Seventh Competitiveness Forum concludes amid regional and international participation
\n\u2022\tMinister of Planning: 2 trillion riyals in investments are under implementation in infrastructure and construction
\n\u2022\tTourism Authority Chief: This year will witness major changes in the national tourism industry
\nRiyadh-Property
\n The seventh Competitiveness Forum, organized by the General Authority for Investment at the Four Seasons Hotel in Burj Kingdom in Riyadh under the theme \u201cBuilding Competitive Partnerships,\u201d concluded its activities during the period from January 18 to 20 this year, with the participation of a large number of the leading figures in economic thought and investment, as well as global personalities and a number of officials from the Kingdom.<\/p>\n
Infrastructure
\n Minister of Economy and Planning Dr. Mohammed al-Jasser, addressing the seventh competitiveness forum at the Four Seasons Hotel in Burj Al-Makkah, explained that the Kingdom\u2019s economy is vibrant and dynamic, as it has recorded only one negative growth in 25 years; the Kingdom also enjoys a distinctive financial position, with the debt-to-GDP ratio standing at only 2.7%, a low percentage.<\/p>\n
The Minister of Economy revealed that the state has invested huge sums in infrastructure and continues to do so; the estimated percentage of investments under implementation in the construction infrastructure sectors of highways, railways, metro lines, ports, economic cities, and others is approximately 2 trillion riyals.<\/p>\n
He said: \u00abThe Kingdom ranks nineteenth among the major economies in the world, and at the regional level, it enjoys abundant energy resources; it possesses about 25% of the world's oil reserves; it forms a strategic link between the East and the West; and its location makes it a gateway to regional markets, with access to about 300 million consumers within no more than three hours by plane from Riyadh.\".
\nInitiating initiatives
\n Engineer Abdul Latif Al-Othman, Governor of the General Investment Authority, explained that the Kingdom has launched numerous economic initiatives to strengthen its environment and business environment.
\nIn his speech, Osman emphasized that in 2000 there was the Foreign Investment Law, which was implemented in 2005, and in the same year it joined the World Trade Agreement, and began its major efforts in developing and reforming its trade and economic systems related to investors, such as: low-interest long-term lending, as well as a competitive tax system.<\/p>\n
Osman explained that the Kingdom has a very large market in terms of consumption, which makes it one of the best countries in terms of the Free Trade Agreement. Today, Saudi Arabia is considered one of the largest economies in the world. We have a strong youth force, with 61% of Saudi Arabia\u2019s workforce being young people, and 35% of them are under the age of 15.
\n Tourism in the Kingdom
\n For his part, His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities, confirmed that the recent decisions issued by the state to support tourism and national heritage are the culmination of a systematic accumulation of work over the years, noting that this work forms the foundation for all future achievements in this sector.
\n In his speech at the forum, he explained that 2014 will, God willing, witness major transformations in the national tourism industry. He added: \u00abThe Kingdom possesses many assets that make it a competitive environment in various sectors, including: its geographical location dating back thousands of years; he noted the recent issuance of a cabinet decision approving the \u00bbKing Abdullah Project for the Care of Cultural Heritage\u00ab; and a decision \u00abto support the General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities financially and administratively to carry out the tasks assigned to it under the system\u00bb; pointing out that the decision confirms the state\u2019s interest in national heritage.\u00ab.
\nSessions and discussions
\nThe forum discussed a number of working papers related to the economy, sustainable development, tourism, and investment, in order to strengthen the concept of active partnership and improve the competitiveness of the business and investment environment. The forum also highlighted Saudi Arabia and the investment opportunities in it. The session, titled \"Completing the National Industry Development,\" discussed the consumer's desire to purchase local products, and the increasingly aggressive efforts of governments to develop the competitive advantage of their countries. It also answered questions about what we need from products (made in Saudi Arabia), what does \"made in Saudi Arabia\" mean, what can be manufactured for export, and how we can transform our economy from relying on energy to relying on knowledge. In addition to local content and identifying local competitive areas.
\nMr. Andrew Levers, CEO of Dow Chemical, explained that \u00abevery job within a factory provides three jobs outside; therefore we must support the advanced manufacturing component in this ecosystem; where collaboration leads the innovation train. Manufacturing provides more than 90% of the research spending; it transforms production into innovation, and innovation into prosperity.\u201d As part of our commitment, we began a partnership with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, studied the Advanced Manufacturing Plan in Saudi Arabia, presented the results in America and in the European Union countries, and found many supporters of what we are saying. The Kingdom is at the forefront of oil-exporting countries, but that is not the only supporter of industry. Our company is committed to being a partner in this progress.
\nBright experiences
\nFor his part, Tamim al-Mashooq, Vice President of Business Development at Aramco, emphasized that \u00abAramco\u2019s legacy is well known to everyone in the Kingdom; since our early days in the 1930s, we have developed many large projects and supported entrepreneurs. Today, I want to make it clear that we need a different mindset regarding our work; within this framework, there is a model we adhere to, which is deeply rooted.
\nAl-Mirdhis Deputy Chief Financial Officer at SABIC spoke about an experience from SABIC, saying: \u00abWe started promoting the \u2018Made in Saudi Arabia\u2019 brand from the very first day of working at SABIC. When we started, the plastics and petrochemicals sector was weak, but now it has become very strong thanks to the plans and partnerships between us and many manufacturers.\u201d.
\nOne of the national companies that told their success story at this meeting was Alfanar. About their experience, Abdul Salam Al-Malak, the company\u2019s CEO, said: \u00abWe started with a factory of three thousand square meters, and we have developed very significantly over the years, with good jobs and business. Today we can quickly capture a large part of the market with products that suit the Saudi market.\u201d.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> Minutes<\/span><\/span>The Seventh Competitiveness Forum concludes its activities amidst regional and international participation \u2022 Minister of Planning: 2 trillion riyals in investments are under implementation in infrastructure and construction \u2022 Chairman of the Tourism Authority: This year will witness major transformations in the national tourism industry Riyadh-Amalak concluded the seventh Competitiveness Forum, organized by the General Authority for Investment at the Four Seasons Hotel in the Kingdom Tower in Riyadh under the slogan \u201cBuilding partnerships\u2026 Read more<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"0","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"amlak_video_sent":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7791],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-strategy"],"acf":{"amlak_post_excerpt":"","amlak_post_excerpt_source":{"label":"Amlak post excerpt","type":"text","formatted_value":""}},"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","trp-custom-language-flag":"","event-thumbnail":"","event-medium":"","event-large":"","event-hero":""},"author_info":{"info":["\u0627\u0645\u0644\u0627\u0643 \u0627\u0644\u0639\u0642\u0627\u0631\u064a\u0629"]},"category_info":"\u0627\u0644\u0627\u0633\u062a\u0631\u0627\u062a\u064a\u062c\u064a\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u0648\u0637\u0646\u064a\u0629<\/a>","tag_info":"\u0627\u0644\u0627\u0633\u062a\u0631\u0627\u062a\u064a\u062c\u064a\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u0648\u0637\u0646\u064a\u0629","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87169\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amlak.net.sa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}