Saudi Arabia is home to vast hydrocarbons resources – about 15.7% of global reserves – and these make up the bulk of the country’s revenues. While the recent drop in oil prices is undoubtedly a concern, sustained diversification drives in recent years have yielded strong results for the Kingdom, with non-oil growth now outstripping that of the oil sector. Of particular interest to foreign investors is the opening of the Kingdom’s stock exchange, Tadawul, to qualified foreign investors for the first time in June 2015, a move expected to boost capital inflows significantly and to further diversify the exchange’s investment platform. International private equity players are taking an increasing interest in the Saudi market, encouraged by its strong growth rates and by government efforts to enhance corporate governance and transparency across the country’s many family-owned businesses. The drive for infrastructure development, meanwhile, has seen major investment in the Kingdom’s transport links, including almost $150bn earmarked for the Kingdom’s railway development programme, which aims to lay 9900 km of track by 2040, and upgrades to King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and King Abdullah Port near Jeddah. Domestic tourism too has seen steady expansion over the past year, with the construction and real estate sectors directly benefitting from the rising number of leisure, hospitality and retail builds coming on-line.
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