– This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on May 22, Monday.
Welcome to CNBC Business Daily, I'm Qian Chen.
President Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia could be a boost for ambitions of Saudi Arabia to steer the kingdom's fortunes away from oil.
Saudi's Vision 2030, which was proposed in April last year, aims at transforming the country into a more diverse economy.
[Jamal Al Kishi, CEO of Middle East & Africa, Deutsche Bank] "I think the outlook is very positive. And Saudi Arabic is privatizing, as you know. And the opportunities for US investors, stragetic investors, particular to come in and participate in the process of a very thoughtful, and very effective way is definitely there."
Part of Saudi's Vision 2030 is to have one of the world's top defence companies by 2030 as it seeks to add thousands of manufacturing jobs.
The kingdom's sovereign wealth fund established the company to help reduce its reliance on foreign purchases and to diversify the economy away from oil.
The Saudi Arabian Military Industries, or Sami, will manufacture products and provide maintenance services across units, including air and land systems, weapons and missiles, and defence electronics, the Public Investment Fund said on Wednesday. The company is wholly owned by the government.
Now, in a longer term, Saudi's plan is also to create thousands of jobs in industries, such as tourism and technology.
And we are seeing that investment towards technology has taken off already.
On Saturday, an investment group that includes Japan's SoftBank and Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth arm announced that it had closed $93 billion in capital, committed to what is expected to be the largest technology investment fund ever.
The program also includes the funding of a giant sovereign wealth fund, with the proceeds of the the IPO of state oil company Saudi Aramco, expected sometime next year.
CNBC's Qian Chen, reporting from Singapore.