RIYADH, 19 December 2005 — Prince Sultan Ibn Salman, the secretary-general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism, inaugurated yesterday a three-day international conference entitled “Investment Horizons” where several papers will be discussed on the challenges facing the investment sector in the Kingdom and region, as well as the regional and global developments and its effect on the investment sector.
The conference will discuss four main themes: Investment incentives ... the reality and the development schemes, regional and global changes and its effect on investment, corporate investment and expanding ownership grounds, the culture of investment: channels and technicalities.
During his speech, Prince Sultan, representing the Supreme Commission for Tourism, one of the sponsors of the conference, said that investment in any country is an essential issue that any country depended on to survive in the global economy.
He said that investment in Saudi Arabia was not just about big corporate companies, but was in fact all about the welfare of the Saudi citizen. “It is a case of the Saudi citizen first and foremost and providing jobs for them. It is not just about deals with big companies,” Prince Sultan said. He said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia enjoyed many features that made it the perfect place for investment, most important of all, the social and political stability it enjoyed.
“The Kingdom is the best country in the world in terms of political stability. Had one-fifth of what happened in the Kingdom in the past two years happened anywhere else in the world, the outcome would have been very different,” he said, adding that both the Saudi leadership remained solid and united earning the love and respect of the nation.
Prince Sultan said that he believed in the capabilities of Saudis in handling future challenges in the investment sector. “I believe Saudis are well capable of handling the difficulties and challenges in the investment sector. This trust and confidence is re-endorsed by training them in the private sector in a carefully studied way.”
He said that any country in the world which wished to invest in the Kingdom would be investing in three things: growth, stability, and opportunities. “The Saudi investor is no longer a domestic one, but an international one that keeps his words and delivers,” he said.
The prince also criticized government officials — big or small — who hinder the implementation of legislations to invest opportunities, saying they were not patriotic in serving the country’s needs.
“I am saying this not just as an official in the Supreme Commission but also as a private citizen: Every government official is accounted for every minute he spends in the office,” Prince Sultan said.
“I am borrowing Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ words when I say that ‘there is no excuse after today’. The door is open for anyone to invest here.”
Ali Al-Othaim, head of the organizing committee, said that the Kingdom’s economy now represented 1/3 of all of the Arab economies put together. He also said the Kingdom was the leading country in the Middle East to attract foreign investors.
“The fact that the Kingdom has recently joined the WTO and the announcement of this year’s largest budget in the history of the nation is just a few examples of the many things that lie ahead,” he said.
Mujahid ibn Abdulkareem, deputy governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) for development, said in his speech that the Kingdom was keen on legislating regulations and easing procedures for investors to come in the Kingdom. He mentioned that the number of investments licensed by SAGIA by the third quarter of 2005 was SR68,8 billion, three times higher than what it was in 2004. He also said that licenses for implementing investment projects in the Kingdom by SAGIA to various private companies takes as little as three days minimum up to 30 days maximum.
The official said that the Kingdom has jumped in the ranking by the World Bank from 67 to 32 in just one year in terms of growth and investment opportunities, surpassing even some European countries like France, Italy and Portugal. “By 2010, the Kingdom seeks to become one of the top ten leading countries in the world in terms of attracting investments,” he added.
