JEDDAH, 4 May 2003 — The Supreme Economic Council is giving final touches to the new capital market law, aimed at organizing and developing the Kingdom’s stock market, according to Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Tuwaijeri, SEC’s secretary-general.
He also disclosed plans to establish an authority to supervise the stock market and a company to manage it.
He said the new taxation law, which was endorsed by the Shoura Council recently, will be issued in its final form within a few months. The new law cuts the tax on the profits of foreign firms from 45 percent to 25 percent.
Al-Tuwaijeri said the Kingdom was making strenuous efforts to join the World Trade Organization.
“Joining the WTO is significant as it will open up world markets for Saudi products,” he told Okaz Arabic daily.
“It is difficult to give a date on when the Kingdom will get admission to the organization as the negotiations are on-going with WTO member states.”
The SEC secretary-general said the restructuring of ministries during the recent Cabinet reshuffle will have a positive impact on the economy.
“Its results will be seen within a year,” he said.
Al-Tuwaijeri expects high economic growth rate this fiscal year.
“I’m confident that the economic situation in the Kingdom this year will be much better and there are indications that the country will achieve a high growth rate,” he pointed out.
However, he said oil revenues will have a major effect on the economy.
“High oil prices will have a positive impact on the economy. If the situation becomes stable in areas surrounding the Kingdom, the growth rate will be much higher.”
He said the main objective of the Kingdom’s economic policy was to diversify the economy to reduce dependence on oil revenues.
“But there is a fact that we are an oil producing country and we have a quarter of the world’s proven oil reserves. So we have to make use of these resources for economic development. We will not be able to manage without oil. At the same time we have to diversify resources. We have a flourishing petrochemical industry. There is also a trend to develop our service sectors,” he said.
