Aramco and Maaden are forming a joint venture, Maaden at 51%, Aramco at 49%, to explore Zone-4 of the Arabian Platform, about 182,000 square kilometres, close to 10% of The kingdom's land area, targeting copper and other energy-transition minerals along a 100-km-wide corridor. Saudi mineral wealth is valued at over SR9.3 trillion ($2.5 trillion), against a Vision 2030 target of lifting mining's contribution to GDP to SR240 billion.
Aramco’s 49% stake, rather than a controlling interest, positions this as a capability contribution. Aramco provides subsurface data, while Maaden will operate the business.
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Foreign direct investment tops SR1.1 trillion
Saudi Arabia's foreign direct investment stock reached SR1,122.8 billion at the end of Q1 2026, up 12% year on year and representing about 32% of total foreign investment in the Kingdom, against total foreign investment of SR3,530.8 billion, up 18% year on year.
FDI growing 12% while total foreign investment grew 18% means portfolio and other investment are growing faster than direct investment, hot money is currently outpacing the patient kind.
SR 3.6bn, 2,505 apartments, one fund
Alramz Real Estate established a Shariah-compliant fund of more than SR3.6bn, managed by SNB Capital, with Alramz holding 100% of the units. The vehicle covers a 90,000+ sqm site in Al Raed district, Riyadh. 2,505 residential apartments plus commercial space, on a development contract worth roughly SR1.2bn, with 10% development fees and 2.5% marketing fees over an approximately five-year term.
2,505 units delivered into a market where new residential mortgage lending has roughly halved year on year. The build is a five-year bet that the financing side normalises well before handover, and that is the assumption to interrogate, not the design.
SR425 billion in one quarter
Saudi consumer spending rose 6.8% year on year to SR425 billion in Q1 2026, covering point-of-sale transactions, cash withdrawals and e-commerce purchases. Total 2025 spending through official payment channels was SR1.57 trillion. For context in the same report: Q1 GDP grew 3%, non-oil activity 2.9%, inflation ran at 1.8%, and the IMF forecasts 1.7% growth for 2026 and 5.5% for 2027.
SR425 billion in a single quarter, growing nearly 5% faster than prices. The Saudi consumer is contributing more to this economy than the GDP indicates.
