US President Donald Trump wants Aramco to be listed on Wall Street

US President Donald Trump talking to reporters before embarking on a tour to Asia. (Photo by AFP)

US President Donald Trump has called on Saudi Arabia to list the state-owned oil giant Aramco in Wall Street.

Trump told reporters before flying to Japan that he had raised the proposal in a telephone conversation with the Saudi King Salman.

He said he had called on King Salman "to strongly consider the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ or frankly anywhere else located in this country."

"It's very important. We want to have all the big listings," the media quoted him as saying. 

Trump emphasized that King Salman had told him Riyadh would consider his proposal.

"I know they're looking at London, I know they're looking at others, they're probably looking at themselves, they have a much smaller stock market."

The president tweeted Saturday morning that he would "very much appreciate" that the Saudis would list Saudi Aramco in the US, saying it is "important to the United States!"

Saudi Arabia is expected to take a small portion of Saudi Aramco, which controls some of the world's largest oil reserves, public some time in 2018.

While it is expected to list its shares on Saudi Arabia's own stock market, known as Tadawul, it's also expected to do what's known as a dual listing with another stock exchange internationally, AP reported. When Saudi Aramco goes public, it is expected to be one of the world's most valuable companies.

While previous presidents have championed the New York Stock Exchange's role in international finance — Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush visited the floor of the NYSE during their presidencies — typically a president would not weigh into where a company would decide where to list its shares, since that's a private company decision, AP added.

The flotation of Aramco shares is part of a broad effort to raise Saudi Arabia's profile and boost government revenues after a sharp drop in oil prices hindered its ability to pay for large infrastructure projects and subsidies that citizens have come to rely on.