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Saudi Arabia’s Transformation Plans Achieve Record Results at Accelerated Pace

The Saudi Center for Economic Business provides facilitated services to the business sector in the country (SPA)
The Saudi Center for Economic Business provides facilitated services to the business sector in the country (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia’s Transformation Plans Achieve Record Results at Accelerated Pace

The Saudi Center for Economic Business provides facilitated services to the business sector in the country (SPA)
The Saudi Center for Economic Business provides facilitated services to the business sector in the country (SPA)

A system that operates under the National Transformation Program, one of the pillars of Saudi Vision 2030, has achieved record results at a fast pace during 2023.
The program seeks to accelerate digital transformation in the Kingdom and focuses on a wide range of priorities, including, empowering the private sector, achieving government excellence, and developing economic partnerships.
A recent report issued by the program, a copy of which was reviewed by Asharq Al-Awsat, showed the extensive progress of the national transformation system over the past year, with services becoming easier and more comprehensive thanks to the many initiatives implemented by the various ministries and concerned bodies.
According to the report, the Ministry of Economy and Planning launched the “Saudi Census,” the most accurate and most comprehensive in the history of the Kingdom, in addition to the Saudi Data Platform, which includes major economic and social indicators.
The report said that the Ministry of Investment was able to issue more than 180 licenses for regional headquarters for international companies, and develop 1,200 investment opportunities on the “Invest in Saudi Arabia” platform, in addition to holding more than 31 global forums.
Moreover, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture launched a number of initiatives and programs over the past year, including 25 stations to monitor noise pollution, 100 stations to monitor light pollution, the Climate Change Center, and the Regional Center for Warning of Dust and Sand Storms, in addition to other platforms.
For its part, the Ministry of Commerce launched a number of programs, including, the Business Growth Acceleration Program, as well as the Stanford for Entrepreneurs and Leaders program, and the “Slingshot” program.
Last year, the Ministry of Justice unveiled many services that contribute to accelerating the implementation of real estate operations, in addition to the updated version of the Najiz platform, which seeks to improve the quality of services provided and raise the satisfaction rate of beneficiaries.
As for the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, it has witnessed tangible developments, including the launch of the open data platform, the new version of the Tawakkalna application, the national data government platform, and the national data index “Nadha”, in partnership with the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA).
The Ministry of Communications established eight innovation laboratories at the Center for Digital Entrepreneurship (CODE), to empower entrepreneurs and owners of emerging digital projects and to grow digital businesses, as well as the “Tuwaiq” program, which offers a range of training courses in programming, design and modern technologies.
Since the launch of Saudi Vision 2030, the major positive transformations witnessed in the country’s cities and regions have contributed to shaping a new, higher quality of life and providing better livelihoods.

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ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
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ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde renewed her call for economic integration across Europe on Friday, arguing that intensifying global trade tensions and a growing technology gap with the United States create fresh urgency for action.
US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose tariffs on most if not all imports and said Europe would pay a heavy price for having run a large trade surplus with the US for decades.
"The geopolitical environment has also become less favorable, with growing threats to free trade from all corners of the world," Lagarde said in a speech, without directly referring to Trump.
"The urgency to integrate our capital markets has risen."
While Europe has made some progress, EU members tend to water down most proposals to protect vested national interests to the detriment of the bloc as a whole, Reuters quoted Lagarde as saying.
But this is taking hundreds of billions if not trillions of euros out of the economy as households are holding 11.5 trillion euros in cash and deposits, and much of this is not making its way to the firms that need the funding.
"If EU households were to align their deposit-to-financial assets ratio with that of US households, a stock of up to 8 trillion euros could be redirected into long-term, market-based investments – or a flow of around 350 billion euros annually," Lagarde said.
When the cash actually enters the capital market, it often stays within national borders or leaves for the US in hope of better returns, Lagarde added.
Europe therefore needs to reduce the cost of investing in capital markets and must make the regulatory regime easier for cash to flow to places where it is needed the most.
A solution might be to create an EU-wide regulatory regime on top of the 27 national rules and certain issuers could then opt into this framework.
"To bypass the cumbersome process of regulatory harmonization, we could envisage a 28th regime for issuers of securities," Lagarde said. "They would benefit from a unified corporate and securities law, facilitating cross-border placement, holding and settlement."
Still, that would not solve the problem that few innovative companies set up shop in Europe, partly due to the lack of funding. So Europe must make it easier for investment to flow into venture capital and for banks to fund startups, she said.