Saudi Arabia opens major conference with eye on investment

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Saudi Arabia has opened a major investment conference aimed at shining a spotlight on the country's efforts to diversify its revenue streams and overhaul its economy and society.

At the heart of these reforms are plans to build the world's largest sovereign wealth fund. The kingdom hopes to do this by listing less than 5 percent of state-owned oil firm Aramco and transferring control of those funds to its Public Investment Fund, or PIF as its known. The fund grabbed headlines with a $3.5 billion investment in ride-hailing service Uber last year.

The conference, dubbed the Future Investment Initiative , starts Tuesday and runs for three days. It's being attended by giants in the business world, corporate managers from some of the world's largest firms and top Saudi officials.