RIYADH, 23 June — Since 1995, the Kingdom’s successive strategies were aimed at restructuring the economy to be in tune with international economic variables and attract direct foreign investments.
These strategies included establishing a Supreme Economic Council, Supreme Council for Oil and Mineral Affairs, General Investment Authority and allowing non-Saudis to own real estate.
In a statement, economist Dr. Abdul Aziz Daghestani said that the Saudi government was carrying out privatization programs that had become a strategic option to reform the national economy and activate the role of the private sector to increase productivity.
"The success of privatization programs in Saudi Arabia is linked to the availability of transparent and flexible government systems that enrich the local and foreign investment atmosphere," he added.
Privatization is a top priority, being implemented by the Supreme Economic Council, which aims at increasing competition in the local market and speeding up Saudi Arabia’s admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO), delayed since 1993.
The Kingdom is the only GCC country that has not joined the WTO so far.
The agreements signed with eight foreign companies last year, worth of $25 billion, to invest in the gas sector are considered the first major foreign investment in this sector since the nationalization of the oil sector in 1975.
The Kingdom scored a first in the Middle East when it privatized the operation and maintenance of Saudi ports, attracting investments worth SR10 billion.
An economic study, presented to a conference held in London to discuss investment in Saudi Arabia, outlined three challenges facing the economy — increase of population expected to reach 29.7 million by 2020, volatility in oil prices and improvement of the business infrastructure estimated at $250 billion within the next 20 years. (KUNA)
