The Russian direct investment fund (RDIF) announced Tuesday the opening of an office in Saudi Arabia to be the first Russian office abroad, ahead of an expected visit by President Vladimir Putin to Riyadh. The RDIF said that by opening the office in Saudi Arabia, it hoped to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in the economic field and other ones.
It's mentioned that RDIF was established in 2011 witha capital of $10bn by the Russian government.
"The Fund is the first Russian investment institutionto open an office in Saudi Arabia," the RDIF's CEO, Kirill Dmitriev,said in a statement.
Dmitriev added that opening the office in Saudi Arabia "willenable a breakthrough in broad areas of bilateral cooperation".
The RDIF, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF),and the wealth fund of Saudi Arabia have set up a joint fund to invest in anumber of projects.
The two parties have approved more than 25 joint ventureswith a total investment of more than $2.5bn in sectors including artificialintelligence, medicine, and infrastructure.
The Russian fund and oil giant Saudi Aramco are consideringprojects in the oil services sector worth more than $1bn, according to the RDIF.
Relations between Moscow and Riyadh have been closer inrecent years, with the two oil-producing countries leading an agreement toprevent a collapse in oil prices, decline of which has harmed their economies.
Putin's visit to Saudi Arabia could lead to the signing ofsome 30 agreements, some in energy, according to the Russian Energy Minister,Alexander Novak.
