growth through its $20 billion joint strategic investment platform,” it said in a statement. Last year, the UAE established a $10 billion dollar investment fund to “support the Turkish economy and boost the bilateral cooperation between the two countries.” A number of other agreements between the UAE’s ADQ and the Turkey Wealth Fund also followed, with major investments planned in venture capital and companies with high-growth potential in Turkey.