Minister of Finance: The Kingdom Continues to ‎Implement the Vision Programs, Continue ‎Reforms and Expand the Economic Base

His Excellency the Minister of Finance, Mohammed bin Abdullah ‎AlJadaan, inaugurated today the “Euromoney Saudi 2022” ‎Conference, which is organized by Euromoney Conferences in ‎partnership with the Financial Sector Conference, under the slogan ‎‎“Institutionalization of Investment and Finance”, in the presence of ‎a number of Their Excellencies the Ministers and Heads of Sectors ‎of the financial system, and a number of officials and specialists in ‎the financial and economic sectors at the local and international ‎levels.‎

During his speech at the inauguration of the conference, His ‎Excellency explained that hosting this important event “comes in ‎conjunction with continuing to reap more positive results from the ‎comprehensive reforms that our country has witnessed over the ‎past years achieving the objectives of the programs of the ‎Kingdom’s Vision 2030.” He noted that “in spite of the several ‎challenges the world has faced over the past few years, the Saudi ‎economy has emerged stronger than ever, as the non-oil economy ‎grew by 5.4% in the second quarter of 2022 in real terms ‎compared to the same period in the previous year. The GDP also ‎grew by 11.8%.” ‎

According to the International Monetary Fund for 2022, The GDP ‎growth for the Kingdom is expected to reach 7.6%, and the ‎Kingdom is the only G20 country that the International Monetary ‎Fund has upgraded its forecast for its growth twice in 2022, with ‎the expected continued high rates of GDP growth for 2023 and in ‎the following years.‎

He added: “The challenges faced by the world, including the ‎Kingdom, during the past two years have proven the effectiveness ‎of the Kingdom’s vision, especially in the face of shocks. The ‎Kingsom was able to deal with these challenges thanks to the huge ‎infrastructure investments that enabled business continuity, in ‎addition to the speed of response and decision-making, which ‎contributed significantly to providing the right support at the right ‎time, including launching stimulus packages and activating support ‎tools for the citizens and the private sector, believing in its ‎importance. The Kingdom aims to raise its contribution to the GDP ‎to 65% by 2030.”‎

AlJadaan indicated that the Kingdom is still continuing to implement ‎the vision programs, and is continuing its reforms and expanding ‎the economic base, noting that in terms of developing an ‎advanced financial market (one of the pillars of the financial sector ‎development program), a link is established with Euroclear, the ‎provider of post-trading services through the Securities Depository ‎Center Company (Edaa). He added that the Financial Sector ‎Development Program launched a financial technology strategy ‎that seeks to keep pace with the rapid development in financial ‎technology and achieve qualitative leaps in the field of financial ‎services that keep pace with the continuous development in ‎business and services. Adding that the strategy seeks to increase ‎the number of financial technology companies operating in the ‎Kingdom to 230 by 2025, and to increase the share of non-cash ‎transactions to 70% by 2025, pointing out that venture investment ‎in the Kingdom achieved, during the first half of 2022, a growth of ‎‎244% compared to the first half of 2021, exceeding the total funds ‎invested in Saudi startups in the whole of 2021, with record ‎investments amounting to two billion and 190 million Riyals.‎

In terms of housing, the Finance Minister indicated that the rate of ‎household ownership in the Kingdom increased from 47% in 2016 ‎to more than 60%, through the development of support ‎mechanisms in partnership with the private sector.‎

In terms of maintaining the sustainability and stability of public ‎finances and economic growth rates, he explained that the ‎financial sustainability program contributed to controlling the deficit ‎rates and strengthening the Kingdom’s financial position to face ‎shocks, in addition to introducing many structural reforms in the ‎process of preparing the country’s general budget and and raising ‎spending efficiency. ‎

AlJadaan stressed that the sustainable economy and green ‎transformation have a special place in Vision 2030, pointing that ‎the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is moving forward at an accelerating ‎pace towards facing the challenges of climate change, as it made ‎clear commitments to achieve zero emissions neutrality by 2060. A ‎package of initiatives has also been launched that will contribute to ‎reducing carbon emissions by more than 278 million tons annually, ‎in addition to increasing the production capacity of renewable ‎energy with the aim of saving 50% of electricity production inside ‎the Kingdom, implementing programs to raise energy efficiency ‎and investing in clean hydrocarbon technology projects. The ‎Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also announced investments worth more ‎than 700 billion Riyals to contribute to the development of the ‎green economy, create quality job opportunities, and provide huge ‎investment opportunities for the private sector, in accordance with ‎the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and Green Saudi Initiative.‎

His Excellency AlJadaan noted the decrease in the unemployment ‎rate among Saudis to its lowest level, reaching about 10.1% during ‎the first quarter of 2022, compared to about 11.0% during the ‎fourth quarter of the year 2021, and this rate is the lowest during ‎the past ten years. The Kingdom’s government has been able to ‎control inflation rates at much lower levels than most countries of ‎the world. The average inflation rate until July of this year was ‎about 2.1% compared to the same period last year, thanks to the ‎policies adopted by the government of the Custodian of the Two ‎Holy Mosques under the direct supervision and guidance of the ‎leader and inspirer of Saudi Arabia’s Vision, the Crown Prince.‎

The conference discussed six main topics, including: “Saudi ‎Arabia’s economy in the context of global outlook”, “climate change ‎and ESG”, “the role of ESG in the Kingdom’s economy”, ‎‎“institutionalizing the real estate market, housing, logistics, tourism ‎and hospitality and REITS”, digitizing financial services, and ‎developing investment capital in the Kingdom. The conference ‎reviewed the latest trends in the regional and global financial ‎markets by bringing together senior financial policy and decision ‎makers to draw a future picture of the Kingdom’s economy for the ‎post-Covid-19 pandemic.‎

During the conference, a number of key interviews were conducted ‎with: His Excellency the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and ‎Housing, Majid bin Abdullah AlHogail; His Excellency the Chairman ‎of the Board of the Capital Market Authority, Mohammed bin ‎Abdullah AlQuwaiz; the President of Mercer in Asia, the Middle ‎East and Africa (AMEA), Renee McGowan; and the Ambassador, ‎Advisor and Co-founder of Seven Investment Management, Justin ‎Urquhart Stewart.‎

The Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference is a vital platform that ‎reflects the reality of the Kingdom’s economy in light of the ‎developments the country is witnessing, and hosting it this year ‎coincides with the Kingdom’s transformation into an investment ‎center in the region.‎