Trade & Investment
From The Report: Saudi Arabia 2015
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With its sound government finances and trade-friendly policies, Saudi Arabia presents an attractive option for investors. The Kingdom currently benefits from high levels of macroeconomic stability, combined with low debt and a budget that until 2015 had been consistently in comfortable surplus. In June 2015 the country’s stock exchange, Tadawul, was opened to qualified foreign investors for the first time, driving increased participation by institutional investors that is expected to help reduce the exchange’s recent volatility. Meanwhile, the Kingdom is investing heavily in education and vocational training to further enhance its attractiveness to foreign business, and the drive for economic diversification continues apace, with non-oil exports growing faster than oil exports in recent years. This chapter contains interviews with Abdullatif Al Othman, Governor, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA); and Yoon Sang-Jick, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Republic of Korea.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Strength in numbers: Incentives bolster attractiveness for investors
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With its sound government finances coupled with investor- and trade-friendly policies, Saudi Arabia has been successful in attracting strong investment inflows. Now the government appears determined to proceed with reforms that are designed to garner further foreign direct investment (FDI). According to the IMF, the Kingdom “compares relatively well across a number of business indicators”. Meanwhile, in the 2014-15 edition of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) “Global Competitiveness Index”,…

Interview

Pull factors: OBG talks to Abdullatif Al Othman, Governor, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA)
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Interview:Abdullatif Al Othman What steps has SAGIA taken to make investing in Saudi Arabia easier for foreign companies? ADBULLATIF AL OTHMAN: Much of what we have done in recent years has focused on making sure companies enjoy a seamless process when investing and operating in an investment environment that is continuously evolving alongside global business standards. From inception to operation, we want to make the investor’s life in the Kingdom as easy as possible. Quite simply, it…

Interview

A stronger relationship: OBG talks to Yoon Sang-Jick, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Republic of Korea
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Interview:Yoon Sang-Jick Which sectors in the GCC present the most favourable opportunities for further expansion by South Korean companies in the coming years? YOON SANG-JICK: The GCC member states are seeking to bolster their energy industries and revamp national infrastructure using financial strength from their hydrocarbons revenues. To do this governments are placing orders for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects such as power plants, oil refineries and petrochemicals…

Analysis

Export potential: Work to encourage growth of non-oil sales abroad is ongoing
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The changing nature of Saudi exports tells the story of the Kingdom’s efforts to diversify its economy. Encouragingly, non-oil exports have been growing more quickly than oil exports in recent years, though oil still makes up a significant majority of the country’s external sales, reflecting the size of the challenge facing the Kingdom with respect to economic diversification. To stimulate the growth of non-oil exports, the government created the Saudi Export Development Authority, which has…

Analysis

Enhancing competitiveness: Government policies aim to improve the business environment
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In the World Bank’s 2015 “Doing Business” rankings, Saudi Arabia placed 49th, second among GCC states (behind the UAE at 22nd) and ahead of other key emerging markets such as Turkey, China and Brazil. Despite having slipped five places since 2014, the Kingdom is still comparatively much stronger than other countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. Starting Up Saudi Arabia has strived to facilitate business start-ups by progressively cutting the number of days it takes to start…