Trump in Gulf: US, Qatar deals to generate $1.2tr in ‘economic exchange’

WASHINGTON/RIYADH/DUBAI: Agreements signed by US President Donald Trump and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Wednesday will “generate an economic exchange worth at least $1.2 trillion,” the White House said in a fact sheet summarizing some of the deals’ details.

The agreements include a $96 billion deal with Qatar Airways to buy up to 210 Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X airplanes with GE Aerospace engines, the fact sheet said. They also include a statement of intent that could lead to $38 billion in investments at Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base and other air defence and maritime security capabilities, it said.

TRUMP FRENZY HITS GULF STATES

Trump secured a $600 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the United States on the first day of a four-day tour of the Gulf, opening the way for a series of business deals.

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Here is an overview of major deals and announcements made on the sidelines of Trump’s Gulf visit:

• Saudi Aramco has signed 34 agreements with major US companies, potentially worth as much as $90 billion, the oil giant said.
• Qatar Airways signed a deal to purchase jets from US manufacturer Boeing.
• Nvidia said it will sell hundreds of thousands of AI chips in Saudi Arabia, with a first tranche of 18,000 of its newest “Blackwell” chips going to Humain, an AI startup the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund launched this week.
• Qualcomm Inc said it signed a memo of understanding to develop and build a data centre central processor.
• Franklin Templeton said it has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to partner in investing up to $5 billion in the kingdom’s financial markets.
• Neuberger Berman signed an agreement with PIF to invest up to $6 billion in the kingdom, and to launch a Riyadh-based multi-asset investment management platform.
• BlackRock Saudi Arabia and PIF signed a non-binding letter of intent at the Saudi-US Investment Forum to formalise their strategic collaboration through potential new allocations to the BlackRock Riyadh Investment Management platform.
• Cisco said it will collaborate with the AI Infrastructure Partnership, which is led by BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners, MGX, Microsoft, Nvidia and xAI. The company also said it will join Saudi Arabia’s Humain and extend its strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi’s G42 to advance AI innovation and infrastructure development.
• Infrastructure investment manager I Squared Capital said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with PIF to establish a dedicated infrastructure investment strategy focused on the Middle East.
• Amazon Web Services and Saudi Arabia’s AI startup Humain said they planned to invest $5 billion-plus in a strategic partnership to build an “AI Zone” in the kingdom.
• US chip firm AMD and Humain said they would build AI infrastructure that will lead them to invest up to $10 billion to deploy 500 megawatts of AI computing capacity over the next five years.
• Saudi Arabian DataVolt plans to invest $20 billion in AI data centres and energy infrastructure in the United States.
• Google, DataVolt, Oracle, Salesforce, AMD, and Uber say they will invest $80 billion in technologies in both countries.
• Construction consulting firms Hill International, Jacobs, Parsons, and AECOM are building infrastructure projects such as King Salman International Airport, King Salman Park, The Vault, Qiddiya City, and more, totalling $2 billion in US services exports.
• Additional major exports include GE Vernova’s gas turbines and energy solutions totalling $14.2 billion and Boeing 737-8 passenger aircraft for AviLease totalling $4.8 billion.
• Healthcare firm Shamekh IV Solutions will be investing $5.8 billion, including a plant in Michigan to launch a high-capacity IV fluid facility.
• Hassana Investment Company and Franklin Templeton signed a memorandum of understanding valued at $150 million to explore a strategic partnership related to investments in Saudi private credit opportunities.
• Saudi Aramco said it would sign memorandums of understanding with U.S. liquefied natural gas producer NextDecade and utility Sempra.
• US-based investment platform Burkhan World Investments said it signed memorandums of understanding with Saudi partners, totalling $15 billion in investment commitments.