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RDIF plans 25 new projects with Saudi companies — CEO

The Russian Direct Investment Fund will sign over 10 agreements worth more than $2 bln in Saudi Arabia

RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev Kirill Kukhmar/TASS

RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev

© Kirill Kukhmar/TASS

MOSCOW, October 10. /TASS/. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) plans to implement 25 new projects worth $10 bln with Saudi companies, RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev revealed at a briefing on Thursday.

"We are working now on 25 new projects totaling $10 bln. We have a focus on artificial intelligence; we will sign an agreement in the [artificial] intelligence sphere with Saudi colleagues," he reported.

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RDIF to open first foreign representative office in Saudi Arabia

The RDIF will sign more than 10 agreements worth more than $2 bln with Saudi companies during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Saudi Arabia in mid-October 2019, the Fund said in a statement.

"The Fund plans to announce more than 10 important agreements both with its current and new partners in Saudi Arabia in such areas as high technologies (including artificial intelligence), space, logistics, transport, infrastructure construction, oil production and petrochemicals, as well as agriculture for a total amount of more than $2 bln," according to the statement.

RDIF also plans to ink an agreement on culture cooperation together with the Culture Ministries of Russia and Saudi Arabia. A number of events under the name "Culture of Russia in Riyadh" will kick off on October 14. The program will include the international exhibition of contemporary art "Artificial Intelligence and the Dialogue of Cultures" as well as an exhibition of 19 paintings by Vasily Kandinsky, presented by St. Petersburg’s Russian Museum.

Founded in June 2011, RDIF has the goal to make investments primarily in Russian enterprises together with leading foreign financial and strategic investors. To date, RDIF has implemented more than 70 projects with a total volume of over 1.5 trillion rubles ($22.4 bln), covering 95% of the regions of Russia.

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