Saudi Arabia to Open First Financial Center with Unified Policies, Guidelines

The Leadership Forum for the Transformation to Accrual Accounting was organized by the Ministry of Finance in Riyadh on Tuesday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Leadership Forum for the Transformation to Accrual Accounting was organized by the Ministry of Finance in Riyadh on Tuesday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia to Open First Financial Center with Unified Policies, Guidelines

The Leadership Forum for the Transformation to Accrual Accounting was organized by the Ministry of Finance in Riyadh on Tuesday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Leadership Forum for the Transformation to Accrual Accounting was organized by the Ministry of Finance in Riyadh on Tuesday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Chairman of the Steering Committee at the Ministry of Finance, Abdulaziz Al-Furaih, announced on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia was preparing to open the first financial center, which will be based on an integrated system of unified and harmonized standards, policies and guides at the national level.

Al-Furaih noted that the move aims to increase the efficiency of the government’s financial and accounting performance, adding that converting the entity to the accrual basis according to the new system would provide accurate and comprehensive financial information that supports decision-making.

“It also enables performance evaluation, setting targets and accountability, objectivity, and other benefits that improve the capabilities of the entity and the system in all financial and economic fields,” he underlined.

Al-Furaih’s remarks came during the opening of the Leadership Forum for the Transformation to Accrual Accounting, which was organized by the Ministry of Finance in Riyadh on Tuesday.

He pointed to the issuance of more than 190 opening balance lists for the year 2022, equivalent to 95 percent of the target in the number of lists, and more than 180 transitional financial lists for the same year, or 90 percent of the target.

He stressed that the transformation achievements would be followed by additional steps that emphasize the sustainability of business on an accrual basis and enhance the gains.

Deputy Minister of Finance for Financial Affairs and Accounts Hamad Al-Kanhal said the shift to the accrual basis is one of the Vision 2030 initiatives, adding that it is the appropriate basis for building financial information that supports the decision-making process.

Al-Kanhal stated that the Accounting Merit Pioneers program is one of the transformation management tools that was launched at the Merit Center to support and create competitiveness among government agencies with the aim of stimulating and accelerating transformation within the concerned entities.



Riyadh and Tokyo to Launch Coordination Framework to Boost Cooperation

Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Riyadh and Tokyo to Launch Coordination Framework to Boost Cooperation

Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia and Japan are close to unveiling a higher partnership council that will be headed by the countries’ leaderships in line with efforts to build a partnership that bolsters the technical transformation and joint research in clean energy, communications and other areas, revealed Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the two countries will soon open a new chapter in their sophisticated strategic partnership.

The new council will be chaired by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to push forward the Saudi-Japan Vision 2030, he added.

The council will elevate cooperation between the countries and pave the way for broader dialogue and consultations in various fields to bolster political, defense, economic, cultural and sports cooperation, he explained.

The two parties will work on critical technological partnerships that will focus on assessing and developing technologies to benefit from them, Binzagr said. They will also focus on the economy these technologies can create and in turn, the new jobs they will generate.

These jobs can be inside Saudi Arabia or abroad and provide employers with the opportunity to develop the sectors they are specialized in, he added.

Binzagr said Saudi Arabia and Japan will mark 70s years of relations in 2025, coinciding with the launch of Expo 2025 in Osaka in which the Kingdom will have a major presence.

Relations have been based on energy security and trade exchange with Japan’s need for oil. Now, according to Saudi Vision 2030, they can be based on renewable energy and the post-oil phase, remarked the ambassador.

Several opportunities are available in both countries in the cultural, sports and technical fields, he noted.

Both sides agree that improving clean energy and a sustainable environment cannot take place at the expense of a strong economy or quality of life, but through partnership between their countries to influence the global economy, he explained.

"For the next phase, we are keen on consolidating the concept of sustainable partnerships between the two countries in various fields so that this partnership can last for generations,” Binzagr stressed.

“I believe these old partnerships will last for decades and centuries to come,” he remarked.

Moreover, he noted that the oil sector was the cornerstone of the partnership and it will now shift to petrochemicals and the development of the petrochemical industry.