Aim to take investments to $1 trillion in next phase, says Saudi Crown Prince

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said at the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh that joint investments between Saudi Arabia and the US are one of the key pillars of both countries’ economic relationship and the two nations aim to raise the total to $1 trillion within the coming months.

In his speech at the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh, attended by President Donald Trump, the Crown Prince added that the economic ties between Saudi Arabia and the US are reflected in the growth of trade exchange between the two countries.

Mohammed bin Salman noted that the two countries share a deep economic relationship dating back 92 years ago, and added, “We are working on partnership opportunities worth $600 billion, including over $300 billion in agreements announced during the forum. In the coming months, we will move forward with the second phase to finalize the remaining agreements, aiming to raise the total to $1 trillion.”

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The Saudi leader said that the US remains the “main destination” of the kingdom’s investment fund.

“We are here today to deepen this strategic partnership at its different levels with an economy that is built on hydrocarbons but also diversifying the economy and building a knowledge-based economy,” he said.
“This partnership has always been one of our main pillars, and Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest and most strategic partners of the United States and is also an important member of the G20.”

Iran will never have a nuclear weapon: Trump

Speaking at the forum, Trump said he wants to make a deal with Iran, with which his administration is engaged in nuclear negotiations.
However, he soon issued a threat, saying that if the Iranian leadership rejects this olive branch and continues to attack its neighbours, then the US will respond by “massive maximum pressure” and drive Iranian oil exports “to zero”.
“Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” he tells the crowd. “The choice is theirs to make,” he added.

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Trump even called Iran an agent of “chaos” that has brought “unthinkable suffering in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, Yemen, and beyond”.
“But I am here today not merely to condemn the past choices of Iran’s leaders, but to offer them a new and a better path toward a much more hopeful future,” he said.

‘Hope Saudi Arabia normalises ties with Israel’

President Trump added that he hopes Saudi Arabia will join the Abraham Accords negotiated between Israel and some Arab countries during his first term.
“It’s my fervent hope, wish and even my dream that Saudi Arabia … will soon be joining the Abraham Accords,” Trump said at the forum.
Palestinian officials have slammed the normalisation as “another treacherous stab to the Palestinian cause”.

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The US president began his speech by saying it’s a tremendous honour to be in Saudi Arabia, praising the kingdom as “a great place” and its population as “great people”.
Trump went on to call MBS “an incredible man”.
“There is no one like him,” he said.

Meanwhile, the White House released additional details on some of the US-Saudi agreements signed by Trump and Prince Mohammed, describing them as “historic and transformative”.