Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9)

[M175-01] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:00:04 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

I usually start when the music stops, because I'm certainly not a rapper.

[M175-02] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:00:15 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

It gives me a great deal of pleasure to be here once again. I want to, as always, welcome again our guests. I deter myself sometimes of calling you guest because you are members of this endeavor.

[M175-03] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:00:36 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

FII is no longer a Saudi thing. It's a global thing. It's where people find the time and space to juggle ideas to talk about what they need to do and to give themselves the self-assurance that they will always have partners if they have good ideas.

[M175-04] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:01:03 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

We in Saudi Arabia, I think this survey that just the result of it was revealed a minute ago on whether the world is moving to the right direction.

[M175-05] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:01:22 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

I was hoping that somebody do the same survey with all the Saudi citizen and ask the Saudi citizen are we going through the right direction.

[M175-06] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:01:36 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

It's difficult for me to have a guess but I as a Saudi citizen I would believe that probably 90% of the Saudis would say we are, not only we are but indeed we will continue and I'll give you a glimpse of what we're at least from our sector we're preparing ourself to do, doing, continue to do and shall be doing in the future because at the end of the day every year we have a challenge, and every year we need to meet that challenge and we have to be prepared in this sector way before that challenge arriving, because if you don't do it, you don't have the time to catch up.

[M175-07] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:02:42 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

Again, we are trying, in our energy sector, to prove the point that we have to be competitively energizing the new economy. The global economy that entertain new phase of growth and diversification.

[M175-08] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:03:06 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

its growth pillars are both manufacturing and rapid, -I got so excited I didn't click. So bear with me. I have three different technologies to play with: a screen, and an iPad and a clicker and a train of thoughts that I need to maintain.

[M175-09] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:03:35 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

So, its growth pillars are both manufacturing and rapid expanding knowledge, services and technology sectors, energy product services, sector dependence on reliable, sustainable energy. This is what is the real thing. If we don't have a sustainable, reliable and dependable energy sector, we're finished as an economy.

[M175-10] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:04:03 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

I need to power the expansion competitively. Multiple critical themes are driving global new economy. (4:15) I don't need to be reminding you of it, but you could see it in front of you.

[M175-11] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:04:22 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

It's all about AI, data center, advanced manufacturing, critical mineral, lifestyle and entertainment, and the list will continue growing. The new economy is transforming how the world works and lives and it runs on a lot of energy. We have to be very mindful of that.

[M175-12] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:04:50 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

And this is a glimpse of the things that we should be preparing ourselves for. (4:56) And this is only for 2030. (5:00) And people need to take into account what will come in 2035 and 40 and what have you.

[M175-13] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:05:11 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

With the growth of the new economy, competitive, reliable, sustainable energy is required, because the consumption of growth of energy will be 30 to 50 percent by 2025. And the competitive cost efficiency driving the growth will be quite expensive. And the sustainability of lowering emission to enable global progress (5:44) and protect our climate is a continuous endeavor.

[M175-14] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:05:49 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

We in Saudi Arabia believe wholeheartedly that we have a job to do. It's not finished and we will continue to do it. And I'm glad that I see my friend Sultan Jaber is here, because I believe that the two countries, Saudi Arabia and UAE, have shown their cards and their commitments to deliver on how to prove that yet you could be one of the biggest or one of the biggest hydrocarbon producers, and yet you maintain sustainability as an objective and you demonstrate how we are trying to attend to that.

[M175-15] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:06:51 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

This is what we are trying to achieve given what we have. We are going to do conventional and renewable power when it comes to generation. We have the natural gas, We have the alternative energy, and we have a carbon market that is evolving and developing and we will continue working hard to achieve what we need, the scale and the ambition to allow us to get there.

[M175-16] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:07:30 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

This is the system. This is how we operate. This is what people ask us a lot. How come you are achieving these record numbers? What is the system that delivers? Very simple.

[M175-17] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:07:50 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

In the generation, we go for conventional, pure competitiveness. And we have clustered so many companies because they see us committed to that.

[M175-18] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:08:05 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

On renewable, yes. We favor our national renewable company, which is Aqua, but Aqua doesn't function at all. It always partner with Aramco and PIF, and we ensure that we have continuous flow of tenders and we take the results of the tenders through a price mechanism, price discovery mechanism to ensure that we exhaust the pressure that we need to do in Aqua to make sure that Aqua continues to be competitive.

[M175-19] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:08:51 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

And Mohammed is here. He can tell you that actually we helped Aqua to be competitive globally by exerting that pressure. Now, when it comes to who does the buying and who does the selling, we have one single entity, which we call the principal buyer.

[M175-20] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:09:15 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

The principal buyer buys all the fuels from Aramco and the principal buyer sells all the electricity and the principal buyer does all the tendering for conventional and non-conventional and the principal buyer sells to the distributor and the distributor will work out with the transmission company, which is owned both by SAC in an arm's length relationship. And also the principal buyer will deal with the transmission company in terms of making sure that the scheduling of demand and what have you are there to ensure that the transmission company is prepared to handle those as they come subject to seasonality.

[M175-21] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:10:16 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

This is what we have been achieving. Just yesterday, we've announced Najran as the second lowest solar project in planet Earth, led only by another one, which is Al-Shuaiba, which is residing in Saudi Arabia. And look at the time. Al-Shuaiba is on 24. It's 1.04. And Najran is 1.09. It's KIPCO, Almotahida, and Nesma. But look at what we do vis-à-vis the others.

[M175-22] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:11:05 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

Luckily, I'm putting this presentation before the deputy president of China arriving. Look at wind. And by the way, whoever wants to challenge the numbers, we're ready to sit with them, and if we have a deviation, let's say we're wrong by 5%. We're way ahead of them. Not done yet.

[M175-23] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:11:34 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

I'm not done yet. I'm not done yet. I'm not done.

[M175-24] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:11:38 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

Look at our thermal generation. Self-explanatory. I have to unfortunately give it to a friend from China when it comes to transmission and distribution simply because of the huge scale. You know, in two months, China will expand and attend to probably the entire grid of Saudi Arabia. So the scalability of this project enabled China to have a lower cost, and that's why otherwise we would be there.

[M175-25] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:12:13 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

Batteries, We started it two years ago. Look at how we are compared to China, the very company that we buy the batteries from. But I will tell our friend from China, next year we're coming. Expanding the power sector and modernizing it. This is another thing that people need to understand. Look at where we were in 2020. Look at where we are in 2025. Lots of people were making a joke about our ambition. This is where we are.

[M175-26] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:13:01 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

It's already contracted. If anybody would like to come and see the contracts, please go and visit the principal buyer. Look at the third-mid generation. The number here is telling on so many of these things whether to be retired, and they are now fixed and moved, and look at the new generation capacity. If you talk to our friend, where is Chris? Chris is here.

[M175-27] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:13:31 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

In 23, preparing for the Cup, we had the Middle East Cup preparation for the Cup. He visited with me and he said, we're having a problem in Siemens. I said, I have the solution, and he said, what solution? I said, we're buying all of your dual gas turbine from here until 28. We did that, Chris, didn't we? Thank you, and we did that with GE too.

[M175-28] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:14:16 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

If you go to the market right now, you would not find anybody who can sell you even a spare part of that generating units, and you have to queue up for 29 and a half afterwards. (14:33) We blocked it. We knew we had the decision to move and we bought it, and if we delayed that thing one year, none of this that you would see would be there.

[M175-29] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:14:50 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

Look at the automation. We, collectively, as a grid, put the ambition as 45% automation, which is the maximum, by the way, in the industry, that we could achieve it in 2023. I can make an announcement with the greatest comfort that by end of 26, we will achieve that number.

[M175-30] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:15:21 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

Batteries and storage, Eight has been connected, 22 under development. Our ambition is 42. It will be delivered by somewhere around 27, 28. I no longer read from the paper. I got excited, so here you go.

[M175-31] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:15:44 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

Gas, show me anywhere in planet Earth that can provide gas to the gate of the user, and this price is uniformly all over. I know Amir will be crying his head off. That's okay. But show me any country on planet Earth that can deliver in masses that price to the gate of the user. I assume you will not find one, unless if somebody who is lucky enough who has his production capacity as a manufacturer somewhere near a facility which produces gas, and they are stuck with it, so they just buy it and sell it at any price.

[M175-32] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:16:33 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

How we are doing it? We're doing it also with making sure that gas can be an enabler for creating our clean hydrogen, and we emphasize clean, not blue, but clean; because we are hooking it up with the carbon sequestration project that Aramco is doing.

[M175-33] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:17:00 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

These are the variety of things that we are doing for the future. Clean hydrogen, as I said, from renewable, using the benefit and the privilege of having a cheap renewable energy. We'll be using gas, and again with the carbon sequestration.

[M175-34] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:17:26 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

We're working a lot on synthetic fuel and unlocking value in domestic resources, producing alternative fuels. But these are for the future. Nuclear is something that we're working on, but we know it will take us years to get there, including SMRs.

[M175-35] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:17:49 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

My beauty shop, Carbon Market. We have been active. I should have brought her here. She's a lady from Saudi Arabia. She is the very person that knocked the hammer in Baku, agreeing on all the disciplinary work when it comes to Carbon Market. But we are not just talking about Carbon Market.

[M175-36] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:18:16 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

We have already kicked in a voluntary carbon credit market mechanism. We have already kicked in certificates for renewable and claims. And we have already, in the process of putting together these compliance instruments, and we're putting together a system of data transparency as the backbone of everything, hosted by one body.

[M175-37] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:18:46 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

It's called the Designated National Authority, and it encompasses 26 different agencies, including the WHO and the private sector, Aramco, SABIC, ACWA, and everybody else, just to make sure that all data are incubated in one place, to be looked by anybody and everybody. And really, we have a great deal of sensitivity with the issue of greenwashing. So, when it comes to Saudi Arabia, people would think, the Saudis are always, you know, they're prepared to do the greenwashing thing.

[M175-38] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:19:25 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

No, Saudi Arabia is prepared to show the world how to have a Carbon Market total system with the greatest deal of authentic details in the most transparent system there is, to be a model guiding others to follow, if they can follow it, because they don't have the ability to congregate all of the above in one place, in one incubator, in one centralized unit that you can see the whole 360 all together.

[M175-39] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:20:06 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

What we intend to do with that is to help the investors, because there will be environmental integrity as a priority, increase profitability through credit sharing, and we have already seen that benefit, and those who are participating in our renewable program, they know it, and a stable, long-term regulatory environment, just to ensure that people know what they are committed to.

[M175-40] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:20:40 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

The grand finale. We understand what tomorrow's demand will be. We are resourced as they have an efficient and reliable and committed supplier, and simply, we're asking everybody here and elsewhere listening to us.

[M175-41] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:21:03 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

I'm going to borrow an advertisement, and I will say, we've got the power. We've got the power you need. It's the most efficient, reliable, sustainable power would be in planet Earth. I'm accountable for that.

[M175-42] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:21:32 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

Not only I am accountable, on behalf of thousands and thousands of Saudi men and women who are putting their sweat, blood into this, we will achieve it, but we are saying, believe us now, and we will welcome you, and we are inviting you, actually, and we're inviting the rest of the world to invest with us.

[M175-43] · سمو وزير الطاقة (HRH the Minister of Energy) · التوقيت 00:21:58 · Competitively Energizing the New Economy The Future Investment Initiative (FII9) · 2025-10-28 · مشاهدة عند هذا التوقيت

Thank you.