Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz has announced the launch of the National Investment Strategy (NIS).
The NIS will help the Kingdom’s economy grow and diversify, achieving many of Vision 2030’s goals. These include increasing the private sector’s contribution to GDP to 65%, increasing FDI’s contribution to GDP to 5.7%, growing non-oil exports’ contribution to GDP from 16% to 50%, and lowering the unemployment rate to 7%, according to a statement.
Speaking at the launch of the National Investment Strategy, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman: “Today, the Kingdom embarks on a new investment era to empower Saudi and international private-sector investors with more and better opportunities. Investment is without a doubt one of the main routes for us to achieve the ambitions and aspirations of Vision 2030, among them economic development, diversification and sustainability; technology transfer and localisation; infrastructure development; better quality of life; job opportunities and the upskilling of our human resources, leaving a legacy of prosperity for future generations.
“The National Investment Strategy is all about empowering investors, offering investment opportunities, providing financing solutions and enhancing competitiveness. It also clarifies the partnership between the public and private sectors, as our mission is now to open the door to the private sector and allow it to grow and prosper.”
By 2030, more than SAR 12 trillion will have been injected into the national economy through investment activity
He noted that manufacturing, renewable energy, transportation and logistics, tourism, digital infrastructure, and health care are among the areas for which the NIS will develop detailed investment plans.
Creating special economic zones with incentives to attract investments in priority sectors; a program to transfer strategic supply chains to the Kingdom and gain market share in supply chain components; and diversifying funding options, which includes developing new financing solutions for the private sector to promote capital formation, are just a few of the initiatives included in the strategy.
By 2030, more than SAR 12 trillion will have been injected into the national economy through investment activity: SAR 5 trillion will come from Shareek program initiatives, SAR 3 trillion from the Public Investment Fund, and SAR 4 trillion from investments facilitated by the NIS.
By achieving these objectives, the Kingdom’s investment contribution to GDP is predicted to rise from 22% in 2019 to 30% in 2030
Furthermore, the economy will receive SAR 10 trillion in government spending over the next 10 years, followed by SAR 5 trillion in private consumption spending, for a total injection of SAR 27 trillion over the following decade.
By achieving these objectives, the Kingdom’s investment contribution to GDP is predicted to rise from 22% in 2019 to 30% in 2030, making it one of the world’s top 15 economies. Meanwhile, by 2030, the NIS expects to grow annual FDI inflow to SAR 388 billion and annual domestic investment to SAR 1.7 trillion.
The NIS will also help local companies position their products and services successfully in regional and global markets. This will be achieved by improving the business environment, increasing investment attractiveness and competitiveness, enacting key regulatory and legislative measures, connecting investors with investment opportunities, offering incentive packages for selected projects, and attracting regional headquarters to the Kingdom. The strategy also works in tandem with the various vision realisation programs’ investment strategies.