Saudi Arabia has undergone significant reforms to foster growth and diversification. While some initiatives were delayed during the Covid-19 pandemic, progress in areas such as the digital economy accelerated. Aided by elevated oil prices in 2022, strategies underlined in Vision 2030 continue moving forwards, and the Kingdom today presents ample opportunities for foreign investors, underpinned by efforts to boost private sector participation in the economy.
With increasing oil and gas prices and an expanding non-oil sector, Saudi Arabia has been logging record trade surpluses in recent years, while securing government revenue for future investment. The Kingdom is expected to be among the fastest-growing economies in the G20 in 2022 – and was on track to fulfil that forecast by the middle of the year. Indeed, in the first three months of 2022 GDP expanded by 9.9% year-on-year, and 2.6% quarter-on-quarter. To support this, Saudi Arabia has been making changes to its domestic structure and policy frameworks, a result of the implementation of the Kingdom’s long-term socio-economic development plan, Vision 2030. Giga-projects such as NEOM are attracting the attention of the international investment community, and multinational companies are increasingly choosing Riyadh as the location for their regional headquarters, helping the country attract $19.bn in foreign direct investment in 2021.
Leading by example: Mohammed Al Rumaih, CEO, Saudi Exchange, on helping firms list, mature and...
Downstream development: Suliman Almazroua, CEO, National Industrial Development and Logistics...
Steady reform: Hamad Al Sheikh, Former Minister of Education, on boosting innovation and...
Enabling evolution: Omer Alnomany, CEO, solutions by stc, on opportunities to enhance the Kingdom’s...
Capacity boost: Turki Al Shehri, CEO, Engie Saudi Arabia, on green hydrogen, energy efficiency and...
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