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These have been profitable times for the Saudi insurance sector, although bumpy ground in the economy overall has made the growth of premiums more challenging. The sector is undergoing a significant overhaul as a stronger regulatory framework is progressively implemented and enforced, and moves to consolidate the market are in progress. Developments in the health segment continue to look promising after a recent expansion of compulsory health insurance while further widening to include more of the domestic population in obligatory schemes was witnessed 2017. This chapter contains an interview with Abdulaziz Al Boug, CEO, Tawuniya.

Saudi Arabia’s investment environment as a whole is undergoing an overhaul, with Vision 2030 promoting private sector growth, economic diversification, improved infrastructure and a stronger legislative framework for investors. The alternative investment segment in particular should benefit from this, with enhanced rules relating to VC and PE, and a broadening range of targets likely to emerge in the coming years, while greater confidence in the country’s economic future will support fundraising. The government’s involvement through public sector company funds and support for innovation is an important element, and the symbiotic relationships being formed with international investors should benefit local players as well as global targets. This chapter contains an interview with Khaled Al Aboodi, CEO, Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector.

Subdued oil prices deflated investor sentiment across the GCC throughout most of 2017. However, mid-2017 brought some encouraging developments: news of a possible MSCI reclassification resulted in a spike in the main index of the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) in the summer of 2017. In 2016 the government launched the National Transformation Programme 2020, with the goal of turning the economy around and taking steps towards achieving the objectives laid out in Vision 2030, the long-term national plan to become a modern, diversified economy. While the onset of the NTP improved investor sentiment by clarifying the government’s long-term objectives, in September 2017 the NTP was revised, postponing some deadlines and removing other elements from the plan altogether. These changes make future progress towards Vision 2030 less certain, which could have negative effects on investor sentiment. While this may discourage some investment in the short term, an ongoing process of reform carried out by the exchange authorities promises to attract more interest in new market instruments. This chapter contains interviews with Mohammed El Kuwaiz, Chairman, Capital Markets Authority; Sarah Al Suhaimi, Chair, Saudi Stock Exchange; and Majed Najm, CEO, HSBC Saudi Arabia.

Despite the effects of lower international oil prices placing downward pressure on sector profitability, Saudi Arabia’s banks have succeeded in expanding their assets over the past year. While the trend of lower profits is likely to prevail over the medium term, the Kingdom’s banks are well positioned to capitalise on the growth opportunities encompassed in the country’s new economic development strategy. The modern banking landscape emerged from the oil boom that followed the Second World War, a period of economic transformation driven by strong revenue flows from growing hydrocarbons exports. A rapidly expanding money supply and an increasing number of banking institutions called for greater supervision of the market, and in 1952 the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority was established and tasked with regulating the banking industry. This chapter contains interviews with Ahmed Alkholifey, Governor, Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority; Rania Nashar, CEO, Samba Financial Group; and Soren Nikolajsen, Managing Director, Alawwal Bank.

For many decades Saudi Arabia has built its financial reserves with the proceeds of oil exports, while its increasingly affluent consumers have established the country as a significant importer of goods and services. However, lower oil prices have eroded the Kingdom’s healthy trade surplus, reminding countries around the world of the importance of having a diversified export base. Saudi Arabia’s newly formulated economic strategy aims to do just that, and targets an increase in foreign direct investment inflows to accomplish some of its goals. The coming years are likely to see considerable alterations to both the investment environment and the mechanisms that govern trading activity, as authorities aim to translate the strategy to reality. This chapter contains interviews with Ibrahim Al Omar, Governor, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority; and Saleh Al Solami, Secretary General, Saudi Exports Development Authority.

As a member of the G20 and the world’s 17th-largest exporter, Saudi Arabia is an economic powerhouse. Classified as a high-income nation by the World Bank, its population of over 30m has established a consumer market in which domestic and global businesses have prospered. The exploitation of its hydrocarbons resources has driven growth for decades, and the nation’s trading status has been augmented by its geographic advantage as a connector of three continents as well as its proximity to the Red Sea – through which 10% of world trade travels. However, this period of low oil prices has presented a number of challenges, not just to Saudi Arabia but to economies across the region. Consequently, economic reform is taking place in many Gulf countries, and the long-standing goal of diversifying revenues away from hydrocarbons is more preeminent than ever. This chapter contains interviews with Prince Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed Al Saud, President, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology; Abdullah Al Sagheir, Acting Governor, General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises; and Ahmed S Al Rajhi, Chairman, Riyadh Chamber.