Saudi Arabia Courts Latin America and the Caribbean

Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali, center, attends the Saudi-CARICOM Roundtable Meeting in Riyadh on Nov. 16, 2023. Photo courtesy of PMO Barbados via Flickr.

This year, Saudi Arabia’s national oil company made its first downstream retail investment in South America. Aramco acquired Chilean fuel distributor Esmax and opened its first gas station in Chile, with 300 more planned over the next two years. Last June, the Saudi Fund for Development signed loan agreements worth $150 million for bridge and housing construction in Guyana. A member of the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank, Guyana has received $235.6 million in financing since 2016. “This is the time for Guyana and CARICOM to find non-traditional partners in pursuit of its development goals,” President Ali said after the Riyadh summit. 

With another Saudi Arabia-CARICOM summit planned for 2026, it appears the kingdom will maintain its interest in Latin America and the Caribbean. “With the evolution of the Global South coupled with shared values between Brazil and Saudi Arabia, aligned strategic interests and strong private sectors… why couldn’t we become a top-five investor in each other’s economy?” Investment Minister Al-Falih said at last July’s Brazil-Saudi Arabia Investment Forum in São Paulo.

The approach shows that Saudi Arabia is “thinking regionally,” Castro told AQ. “They don’t just want Brazil, they want all of Latin America close to them… It’s part of their grand plan to later become a leader in the Global South, along with Brazil, India, and other countries that also occupy this position.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Reading Time: 5 minutesSweigart is an editor at Americas Quarterly and a policy manager at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas

Tags: Brazil, Caribbean, FDI, investment, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Saudi Arabia, trade

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Publish date : 2024-06-06 07:41:26

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