Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative, which hosts the annual “Davos in the Desert” gabfest, begins its first gathering in Latin America today.

Following a buzzy meeting of FII PRIORITY in Miami earlier this year, the kingdom is broadening its sphere of influence with a summit drawing some of South America’s biggest names in business and government to the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro.

This iteration will delve into climate action, the Gulf’s emergence among the BRICS nations and new technology. 

FII, which counts the Public Investment Fund as a founding partner, is bringing together powerbrokers amid a flurry of trade activity between Saudi Arabia and Brazil.

The two countries have discovered common ground on food security, mining and aviation, with Brazil hitting a 10-year high in export activity to the kingdom in 2023. 

The most recent deals include an agreement between Lulu, the Middle East’s biggest supermarket chain, and Brazil’s trade agency to promote Brazilian foodstuffs in the Saudi market, signed last week.

In May, Brazilian mining giant Vale sold a 10% stake of its base metals unit for $2.5 billion to Manara Minerals, a joint venture between Saudi mining firm Ma’aden and the PIF.

That same month, Brazilian aviation company Embraer inked cooperation agreements in the kingdom, with the airplane manufacturer planning to build or assemble its aircraft in Saudi Arabia under the deal.

All of this comes as the kingdom mulls opening an investment office in South America’s biggest economy.

Speakers on the agenda at this FII gathering include Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of the Public Investment Fund and Chairman of the FII Institute; Reema Bint Bandar Al Saud, Saudi Ambassador to the U.S.; Faisal Bin Bandar Al Saud, Chairman of the Saudi Esports Federation; and Mike Pompeo, former U.S. Secretary of State.

Also scheduled to speak are Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, Saudi Minister of Investment; Martin Sorrell, Executive Chairman of S4 Capital Group; André Esteves, Chairman of BTG Pactual; Bernard Mensah, President of International at Bank of America; and Julia Dias Leite, CEO of the Brazilian Center for International Relations.

David Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of The Carlyle Group, met with Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, the First Deputy Ruler of Dubai over the weekend, as competition heats up to attract private capital to the region.

“We discussed the unique model for public-private partnerships established by the UAE and Dubai, and the new investment opportunities resulting from this approach,” Sheikh Maktoum, who is also UAE Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and President of the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), wrote in a post to Instagram.

Carlyle, one of the world’s biggest private equity and alternate asset managers with $425 billion under management, opened an office in Dubai’s DIFC in 2006.

Rubenstein said the firm is looking to expand its footprint in the region and eyeing new opportunities in emerging markets, according to a statement carried by state media WAM.

The meeting was attended by Carlyle CEO Harvey Schwartz and Ani Khatri, the group’s Managing Director, Partner and Senior Relationship Manager responsible for overseeing Investor Relations in the Middle East, Turkey and Central Asia.

From the government, Minister of State for Financial Affairs Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, DIFC Governor Essa Kazim and Dubai Holding Group CEO Amit Kaushal were also present.

The UAE space program is taking a $1.1 billion leap forward by contracting with Airbus to build two new satellites.

Abu Dhabi-based Yahsat signed a contract with European aerospace company Airbus Defence and Space to design and build the AY4 and AY5 satellites based on the widely used Eurostar Neo platform.

Yahsat won a $5.1 billion contract last year to provide satellite service for the UAE government, primarily through the AY4 and AY5 models that are scheduled for launch in 2027 and 2028.

Yahsat merged with Emirati space company Bayanat last December to form a new company focused on satellite communications and artificial intelligence with an implied market value at the time of $4 billion.

Among the key backers of the combined entity are the Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, AI developer G42 and International Holding Co., the Abu Dhabi investment company led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed.

The C-suites have gotten a bit bigger in Dubai’s government offices.

Over the weekend, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, installed 22 Chief Artificial Intelligence Officers across departments that govern areas such as community development, human resources, customs, policing and civil aviation. 

“The appointment of the new Chief AI Officers in the Dubai government marks the initial phase toward realizing our vision for the future of government work,” Sheikh Hamdan said. “We are confident that these officers will intensify their efforts and go the extra mile in translating our vision into reality.”

It is a quintessentially Dubai move. The UAE’s biggest city has long sought to be known for flexible policymaking, a business-friendly environment and smart government services as it looks to lure private sector development, with the likes of Microsoft, Meta and Google taking up regional headquarters in the glitzy city.

The Dubai Future Foundation, which shares an office tower with UAE Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, for example, is a think tank designed to help guide government policy as it gears for the future. 

While Dubai has prioritized business-friendliness and agile governance amid the artificial intelligence revolution, Abu Dhabi has taken a different tact.

The UAE capital, a bit more than an hour south of Dubai, has leveraged its deep sovereign wealth fund pockets to plow cash into government-backed entities, investment vehicles and startups both at home and abroad.

Locally, this has yielded AI champion G42, the applied research group Advanced Technology Research Council and an AI-dedicated research university, the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence.

It has also given Abu Dhabi Inc. a footprint in tech hubs like Silicon Valley, with major investments in companies like semiconductor startup Cerebras and self-driving firm Waymo.   

Alef Education delivered a promising IPO, the first of the year for Abu Dhabi’s ADX, pricing the education technology platform at the top of the range and drawing $20 billion in orders.

The offering was 39 times oversubscribed and raised a total AED 1.89 billion ($515 million) after the deal priced shares at 1.35 dirhams each, implying a market capitalization of $2.6 billion.

Alef, founded in 2016 and indirectly owned by private asset manager Abu Dhabi Capital Group, makes online learning programs for K through 12 students, with customers in the UAE, Morocco, Indonesia and the U.S. Shares are expected to be listed on June 12 under the ticker symbol “AlefEdT.”

UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, who also chairs Abu Dhabi artificial intelligence firm G42, headed for Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Wash., following a three-day state visit to Washington, D.C.

He met with CEO Satya Nadella on Thursday to discuss “ways to strengthen collaboration,” according to a post on X. Microsoft, the biggest backer and partner of generative AI market leader OpenAI, made a $1.5 billion investment in G42 in April.

The deal brought Abu Dhabi’s AI champion into the fold of American companies leading tech’s big wave. The investment required G42 to sever its ties with Chinese manufacturers like Huawei.

Sheikh Tahnoon, who also chairs two Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds – Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and ADQ – is now working on behalf of the UAE to finalize a data protection and intellectual property agreement with the U.S.

The aim is to assuage fears over national security as the trade relationship increasingly funnels investments to machine learning, semiconductors and aerospace. 

While Saudi Arabia’s impending sale of a second chunk of shares in Aramco looks like it will be among the world’s biggest stock offerings in years, the deal is falling slightly shy of expectations.

After almost a week of marketing the sale in London, New York and other financial capitals, the kingdom’s bankers told investors they plan to price shares of the world’s biggest oil company at 27.25 Saudi riyals ($7.27) each, the Wall Street Journal reports.

That compares to the target range of 26.70 to 29 riyals and means the offering should yield $11.2 billion rather than the $12 billion previously mooted.

The reduced bounty could mean more budget tightening for some of the country’s mega-projects, such as Neom, that the offering is meant to finance, especially as oil prices slide below $80 a barrel.

Sustaining the ambitious pace of construction envisioned by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman would require crude oil prices closer to $100 a barrel, according to calculations by the International Monetary Fund cited by Bloomberg.

Among the stock offering’s attractions for investors are the steady and increasing dividend payouts Aramco offers relative to its global oil competitors.

The company carries a dividend yield of close to 7%, higher than the 3.4% at Exxon and 4.2% at Chevron, the Journal notes.

UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed concluded a three-day trip to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday as the UAE and U.S. look to nail down a common policy framework that protects intellectual property and data.

Amid increasing commercial activity between the two countries on advanced technology, artificial intelligence is among the fastest-growing areas of bilateral commerce, the UAE Embassy to the U.S. noted in a summary of Sheikh Tahnoon’s visit.

The relationship is a two-way street: more than $1 trillion is currently invested by the UAE in the U.S. economy, with significant backing from Emirati funds in semiconductors, AI, space and clean energy.

UAE Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba called the U.S. “our partner of choice” on AI development with “ambitious plans to do even more.”  

Sheikh Tahnoon, who is the brother of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and chairman of sovereign wealth funds Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and ADQ, met with former President Barack Obama on Wednesday to discuss joint efforts to use technology to improve education. 

He also met with his counterpart Jake Sullivan on Tuesday and held discussions with Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, a key figure in Microsoft’s $1.5 billion investment in G42.

Others who met with Sheikh Tahnoon included Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell; Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines; Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer; and Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security Amos Hochstein.

Also, White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk; Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy Dan Shapiro; Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA).

Traveling with Sheikh Tahnoon were UAE Minister of Investment Mohamed Alsuwaidi; Executive Affairs Authority Chairman and Mubadala Investment Co. CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak; Supreme Council for National Security Secretary-General Ali Al Shamsi; National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority Chairman Ali Al Neyadi and G42 CEO Peng Xiao, who is a member of the Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Council.