UPDATE 1-Saudi Arabia appoints new investment minister in diversification plan pivot

The new blueprint will emphasise sectors ⁠including tourism, minerals and artificial intelligence, while scaling back and ⁠in some ​cases reconfiguring expensive mega projects, sources have said. Al Saif was previously head of ⁠the PIF's investment strategy and economic insights division.

Saudi Arabia ‌appointed Fahd bin ​Abduljalil bin Ali al Saif as the new ‌investment minister, it said on Thursday, replacing Khalid Al-Falih who oversaw the kingdom's opening to foreign investment ‌amid massive economic diversification plans.

The change comes with ‌Riyadh's $925 billion wealth fund PIF due to unveil a new five-year strategy, Reuters reported this week citing sources - ⁠the ​biggest ⁠reset yet of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's "Vision 2030" transformation ⁠plan to reduce the Gulf country's dependence on oil ​revenues. The new blueprint will emphasise sectors ⁠including tourism, minerals and artificial intelligence, while scaling back and ⁠in some ​cases reconfiguring expensive mega projects, sources have said.

Al Saif was previously head of ⁠the PIF's investment strategy and economic insights division. The PIF ⁠was ⁠not immediately available for comment.