Seventh International Competitiveness Forum discusses building competitive companies
<For the first time, the forum will organize an exhibition (Invest in Saudi Arabia)
Riyadh-Amlak
All necessary preparations have been completed for the launch of the seventh International Competitiveness Forum organized by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) from January 18-20 in Riyadh. The forum is considered one of the distinguished international economic events in the Middle East, and attracts the most prominent leaders and international figures to meet in the capital Riyadh every year, exchanging through its various sessions and dialogues the most important experiences and lessons learned and reviewing the most prominent international experiences in the field of developing national economies and enhancing their competitiveness.
All preparations have been completed for the launch of the seventh International Competitiveness Forum organized by the General Authority for Investment from January 18 to 20 in Riyadh.
Competitive partnerships
The forum will discuss a number of economic topics, including the issue of building competitive partnerships at the level of state institutions and their agencies concerned with economic affairs on the one hand and partnerships with private sector enterprises on the other hand, and the impact of these partnerships and their effectiveness in enhancing the competitiveness of the economy The organizers of the forum this year seek to diversify the level of presentation and comprehensiveness of competitiveness issues and topics by highlighting a number of pressing development challenges faced by economies aspiring to transform into an economy based on productive efficiency and achieve sustainable development Topics such as technology transfer, job localization, etc.
Sessions and panel discussions
On the internal level, the importance of choosing the topic of competitive partnerships, which will be addressed by participants in the forum through more than (13) sessions and panel discussions, stands out, as it comes days after the announcement of the figures and items of the Kingdom's budget for 2014, which carried with it many indicators and evidence that reflect the strength and durability of the Saudi economy and its dynamism and the impact of this on providing more opportunities and investment areas available to the private sector and its institutions, and the importance of investing the great potential that still lies in the Saudi economy, especially in sectors promising investment.
G20 economies
In this context, the Forum aims, through its various activities, to consolidate this role given to the Saudi private sector, both local and foreign, to lead the development train towards a broader and wider horizon of achievements that enhance the Kingdom's position within the group of the twenty largest economies in the world as well as strengthening its position in the list of the twenty most competitive economies around the world. This requires deepening the forms and level of complementary partnership between the public and private sectors, especially since the latter recorded a strong presence in this period, which was evident in its contribution to the GDP of about 35% in 2012 with a growth rate of about 9%, and official data in this regard indicate that the contribution of this sector in the volume of investment amounted to 53%. investment amounted to 53% (314 billion riyals out of 591 billion riyals representing the total fixed capital formation), a percentage that surpassed the public sector, whose investment spending amounted to 208 billion riyals, with a growth rate in these investments of about 10% compared to 2011, of which foreign direct investments accounted for about 45 billion riyals.
Invest in Saudi Arabia
The organization of the forum comes within the framework of SAGIA's efforts through a number of relevant authorities to create an integrated system to activate and develop investment opportunities in coordination with the regulators of each of the targeted sectors, and work to enhance the investment environment and ease of doing business, in addition to continuing to improve the investment environment and the competitiveness of the Kingdom.
Therefore, the private sector will be strongly present alongside government agencies in the activities and sessions of the Forum; this year's events will witness for the first time the organization of the "Invest in Saudi Arabia" exhibition, which aims to highlight the elements of investment opportunities that abound in the Kingdom's regions in various sectors, with the participation of a number of government agencies and private sector companies.
