RIYADH: SoftBank Group Corp. Chairman Masayoshi Son promised Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz al-Saud Salman that the telecom conglomerate will help Saudi Arabia prosper through investment. Speaking to reporters after their meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday, Son quoted the king as telling him he was greatly looking forward to the investment move. With input from several backers, including a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, SoftBank Group is set to launch an investment fund that could reach up to ¥10 trillion ($87.1 billion). Son said he gave the 81-year-old king the company’s humanoid robot Pepper.
The talks came a day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the king announced a plan to create special economic zones in Saudi Arabia to promote investment by Japanese companies. Through the investment fund, SoftBank Group envisions investing in companies with cutting-edge, internet-related technologies. The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia is considering contributing as much as $45 billion to the fund over a five-year period.
