Saudi Arabia unveils National Investment Strategy to drive GDP growth

By Arya M Nair, Official Reporter
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Saudi Arabia
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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Council for Economic and Development Affairs (CEDA) has announced the launch of the National Investment Strategy (NIS), a key facilitator to deliver on Vision 2030.

The NIS will help the Kingdom’s economy grow and diversify, achieving many of Vision 2030’s goals, such as increasing the private sector’s contribution to GDP to 65 percent, increasing FDI’s contribution to GDP to 5.7 percent, increasing non-oil exports’ contribution to GDP from 16 percent to 50 percent, lowering the unemployment rate to 7 percent, and positioning the Kingdom among the top ten economies in the world.

Prince Mohammed stated that by 2030, more than $3 trillion will be poured into the national economy through investment activity, with $1.3 trillion coming from the Shareek program initiatives, $799 trillion from the Public Investment Fund, and the remaining $1 trillion coming from investments facilitated by the NIS.

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Mohammed Bin Salman Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia

“Investment is one of the means that will help us achieve the ambitions and aspirations of the kingdom’s Vision 2030, including the development, diversification and sustainability of the economy, the transfer, and localization of technology, infrastructure development, improving the quality of life, providing job opportunities, refining the skills of our human resources and enhancing their capabilities, to leave a legacy of prosperity for tomorrow’s generations.”

Further, the economy will receive $2.6 trillion through government spending during the next 10 years and a further $1.3 trillion from private consumption spending in the same period. This represents a total injection of $7 trillion in the next decade.

By achieving these targets, Saudi’s investment contribution to GDP is predicted to rise from 22 percent in 2019 to 30 percent by 2030, making it one of the world’s top 15 economies, while the NIS is expected to increase annual FDI flows to $103 billion and domestic investment to $453 billion by 2030.

The NIS will also boost investment in the Kingdom by improving the business environment, increasing investment attractiveness and competitiveness, enforcing key regulatory and legislative measures, connecting investors with investment opportunities, providing incentive packages for selected projects, and attracting regional headquarters to the Kingdom.

Related: World Tourism Organization, NEOM unite to evolve Saudi Arabia’s Tourism future

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