Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has deployed $85 billion across Europe since 2017 and plans to increase this to $170 billion by 2030, despite concerns about the region’s regulatory environment, the fund’s governor said at a summit in Albania.
Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Priority Summit in Tirana on Saturday, PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan outlined both the fund’s substantial European investments and his concerns about regulatory predictability, according to reports from Saudi media.
Saudi fund eyes europe
The Saudi sovereign wealth fund has created approximately 254,000 direct and indirect jobs through its European activities, with its investments having a $52 billion impact on EU GDP that is expected to reach $105 billion by 2030, Al-Rumayyan said.
Despite this commitment to Europe, Al-Rumayyan expressed strong concerns about the EU’s upcoming sustainability regulations, calling them “outrageous” for global investors, according to the Saudi Gazette. The rules, which include more than 1,000 compliance metrics and are set to take effect in 2028 after a two-year delay, could potentially lead to disinvestment from the region, he warned.
“The regulation is saying if you’re not compliant, you will be penalised not only for your operation in Europe, but you will be penalised on the parent company — 5 per cent of your top line,” the Saudi Gazette quoted him as saying.
Al-Rumayyan cited PIF’s investment in Credit Suisse as a cautionary example, claiming that regulatory changes in Switzerland had effectively eliminated the fund’s position.
“We owned about 5 per cent of Credit Suisse. Overnight, the Swiss regulator changed the law — 150 years of rule of law was changed overnight. And they wiped out all investors,” he said. “This is a big red flag.”
Commenting on the host country, Al-Rumayyan described Albania as “one of the fast-growing economies in Europe — dynamic and business-friendly, and an example of openness and reform,” according to quotes shared by PIF on social media.
“We want to continue investing here. But we need clarity. We need consistency,” he added, calling the lack of regulatory predictability the “biggest single inhibitor” to both public and private sector financing in Europe.
The FII Priority Summit in Tirana focused on investment opportunities in a connected Europe, with executives discussing the Saudi fund’s impact on the continent and globally.