Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman looks on during a meeting with US President Donald Trump (not pictured) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on Nov. 18, 2025. — BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Saudi Arabia has appointed Fahd bin Abduljalil bin Ali Al-Saif as investment minister, replacing Khalid Al-Falih, as the kingdom grapples with mounting challenges in attracting foreign investment needed to meet its ambitious Vision 2030 reforms.
What happened: A royal decree issued Thursday relieved Falih of his role and named him minister of state. No reason was given for the change.
Saif is a seasoned investment executive, having previously held senior roles at Saudi Arabia’s $925 billion sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, serving as head of the investment strategy and economic insights divisionsince 2024.
Saif has also held executive roles at Saudi British Bank and HSBC. He served as head of the Saudi Debt Management Office and as an adviser to the finance minister, where he played a leading role in shaping the government’s debt strategy.
Falih served as CEO of state oil company Saudi Aramco from 2009 to 2015 before entering politics. In 2015, he became minister of health before shifting to minister of energy, industry and mineral resources in 2016. In 2020, Falih became minister of investment.
Why it matters: The reshuffle comes as megaproject activity has slowed and foreign direct investment inflows remain far below the kingdom’s Vision 2030 targets. Launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2016, Vision 2030 aims to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy away from oil. Inbound FDI totaled $31.7 billion in 2024, well short of the government’s goal of attracting $100 billion annually by 2030.
The change in investment minister also coincides with the PIF’s expected unveiling of its 2026-2030 strategy this week, Reuters reported Monday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
The PIF soft-launched its new strategy with key investors and other partners on the sidelines of a Riyadh conference on Monday, the sources said.
Karen Young, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Al-Monitor, "Khalid Al-Falih is an excellent leader; I am sure he will be put to work on the Council of Ministers."
"We may see in the new PIF strategy a focus on how to localize projects and drive investment both locally and from foreigners into supply chains and manufacturing of projects," she added.
The revised roadmap will underscore developing artificial intelligence, industry, minerals and tourism, while scaling back and recalibrating some of the costly real estate megaprojects such as The Line, a futuristic, mirrored city in the northern Saudi Arabian desert, three sources told the newswire.
Multiple reports have documented the scale-back on the megaprojects, which have often relied on expensive imports for their construction. The projects have also been impacted by the Saudi government’s finances being weakened by prolonged low oil prices. Although the kingdom is trying to diversify its economy away from oil, some 60% of the country’s total fiscal income last year came from the sale of crude, according to Bloomberg.
Kristian Ulrichsen, a Middle East fellow at the Baker Institute, noted that the appointment of a new investment minister could be designed to support the shift in PIF strategy. His thesis would make sense given that Saif was formerly head of the investment strategy and economic insights division at PIF.
“There seems to have been a reassessment of priorities and allocation of resources, so it could be that changing the minister is part of this broader process,” Ulrichsen told Al-Monitor.
Know more: On Jan. 24, Saudi Arabia announced that it would be postponing the 2029 Asian Winter Games indefinitely, set to take place in Tojena, a mountain ski resort under construction at the Neom megaproject. On Jan. 25, Financial Times reported that the kingdom was scaling back on Neom, its most ambitious megaproject in the desert in northern Saudi Arabia. It follows years of delays and ballooning costs.
