| Submit your comments on this article |
| Arabia |
| Investments by Saudis Abroad Estimated at $ 1Trillion |
| 2004-11-10 |
| Saudi Arabia has one of the largest liquidity in the world despite the flight of some $ 1trillion to foreign countries, according to Abdul Rahman Al-Jeraisy, chairman of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry. "Saudi investments abroad are estimated at between $ 800billion and $ 1trillion and most of these funds are concentrated in the United States and Europe," Al-Eqtisadiah business daily quoted him as saying. Jeraisy, who is chairman of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, called upon government departments to soften restrictions on foreign investment. "If we had allowed foreigners to own real estate and buy shares the volume of investments would have increased 10 times," he explained. "Many Saudis have invested in stocks and real estates as they are the easiest markets," he said. "The decision taken by a number of Saudi businessmen to invest their money in the Kingdom has made Saudi Arabia one of the countries with highest liquidity," he said. Businessman Abdul Mohsen Al-Hokair, chairman of Al-Hokair Group, said in a recent press statement that more than 2,500 Saudi companies had chosen to establish investment projects in Dubai rather than Saudi Arabia during the past three years. He blamed bureaucracy, complex regulations and slow decision-making process for the massive exodus of capital. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #5 Folks, our blue chip corporations are flush with Saudi money. It would be pretty hard to shut down the Saudis here without also shutting down much of corporate America. Take the former Citibank, now Citigroup, the largest American bank with over $1 trillion in assets today. In 1991, just after the S&L debacle and the latin debt collapse, Citibank was reeling and came within an inch of being shut down by the Federal Reserve. To the rescue came one of the savviest of the Saudis, Prince Al Waleed, who bought a 25% stake in the bank when the stock was around $8 or so. Over the next six years, the stock soared to well above $100, giving Al Waleed a return of more than ten times his investment. Without Al Waleed's capital infusion in 1991, Citibank would have gone under. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-11-10 2:55:11 PM |
| #4 A little background on one of my former employers... During WWII the U.S. Government took control of a German-owned manufacturing company's plants in the U.S. and used them for war production. At the end of the war, the American part of the company was forced to go public as an American-based company. The former owners who were loyal U.S. citizens were compensated with stock to the extent of their pre-war ownership. The U.S. Government received the balance from the stock sale. German owners lost out. If push comes to shove and AQ manages to overthrow the royals, there's $ 1Trillion available for our taking from day one. |
| Posted by: Tom 2004-11-10 2:53:59 PM |
| #3 Great idea... confiscate the trillion plus the oilfields... for starters :-) |
| Posted by: True German Ally 2004-11-10 1:47:48 PM |
#2 #1 anon2:any more info on this?Yeah - like can we confiscate it as payback for 9/11? Or just on general principles? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-11-10 12:33:45 PM |
| #1 any more info on this? |
| Posted by: anon2 2004-11-10 9:12:28 AM |