During 23-26 January, 2018 at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, world political and business leaders have been listening to a high profile Saudi delegation, including politicians and businessmen, talk about the progress and promise within Saudi Arabia.
His Excellency Mohammed Al Jadaan, Minister of Finance, has been talking at public and private panels, including the Country Dialogue Session and a discussion on Building Saudi Arabia’s Future Economy, to packed audiences.
H.E. Al Jadaan focused on market reform under Vision 2030, and how it is taking a critical role in improving the overall business environment, reinvigorating the Kingdom’s mineral resources sector, developing renewable energy capacity, localizing defence industries, and investing in workforce development and education.
“We have a strong and resilient economy, strong reserves and a low deficit percentage to allow us to withstand external shocks,” he said. He drew attention to the Kingdom’s commitment to increased transparency including the full disclosure of Saudi’s budget reporting this year.
Al Jadaan also highlighted the World Bank’s recognition of Saudi Arabia’s successful reforms in 2017 to support SMEs, which resulted in a 9% increase in revenues among small businesses and a 14% increase in revenues for medium businesses.
Mentioning the anti-corruption reforms, His Excellency said that as they are now in place it means a level playing field for all: “We have no tolerance for corruption that wastes the public funds, and we want to ensure the sustainability of the growth of the national economy”, he explained.
Al Jadaan also spoke about the introduction of subsidy reform and stimulus to support citizens and sectors that need it most, as well as the Citizen's Account that supports low income families, funded by utility tariff increases.
Regarding the economy, he explained how Saudi is investing in the future, with targeted spending that supports economic growth. For instance, total expenditure of 926 Billion SAR, up 12% from 2016, with expenditure on education, health and social development, and municipal services totalling 410 SAR Billion - 44% of 2017 government spending.
We are also aiming to increase the share of SME financing at banks from 2% today to 5% by 2020; share of mortgages in bank financing will increase to 16% from its level today of 7%.
He forecast that the decision to allow women to drive could have a massive impact on long-term finances. According to Bloomberg Intelligence, even a slow impact on labour force participation could add up to USD 90 billion by 2030.
He also reminded the audiences that Saudi has opened financial markets to tech innovation, fintech, and SMEs via 8 Game Changer initiatives.
Al Jadaan concluded by saying that the government has worked to establish a framework for privatization with NCP and aims to raise approximately USD 200 billion over the next few years.