Meet the Kingdom

Saudi Arabia is one of the most populous and wealthiest nations in the Middle East, the heart of the Islamic and Arab world.

Located at the convergence of Europe, Asia, and Africa, the Kingdom is a natural bridge connecting people and goods around the world, representing a crucial logistic hub for both global trade routes and for business expansions.

The Saudi economy has experienced an annual average growth rate of 4% over the past seven years, supported by a pro-business environment that quickly moves the investors to the heart of the Arabic market.

The Kingdom is fully committed developing the investment environment: tremendous efforts in advancing the business ecosystem have been already made, and new measures aimed at making it easier to do business are already planned.

When numbers talk

33.4 Million

Total Population

Approx. 50%

Percentage of Youth (Under 25)

1.6%

Population Growth Rate (next 5 years)

6.08 Million

Saudi labor force

$ 782 Billion

Nominal GDP

$ 23,570

GDP Per Capita

$230.8 Billion

FDI inward stock

Why Saudi Arabia?

01Saudi Arabia's diversification and reform journey

Saudi Arabia has launched Vision 2030, which is aimed at enhancing its business environment and economic performance, by establishing clear priorities, solid alignment amongst all relevant
stakeholders, and serious commitments in leveraging private investments
The implementation of the Kingdom’s project is detailed by 12 Vision Realization Programs, acting as a unique roadmap for the whole country
The new strategy and developments, as well as the positive fundamentals of the Saudi economy, set an unprecedented opportunity for the investors, willing to grow their assets and to succeed worldwide
Saudi Arabia’s multiple growing sectors, such as entertainment, information technology, and financial services, will open new challenges, promising high returns for all investors

02Game-changing opportunities

The government has launched a major privatization program aimed at unlocking state-owned assets and at increasing private investors participation
The localization of the value chain, involving both local and international parties, is another building block of the Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 offering huge opportunities to investors
Large-scale and complex projects, globally unique in scope and ambition, have been also launched, with the aim of transforming the Saudi economy and stimulating the growth of the country
Government initiatives across different areas such as ease of doing business, social and cultural participation, fiscal balance review show the undeniable commitment of the Kingdom in improving the whole business environment

03Integrated infrastructure

Saudi Arabia enjoys a strategic natural location linking three different continents, creating a central focal point for all international investors
The Red Sea captures 13% of global trade flows and the largest Saudi seaport on the Red Sea is the second fastest growing in the world making the Kingdom a critical logistics hub for all global trades
Large efforts are already in place to optimize the transportation network, with the final goal of optimizing local facilities and cross-border interconnections, as well as ensuring the highest level of service for the whole logistics system
Key enabler for the realization of the Vision 2030 is the setup of an efficient digital IT infrastructure, which requires private sector collaboration on different areas such as telecommunications, cloud computing, high-speed broadband, and digital transformation

04Attractive property solutions

Investing in Saudi Arabia means also having the valuable opportunity to take advantage of more than 35 industrial and economic cities, strategically positioned and designed to provide operational competitive advantages such as production synergies, cluster benefits, and scale effects
Each city is a special zone operated by a master developer to maximize the investment potential and to deliver considerable supporting infrastructure such as shared services and on-site facilities to investors
The supply of industrial land, commercial real estate and utilities at very competitive price is considered a distinctive factor for the Kingdom, compared to other countries worldwide

05Young and skilled workforce

50% of Saudi Arabia’s population is under 25 years old

Youth is fueling a 6% annual growth of the Saudi workforce, contributing to strengthening the development, the capabilities and the effectiveness of the national workforce

Education is the Government’s first largest spending item, confirming the Kingdom’s commitment to investing in the quality of its future leadership

The country's recent progress in scientific research is driven by major local universities whose leading approach is to link academic activities to the real needs and opportunities in the market

06Expanding quality of life

Saudi Arabia is amongst the countries with the lowest level of taxation; as a matter of fact, there is no individual income tax scheme in the country
The Kingdom has been ranked among the top safest places in the world, thanks to fewer natural disasters and to the constant efforts in ensuring information exchanges and comprehensive security solutions
Ranked number 26 worldwide for quality of the healthcare system, the country enjoys world-class facilities and services
New trends like women driving, tourism transformation and cultural expansion will disrupt the quality of life in the Kingdom, stimulating fresh market demand and growing the potential for local and international investment

07Leading financial sector

Saudi Arabia enjoys a stable monetary system and a well-capitalized financial sector (143% monetary total assets to national GDP in 2017)

The average banking sector Tier 1 capital-to-risk-weighted-assets ratio is approx. 18.5% in 2018, characterizing one of the strongest systems worldwide in terms of resilience and capital adequacy

The Saudi capitalmarket, Tadawul, is the largest in the MENA and Turkey region, with a market capitalization of approx. $538bn in 2019 and deep and liquid debt and equity securities

Specific regulations and initiatives have been recently implemented by Saudi regulatory entities such as : A) the settlement cycle amended from T+0 to T+2, with securities’ transactions completed after two business days following the transaction execution date, B) the opening of the domestic IPO market to qualified foreign investors, and c) the introduction of NOMU, a parallel equity market with lighter listing requirements serving as alternative platform for all companies to go public

The recent regulatory reforms have led to the inclusion of Saudi Arabia’s stock market to the Emerging Market index of leading global index The inclusion is expected to generate up to $17bn of passive and up to $40bn of active capital flows by 2020