The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (Sagia) and Swicorp have announced a consortium to invest $5.0 billion in petrochemical and energy-intensive projects in the kingdom within five years.

The Swiss-based investment banking firm and nine Gulf firms and have committed $500 million in equity capital for the consortium called Swicorp Joussour, said Nabil Triki, executive partner and head of private equity at Swicorp.
The 10 partners in the group are: Savola Group, Dallah Al Baraka Holding Group, Assir Company, Al Muhaidib and Sons Group, Hayel Saeed Group, Abdullatif Saoud Al Babutain & Bro, Abu Dhabi Holding, Saudi Bin Ladin Group, Gulf Power Company, and Swicorp Capital.
Assir said it had injected $50 million in the consortium.
Triki said the 10 did not participate equally in the consortium's capital and their share in projects will be decided on a case by case basis. "They don't have to contribute a certain percentage of money required for any project," he said.
"$4 billion will be raised through investment and debt and we have pledges from the ten partners to double capital to $1 billion," Triki said.
Foreign and local firms can also join the projects.
The consortium is not expected to rival petrochemical giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic), Triki said. "We are focusing on a different thing...In fact our business will complement that of Sabic," he said.
"We have so far identified 15 projects...The investments should be achieved within five years," he added.
"They all are about midstream and downstream petrochemical and energy sensitive industries," Triki said. "We are still focusing on strategy, identifying projects and securing commitments from investors."
A Sagia official said the consortium wanted to tap rising world demand for petrochemical products especially Asia. Abundant and cheap energy resources will also offer it a competitive edge in prices.