Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince launches National Investment Strategy

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched the Kingdom’s National Investment Strategy (NIS) on Monday, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

According to SPA, the National Investment Strategy is one of the main enablers to achieve the goals of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 program.

For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

The National Investment strategy will contribute to the growth of the national economy and diversifying its sources, which will achieve many of the goals of the Vision 2030, including raising the contribution of the private sector to the gross domestic product to 65 percent, and promoting foreign direct investment to reach 5.7 percent of the total GDP.

When launching Vision 2030, the Crown Prince said: “Our country has huge investment capabilities, and we will seek to be an engine for our economy and an additional resource for our country.”

The strategy will also achieve the vision’s goals of increasing the proportion of non-oil exports from 16 percent to 50 percent of the total non-oil GDP, reducing the unemployment rate to 7 percent, and advancing the Kingdom to one of the top ten positions in the global competitiveness index by 2030.

Travel and Tourism Saudi citizens throng restaurants, cafes as staycations boost economy

“Today, we are proud of the remarkable achievements made in the ‘Kingdom of Opportunities’ during the first phase of Vision 2030, under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. We will continue our work to pave the way towards a bright future, enriched by a diversified and sustainable economy,” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said on the occasion of the launch of the National Investment Strategy.

“This strategy is one means to achieve this goal, and we are confident in our abilities to reach our ambitious targets and meet the aspirations of our great people,” he added.

Read more: Saudi’s Crown Prince announces new $13 billion ‘Arabian Highland’ development

According to the Crown Prince, the National Investment Strategy revolves around “empowering investors, developing and providing investment opportunities, providing financing solutions, and enhancing competitiveness.”

It also contributes to increasing the effectiveness of the partnership between the public and private sectors.

SPA reported that the Crown Prince explained that achieving the Kingdom’s ambitious investment goals will be through concerted efforts, and the participation of a number of entities, such as the Public Investment Fund (PIF), in investing in Saudi Arabia according to its strategy.

A picture taken on March 16, 2021, shows a view of the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in the Saudi capital Riyadh. (AFP)

The Crown Prince stressed that the next phase of the strategy includes the development of detailed investment plans for different sectors, including the renewable energy sector, the transport and logistics sector, the tourism sector, and others.

The Crown Prince said that more than 12 trillion riyals ($3.2 trillion) will be injected into the local economy up until 2030.

The economy will receive another 10 trillion riyals ($2.67 trillion) of government spending through the state’s general budget during the next ten years, and another 5 trillion riyals ($1.33 trillion) of private consumption spending for the same period, bringing the total spending to nearly 27 trillion riyals ($7.2 trillion).

The National Investment Strategy aims to raise net foreign direct investment flows to 388 billion riyals ($103.46 billion) annually and increase domestic investment to reach about 1.7 trillion riyals ($0.45 trillion) annually by 2030.

It is expected that the investment-to-GDP ratio of the Kingdom will rise from 22 percent in 2019 to 30 percent in 2030, which will contribute to the growth of the Saudi economy to become one of the 15 largest economies in the world, according to SPA.

Read more:

Saudi Arabia’s non-oil new business growth at seven-year high in September

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to sell part of stake in Saudi Telecom

Saudi government expects budget deficit to shift to surplus in 2023