Saudi Arabia Business Setup: July 2026's Biggest Investment & Expansion News
This month tracks the money and partnerships reshaping business setup in Saudi Arabia — a $2 billion PIF infrastructure tie-up, 15 new Saudi-Canada agreements, Deutsche Bank's regional-HQ licence, a major AI-infrastructure deal, and fresh housing and sovereign-fund numbers. Here's what each one means if you're setting up or scaling in the Kingdom.
Photo: Arab News
Investment
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$2bn committed to digital infrastructure & district cooling |
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has secured up to $2 billion from global investor I Squared Capital for its real estate and infrastructure portfolio. Under the agreement signed in Riyadh, I Squared will target up to $1 billion each for digital infrastructure and district cooling — both seen as critical enablers of the Kingdom's fast-growing real estate sector, with room to scale into related areas.
I Squared, which manages about $60 billion across power, transport, logistics and digital infrastructure, called the deal a move “from partnership to action.” PIF said the MoU will speed up delivery across its portfolio companies and draw in more third-party capital. The agreement is non-binding, so any resulting transactions still need further assessment and regulatory approval.
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The TASC Take PIF is increasingly co-investing with global funds rather than going it alone. For contractors, data-centre builders and cooling specialists, that means a large, well-funded pipeline is opening up — the firms with the right expertise should be positioning now. |
Source: Arab News
Photo by Lara Jameson on Pexels
Partnership
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15 MoUs and cooperation agreements signed |
The Saudi Arabia–Canada Investment Forum opened in Jeddah on 9 July, bringing a high-level Canadian delegation together with Saudi officials, investors and business leaders. The two sides signed 15 memorandums of understanding and cooperation agreements aimed at deepening bilateral investment.
Discussions focused on financial services, mining, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and data centres. Officials highlighted the Kingdom's investor incentives, its location linking the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa, and its mineral wealth — estimated at $2.5 trillion across more than 50 minerals. The forum coincided with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit and a separate AI-infrastructure tie-up between Saudi Arabia's Humain and Canada's Cohere.
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The TASC Take Forums like this are where market entry begins. For foreign firms weighing a Saudi presence, 15 signed agreements across mining, manufacturing and AI point to concrete near-term opportunities — and to the sectors where local partners and talent will be in demand. |
Source: Arab News
Photo by Steven Jeffery on Pexels
New HQ
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700+ multinationals now with a Saudi regional HQ |
Deutsche Bank has been granted a Regional Headquarters (RHQ) licence by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Investment (MISA), deepening its long-standing presence in the Kingdom and the wider region. The licence, announced on 8 July, places Deutsche Bank among the multinationals anchoring their regional management in Riyadh.
The RHQ programme — a Vision 2030 initiative run by MISA and the Royal Commission for Riyadh City — has now attracted more than 700 international companies, well past its original target of 500 by 2030. RHQ holders receive a 30-year package of incentives, including 0% corporate income tax and 0% withholding tax on qualifying activities, alongside preferential access to government contracts.
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The TASC Take The RHQ rule ties major government contracts to basing your regional operations in the Kingdom — so an RHQ is fast becoming a cost of doing serious business here. Firms that move early lock in the tax breaks and contract eligibility; late movers risk being shut out of public tenders. |
Source: Deutsche Bank
Photo: Arab News
Technology
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50 MW of dedicated AI compute in the first phase |
Saudi AI company Humain and Canada's Cohere have announced a partnership to build one of the region's largest dedicated AI infrastructure deployments and to develop enterprise and “sovereign” AI models. Announced on 9 July during the Canadian prime minister's visit, the deployment is expected to go live by the fourth quarter of 2027.
Humain — backed by PIF and operating across the AI value chain — will allocate at least 50 megawatts of dedicated computing capacity to Cohere's next-generation models, scaling over five years. The two will also build Arabic-language and domain-specific models. Cohere chose Humain for its first major AI compute deployment outside North America, a vote of confidence in the Kingdom's infrastructure ambitions.
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The TASC Take AI infrastructure is becoming a magnet for foreign technology firms setting up in the Kingdom. A data-centre build-out on this scale means demand for engineers, construction and power/cooling specialists — and a reason for enterprise-software companies to plant a flag in Saudi Arabia now. |
Source: Arab News
Photo: Arab News
Real Estate
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13,000 investment opportunities offered in H1 2026 |
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Municipalities and Housing offered more than 13,000 investment opportunities to the private sector through its “Fursah” portal in the first half of 2026. Contracts signed through the portal topped SR4.6 billion ($1.22 billion).
The opportunities span the development and operation of municipal assets and services across cities and governorates — covering agriculture, industry, commerce, education, healthcare, tourism, real estate, transport and more. The ministry says the portal standardises tendering, improves transparency and widens investor access, supporting Vision 2030's urban goals. Separately, the Real Estate Development Fund launched an “Alternative Financing” programme with Saudi National Bank and the National Housing Co. to expand mortgage lending for first-time buyers.
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The TASC Take This is a rare, transparent front door into municipal projects across the Kingdom — useful for developers, operators and service companies that want public-sector work without negotiating city by city. The scale shows how much delivery the private sector is expected to provide. |
Source: Arab News
Photo: Arab News
Investment
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$1.21tn total PIF assets at end-2025 (up 5%) |
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund grew its total assets to SR4.54 trillion ($1.21 trillion) by the end of 2025, up about 5% year on year, according to a disclosure to the London Stock Exchange. Gross revenue rose 9% to SR449.93 billion, and net profit more than doubled to SR65.1 billion from SR25.8 billion.
The fund kept more than SR350 billion in cash, giving it firepower for new investments. 2025 highlights included launching AI company Humain, signing asset-management MoUs with Goldman Sachs and Franklin Templeton, setting up Expo 2030 Riyadh Co., and pricing an oversubscribed €1.65 billion green bond.
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The TASC Take PIF is the engine behind most of the Kingdom's giga-projects and new industries, so a stronger balance sheet means a bigger, better-funded pipeline. For anyone selling into or partnering on Saudi projects, PIF's health is a leading indicator of where the work will be. |
Source: Arab News
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