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the ART of the deal

dartsndeacs

dartsndeacs

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U.S. and Saudi Arabian companies signed business deals worth tens of billions of dollars on Saturday during a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump, as Riyadh seeks help to develop its economy beyond oil.

National oil firm Saudi Aramco said it signed $50 billion of agreements with U.S. firms. Energy minister Khalid al-Falih said deals involving all companies totaled over $200 billion, many of them designed to produce things in Saudi Arabia that had previously been imported.

Business leaders on both sides were keen to demonstrate their talks had been a success, so there was an element of showmanship in the huge numbers. Some deals had been announced previously; others were memorandums of understanding that would require further negotiations to materialize.

Nevertheless, the deals illustrated Saudi Arabia's hunger for foreign capital and technology as it tries to reduce its dependence on oil exports. Low oil prices in the past couple of years have slowed the economy to a crawl and saddled the government with a big budget deficit.

"We want foreign companies to look at Saudi Arabia as a platform for exports to other markets," Falih told a conference attended by dozens of U.S. executives.

In March, Saudi Arabia's King Salman toured Asia and his delegation signed similar agreements worth tens of billions of dollars there, including deals worth as much as $65 billion in China.

FUNDSEven as it sought U.S. investment on Saturday, Riyadh made two announcements on plans to deploy its own financial reserves for projects that would cement economic ties with the United States.

The Public Investment Fund, Riyadh's main sovereign wealth fund, and U.S. private equity firm Blackstone said they were studying a proposal to create a $40 billion vehicle to invest in infrastructure projects, mainly in the United States.

The vehicle would obtain $20 billion from the PIF and with additional debt financing, might invest in over $100 billion of infrastructure projects - a political boon to Trump, who has said he wants to rebuild crumbling U.S. infrastructure.

Meanwhile the world's largest private equity fund, backed by the PIF, Japan's Softbank Group and other investors including U.S. firms Apple Inc and Qualcomm, said on Saturday it had raised over $93 billion to invest in technology sectors such as artificial intelligence and robotics.

Much of the Softbank Vision Fund's money is likely to be invested in the United States, helping Riyadh obtain access to technology that it could use to diversify its economy.

Top Saudi economic policy makers, including the finance minister and head of the kingdom's main sovereign wealth fund, described investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia to the conference on Saturday.

RELATED COVERAGE

FACT BOX Deals signed by U.S. companies in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Aramco: looking for opportunities to expand in U.S. over 10 years
Saudi officials said they aimed to prepare new, streamlined rules covering direct investment by foreign firms within 12 months.

Among the deals signed on Saturday, GE said it reached $15 billion of agreements involving almost $7 billion of goods and services from GE itself. They ranged from the power and healthcare sectors to the oil and gas industry and mining.

Jacobs Engineering will form a joint venture with Aramco to manage business projects in the kingdom, and McDermott International will transfer some of its ship fabrication facilities from Dubai to a new shipbuilding complex which Aramco will build within Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh, one of the world's biggest military spenders, is keen to develop a domestic arms industry rather than import weapons, so several deals were in military industries.

Lockheed Martin said it would support the final assembly and completion of an estimated 150 S-70 Black Hawk utility helicopters in Saudi Arabia.

(Additional reporting by Marwa Rashad and Celine Aswad; Writing by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Andrew Roche and Chizu Nomiyama)
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Not accepted: Kanye West turned down $10 mil for the crown prince to have a night with Kim Kardashian. This isn't sarcastic.
 
the DEETS

U.S. and Saudi Arabian companies signed tens of billions of dollars of business deals on Saturday as Riyadh sought help to develop its economy beyond oil during a visit by President Donald Trump.

National oil firm Saudi Aramco said it signed $50 billion of agreements with U.S. firms. Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said deals involving all companies totaled over $200 billion.

Some deals had been announced previously, while others were memorandums of understanding that would require further negotiations to materialize. Below are major announcements:

-- GE said it signed $15 billion of business deals with Saudi Arabia, involving almost $7 billion of goods and services from GE itself. They ranged from the power and healthcare sectors to the oil and gas industry and mining. Among projects, GE will help make power generation more efficient, provide digital technology to the operations of oil firm Saudi Aramco, and cooperate in medical research and training.

-- Exxon Mobil and Saudi Basic Industries agreed to conduct a study on a potential petrochemical project in San Patricio County, Texas. A final decision is expected sometime in 2018. The project would include an ethane cracker with a production capacity of 1.8 million tonnes of ethylene per year to feed a monoethylene glycol unit.

-- Raytheon will establish a Raytheon Arabia business unit and help to develop Saudi defense, aerospace and security capabilities.

-- Lockheed Martin will support the final assembly and completion of an estimated 150 S-70 Black Hawk utility helicopters in Saudi Arabia.

-- General Dynamics will help to localize design, manufacturing and support of armored combat vehicles.

-- Begin the design and selection process for offshore drilling rigs as part of a $7 billion investment over 10 years with Rowan Companies to own and operate such rigs.

-- Additional well services and studies into rig movements as an extension of a joint venture with Nabors. The venture is to see $9 billion of investment over 10 years period and create 4,000-5,000 new Saudi jobs.

-- New joint venture between Saudi Aramco and National Oilwell Varco to make high-specification drilling rigs and equipment in the kingdom; it is to involve $6 billion of investment over 10 years.

ALSO IN DEALS

U.S., Saudi firms sign tens of billions of dollars of deals as Trump visits
Blackstone, Saudi's PIF plan $40 billion infrastructure investment fund
-- Jacobs Engineering: MoU worth $250 million to localize design, engineering, procurement, construction and project management services for the oil and gas industry. It is expected to create 300 jobs.

-- Weatherford signed an MoU for $2 billion of projects related to localizing oil field goods and services.

-- Dow Chemical signed an agreement to build a manufacturing facility to produce polymers for coatings and water-treatment applications, and an MoU for a feasibility study of a proposed investment in performance silicones.

-- McDermott signed a $2.8 billion MoU to deliver projects localizing goods and services along Saudi Aramco's supply chain.

-- Honeywell signed a $3.6 billion MoU to deliver projects localizing goods and services in Saudi Aramco's supply chain.
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He may go down as one of the great international modern presidents

Maybe it's time to let congress step on their dicks

Trump should focus on international
 
Desperate times for Trump apologists

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Eager to hear why this is actually a bad thing from MSM and then board liberals.
 
Trump brokered all those deals?
 
They would have made these deals regardless of who was president. Bringing up Obama just weakens​ their argument. You know the Cheeto made sure he was mentioned in the press release though.
 
If you think multi-billion deals with multi-national companies have happened because of or during Trump's presidency, you are hopelessly naive. Just planning the buildings and delivery will take a year and likely more.

It looks like most of the jobs are being created in Saudi Arabia. Further, an MoU is a first step not a deal.
 
A dog and pony show. Like the carrier deal.

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RJKarl said:
If you think multi-billion deals with multi-national companies have happened because of or during Trump's presidency, you are hopelessly naive. Just planning the buildings and delivery will take a year and likely more.

It looks like most of the jobs are being created in Saudi Arabia. Further, an MoU is a first step not a deal.
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Even the failing NY Times says to thank Jared Kushner

$110 Billion Weapons Sale to Saudis Has Jared Kushner’s Personal Touch

WASHINGTON — On the afternoon of May 1, President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, welcomed a high-level delegation of Saudis to a gilded reception room next door to the White House and delivered a brisk pep talk: “Let’s get this done today.”

Mr. Kushner was referring to a $100 billion-plus arms deal that the administration hoped to seal with Saudi Arabia in time to announce it during Mr. Trump’s visit to the kingdom this weekend. The two sides discussed a shopping list that included planes, ships and precision-guided bombs. Then an American official raised the idea of the Saudis’ buying a sophisticated radar system designed to shoot down ballistic missiles.

Sensing that the cost might be a problem, several administration officials said, Mr. Kushner picked up the phone and called Marillyn A. Hewson — the chief executive of Lockheed Martin, which makes the radar system — and asked her whether she could cut the price. As his guests watched slack-jawed, Ms. Hewson told him she would look into it, officials said.

Mr. Kushner’s personal intervention in the arms sale is further evidence of the Trump White House’s readiness to dispense with custom in favor of informal, hands-on deal making. It also offers a window into how the administration hopes to change America’s position in the Middle East, emphasizing hard power and haggling over traditional diplomacy.
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the ART of a deal
 
Maybe we coulda saved some Money the past 8 years if Obama had learned how to negotiate

Instead, the episode was reminiscent of Lockheed’s decision in February to cut the price of F-35 fighter jets it was selling to the Pentagon after Mr. Trump complained to Ms. Hewson that the planes were too expensive.

Mr. Kushner, White House officials said, began building ties to members of the Saudi royal family during the transition. He was at the table when his father-in-law hosted the deputy crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, at a lunch in the State Dining Room in March. And he offered a strategic overview of the Saudi-American relationship at the meeting this month, according to an agenda obtained by The New York Times.
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Rubes falling for the dog and pony show

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Poor non-rubes dismiss the master at work. This rube is taking notes


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Someon please explain the deals- and how Trump and his team did something extraordinary- in your own words. Thanks
 
avalon said:

Dude's well done steak with ketchup seems to have him constipated.
 
WFcatamount22 said:
Eager to hear why this is actually a bad thing from MSM and then board liberals.
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Does overlooking human rights abuses in pursuit of business deals not make you uncomfortable? It makes me uncomfortable.
 
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