The agreement was signed by Prince Muhammad bin Salman, adviser to the Riyadh governor and secretary-general of RCC, and Mark Fuller, chairman of the board of directors of the Monitor Group.

The agreement stipulates that the Monitor Group will provide logistic, administrative and consultancy support to RCC. The group will also prepare an integrated strategy to improve competitiveness in Riyadh in line with other leading international cities. The consultancy company will also lay down the operating plan for the center for the coming year apart from laying down broad plans for its long-term activities.

“The center will study the international yardsticks for the classification of leading cities in terms of their competitive potentials. The center will depend on various global indices such as the MasterCard Index for rating cities and capitals. The MasterCard Index covers more than 75 large world cities and gauges their role in the world economy,” said Prince Muhammad.

The index considers factors such as economic stability, legal and organizational environment, financial flow, the accessibility to information and availability of basic services for companies to thrive, the prince said, adding that there are other indices for the classification of cities.