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Deutsche Bank will tap pools of capital like private wealth as it looks to more innovative solutions to fund Saudi Arabia's projects and government-led initiatives under the Vision 2030, said Jamal Al Kishi, CEO, Middle East & Africa.
"We see a lot of opportunity for us in Deutsche Bank and across the industry to play a very pivotal role in intermediating and providing capital solutions to those initiatives, be it in the loan market, in debt capital markets, in the structured finance area, in the private credit space, and a whole lot of other more innovative mechanisms that should be introduced in Saudi Arabia. Because most definitely, those will go some way towards addressing some of the funding needs that will be required to realise that wonderful vision [Vision 2030]," he told Zawya in a recent interview.
The oil-rich Saudi Arabia has rolled out a social and economic transformation programme under Vision 2030. To accomplish this objective, the kingdom plans to build large-scale mega and giga projects, including the ambitious urban development known as Neom on the Red Sea coast. According to new report by real estate consultancy Knight Frank, the total value of real estate and infrastructure projects unveiled in Saudi Arabia since 2016 is now $1.3 trillion, up 4% on this time last year.
To help fund this development, Deutsche Bank will look to tap into private wealth across "a broad spectrum of pools," Al Kishi said.
The private wealth pools can be family offices, ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI), special vehicles set up by the wealthy, and other specific funds set up for managing wealth for various individuals, he added.
"The idea is not to cannibalise on what the GREs (government-related entities) and the project sponsors can tap into at this stage. The idea is to tap into...sources that have not been tapped up to this point, at least not effectively and not on a scale. And I think it's about time, given what we seek to achieve, especially over the last over the last few years, and into the 2030 milestone that we all aspire to achieve."
Al Kishi, who returned to Deutsche Bank after four years to take up the position, is bullish on the spectrum of opportunities that will come from the equity capital markets space in the GCC.
According to Al Kishi, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, are set to see continued growth driven by expansionary IPOs and flotations. He also expects to see more efficient and cost-driven transactions, especially in the mergers and acquisitions space.
(Reporting by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)
