The Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) reported acquisition of Tesla shares, estimated by the Financial Times to be between $1.7bn and $2.9bn, does not come as a surprise.

PIF has been focusing on high-technology brands and funds in the past few years. It invested $3.5bn in US-based ride hailing platform Uber in 2016 and $45bn in Softbank’s Technology Fund last year. The Technology Fund’s defined areas of investment include primarily artificial intelligence, mobility and self-driving cars.

These investments contrast with the fund’s historical preference for conservative, or low-risk, low-return assets.

However, it is in line with the fund’s goal to grow its portfolio to $2tn by 2030 and deliver between 8 per cent and 9 per cent return. An average $160bn annual return compounded over the long term will go a long way to support the kingdom’s ongoing economic diversification programme.

Investing in the high-risk, high-return technology sector not only offers potential direct benefits to PIF, by improving its valuation through premium and popular brands, but it could also indirectly benefit the Saudi economy by creating access to new technologies that can be used to transform Saudi Arabia’s traditional sectors and new jobs through a direct presence in the kingdom.

An investment in Tesla could also possibly mitigate the risk that electric vehicles pose to global vehicle fuel demand, if forecasts are correct that these vehicles will account for 15 percent of new car sales, serendipitously by 2030, up from the current 1 per cent.

Having Saudi Aramco, the global oil giant, and Tesla shares firmly imprinted in PIF’s portfolio ensures it will win whichever way automobile demand goes in the future. It also appears to reinforce the kingdom’s shift to strategic and long-term thinking and planning.