Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia stands to draw enough large-scale investment thanks to its access to natural resources, regulatory changes, and its young population, according to the Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim. 

“We have the right kind of incentive structures and governance and processes in order to attract the right kind of investors for the right kind of returns for them as partners,” Alibrahim told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. 

The Saudi government has made more than 700 regulatory changes as it seeks to attract investors, said Alibrahim. “We’re very serious about our diversification efforts,” he added. “We’re open, and we’re talking to all partners who’re interested in the Saudi story.” 

Saudi Arabia saw the most robust increase in employment in almost five years as business conditions in its non-oil economy improved at a slightly slower pace at the end of last year following a surge. 

“We still want to create more jobs, and we want to even reach higher levels,” said Alibrahim. He doesn’t see higher interest rates impacting the Saudi private sector. 

With the highest growth rate among the G20 countries, continuous efforts to diversify the economy and a healthy inflow of foreign direct investment, Saudi Arabia’s market performance has also been resilient. 

“Tadawul is by far the largest stock exchange in the Middle East, and it is seeking to become a regional center with cross-listings of companies from other countries in the Gulf,” Waleed Rasromani, corporate mergers and acquisitions partner of Dubai and Riyadh at Linklaters, a UK-based multinational law firm had told Arab News earlier. 

Intense merger and acquisition activity combined with significant growth in initial public offerings have led the Kingdom’s market to evolve and is expected to carry that momentum into 2023. 

The International Monetary Fund also noted that Saudi Arabia would maintain its position as the fastest-growing economy among the G20 countries despite economic headwinds. 

The Saudi Capital Market Authority is also focused on raising institutional investor turnover to 41 percent of the total market turnover by the financial year of 2023. 

The Kingdom’s Financial Sector Development Program is another factor that enables and supports Saudi market growth.