“This is the fruit of comprehensive economic reforms carried out during the period of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah,” said Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Thunayan, chairman of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu and chairman of SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corp.).
He noted the Kingdom’s policy of investing in manpower and infrastructure, and the launching of mega projects as well as the establishment of the twin industrial cities of Jubail and Yanbu and SABIC, adding that these projects boosted the Kingdom’s economic growth.
Prince Saud praised King Abdullah for taking the historic decision to establish Jubail-2 and Yanbu-2. “It helped attract a large number of mega industrial projects with investments reaching billions of riyals.”
He said the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) report, which identified the Kingdom as the most favorable place to do business in the Arab world, Middle East and North Africa, proves the effectiveness of the economic reforms implemented by the Kingdom to develop an ideal environment for domestic and international investments.
"Saudi Arabia, the region's highest-ranking economy on the overall ease of doing business (with a global ranking of 11 among 183 economies), focused on four areas of business regulation in the past year," said IFC, an affiliate of the World Bank.
While Saudi Arabia remained the best country for conducting business in the GCC, Oman retained its position at 57. All other Gulf states fell in the rankings in the latest report. While the UAE's ranking dropped to 40 from 37 in 2009, Bahrain was downgraded from 25 to 28. However, Qatar emerged as the biggest loser among the GCC states, being downgraded to 50 from 39 last year. Kuwait was moved to 74, down from 69.
Abdul Rahman Al-Jeraisy, chairman of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, attributed the IFC report to the strength of Saudi economy. It also reflects the success of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority’s (SAGIA) endeavors to make the Kingdom an investment-friendly state, he added.
