What Is Shareek?

Shareek (meaning “partner” in Arabic) is Saudi Arabia’s national programme to mobilise private sector investment in support of Vision 2030. Announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in March 2021, Shareek commits the Kingdom’s largest listed companies to invest a combined SAR 5 trillion (approximately USD 1.33 trillion) in the Saudi economy through 2030. The programme represents a social compact between the government and the private sector, aligning corporate capital allocation with national transformation objectives.

Programme Structure

Shareek is built on commitments from major Saudi companies to increase their domestic capital expenditure, expand operations within the Kingdom, create jobs for Saudi nationals, and support economic diversification. Participating companies have each set specific investment targets over the programme period.

Key participating companies include:

• Saudi Aramco — The largest single contributor, with commitments to increase in-Kingdom capital spending and expand the IKTVA local content programme
• SABIC — Downstream expansion and innovation investment
• STC (Saudi Telecom Company) — Digital infrastructure and technology investment
• Saudi National Bank — Lending expansion and financial sector development
• Ma’aden — Mining development and mineral processing
• ACWA Power — Renewable energy and water infrastructure
• Almarai — Food production and agricultural investment

Additional companies have joined over time as the programme has expanded.

Objectives

Shareek targets several strategic outcomes:

Investment Volume. The SAR 5 trillion aggregate commitment represents a substantial increase over historical private sector capital expenditure levels and is designed to complement government and PIF-driven investment.

Job Creation. Shareek-committed companies are expected to generate hundreds of thousands of new jobs, with emphasis on Saudi national employment.

GDP Diversification. By directing private investment into priority sectors (technology, manufacturing, tourism, logistics), Shareek accelerates the economic diversification that Vision 2030 requires.

Supply Chain Development. Increased domestic capital spending by anchor companies creates opportunities for SMEs and foreign firms in their supply chains.

Monitoring and Accountability

Shareek commitments are tracked and monitored by government authorities. Companies report periodically on progress against their investment, employment, and localisation targets. While participation is framed as voluntary partnership rather than regulatory mandate, the close relationship between these companies and the Saudi state creates strong incentive alignment.

Relationship to PIF

Shareek complements PIF’s direct investment strategy. While PIF creates new companies and sectors (NEOM, Red Sea Global, Qiddiya), Shareek leverages existing private sector companies to scale up investment within their established domains. The combined effect of PIF’s direct investment (approximately SAR 150 billion per year) and Shareek’s private sector mobilisation creates a total investment programme of extraordinary scale.

Impact on Foreign Investors

For international investors and companies, Shareek creates several implications:

Supply Chain Opportunities. As Shareek companies increase domestic spending, their supply chains expand, creating procurement opportunities for foreign suppliers, contractors, and technology providers.

Joint Venture Potential. Shareek companies seeking to enter new sectors or adopt new technologies may pursue partnerships with international firms.

Equity Investment. Shareek participants are publicly listed on the Tadawul, allowing foreign investors to gain exposure to companies with committed domestic growth plans.

Challenges

The programme’s success depends on oil revenues remaining sufficient to support both government spending and the profitability of participating companies. Global economic conditions can affect individual company capacity to meet investment commitments. Coordinating investment across multiple companies to avoid sector overcapacity requires careful planning.

Shareek is the private sector dimension of Vision 2030’s investment strategy — a recognition that government and sovereign wealth fund investment alone cannot achieve the scale of economic transformation the Kingdom envisions. By formalising corporate investment commitments, Saudi Arabia has created an accountability mechanism that aligns private capital with public purpose.

See our Shareek Programme Analysis and FDI Saudi Arabia 2025.