At a time when the Japanese stock market is experiencing a big drop, a "gold master" has announced plans to increase investment in Japan: The Saudi sovereign wealth fund intends to more than double its investment.

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund (PIF) plans to increase its investment in Japan to around $27 billion by the end of 2030, aiming to deepen the country's connections in Asia and expand its business in various sectors from critical minerals to financial markets. Yasir Al Rumayyan, head of PIF, stated on Monday in Tokyo that after investing $11.5 billion in Japan from 2019 to 2024, they plan to invest more funds. He emphasized investments in both public and private markets and predicted that the recently launched ETF between Saudi Arabia and Japan will "make further progress". Al Rumayyan said, "Asia is very important to us. We want to establish closer connections and develop better cooperation with Asia, optimize procurement processes, and open up supply chain channels. Japan was once one of Saudi Arabia's largest partners at one point, and we hope to regain that kind of partnership." Currently, Japan is Saudi Arabia's third-largest trading partner. Al Rumayyan said that PIF's investments in Japan are expected to contribute up to $16.6 billion to Saudi Arabia's GDP. He also hopes to see more investments flowing back into Saudi Arabia, especially in the tourism industry. These sectors are one of the six key areas identified in PIF's 2026-2030 investment strategy worth $1 trillion, which will be announced early next year. Al Rumayyan stated that the PIF board has approved this plan and will finalize specific details at a summit in Saudi Arabia in the coming days. These comments indicate that Japan will continue to be a priority for PIF's global investment plan. The fund plans to increase its annual capital injection size to $70 billion after this year. By 2024, the fund had injected nearly $57 billion into key areas. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has increasingly valued its relations with Asian countries as it aims to attract more foreign partners to help advance its "Vision 2030" economic transformation plan worth trillions of dollars. In the past two years, Saudi Arabia's financial sector has received significant attention, with multiple markets, including mainland China, Hong Kong, and Japan, launching ETFs to track Saudi assets. Asian banks have become major financing sources for Saudi companies. In the energy sector, Saudi Arabia is collaborating with Japan to develop the blue ammonia market. In addition, Saudi Arabia is partnering with Japan to develop a "Dragon Ball" and anime-themed park in the Qiddiya entertainment city on the outskirts of Riyadh. International investors have continued to have a positive outlook on the Japanese stock market, with foreign capital flowing in. For example, as of June 2025, foreign investors have been net buyers of Japanese stocks for 10 consecutive weeks. In October, foreign investment in the Japanese stock market hit a historic high. As one of the largest sovereign wealth funds globally, PIF's investments help attract the attention of other global institutional investors to invest in these Japanese companies, thereby enhancing the attractiveness of related stocks. Meanwhile, the two major stock indexes in the Tokyo stock market experienced significant declines on Monday. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average Index closed down by 1.89%, and the Tokyo Stock Price Index fell by 1.19%. Market insiders stated that the increase in expectations of a rate hike by the Bank of Japan in December was a key factor leading to the market's decline that day.