Saudi Arabia Plans to Unify Strategy of Saudi-Foreign Business Councils

Deserted streets in the coastal city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during the coronavirus pandemic. (AFP)
Deserted streets in the coastal city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during the coronavirus pandemic. (AFP)
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Saudi Arabia Plans to Unify Strategy of Saudi-Foreign Business Councils

Deserted streets in the coastal city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during the coronavirus pandemic. (AFP)
Deserted streets in the coastal city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during the coronavirus pandemic. (AFP)

Business leaders have welcomed Saudi efforts to implement fundamental changes to the regulations of joint business councils with the aim of boosting their role in the future.

The aspired changes seek to enable the councils to overcome the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic and strengthen their capacity to hold successful commercial partnerships and achieve the goals of Vision 2030.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Dr. Kamel Al-Munajjed, Chairman of the Saudi Indian Business Council, said: “The General Authority for Foreign Trade is working to develop the regulations of Saudi foreign business councils in order to keep abreast of developments after the coronavirus pandemic and to accelerate successful commercial partnerships to increase the private sector’s contribution to foreign trade.”

According to Al-Munajjed, one of the most important problems that the joint business councils faced over the past years was the lack of a unified strategy and the absence of unified standards for measuring performance.

He stressed that the development of regulations to overcome the aforementioned obstacles would give a great impetus to the work of the joint councils in contributing to the development of foreign trade and achieving many goals in Vision 2030.

For his part, Mohammed Al-Hammadi - a member of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and former head of a joint Saudi business council - underlined the importance of the planned move by the Ministry of Commerce and the General Authority for Foreign Trade regarding developing a work regulation for Saudi foreign business councils to keep pace with the post-pandemic period.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Hammadi expected that the new regulations would greatly contribute to the development of Saudi foreign relations on the economic, commercial and investment levels.



Saudi Investment Minister: Local Content is an Important Enabler for Economic Competitiveness

Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih speaks at the Local Content Forum 2024 held in Riyadh. SPA
Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih speaks at the Local Content Forum 2024 held in Riyadh. SPA
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Saudi Investment Minister: Local Content is an Important Enabler for Economic Competitiveness

Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih speaks at the Local Content Forum 2024 held in Riyadh. SPA
Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih speaks at the Local Content Forum 2024 held in Riyadh. SPA

Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih stressed that local content is an important enabler for transforming the economy from a rentier system to a prosperous one.

The investment minister added that local content is one of the main pillars of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, viewing it as fuel for the competitiveness of the economy and companies in relevant sectors, including industry, agriculture, energy, municipalities, and tourism.

This came during his participation, along with several other ministers, in a dialogue session entitled "Future Trends for Local Content in Light of the Kingdom's Vision 2030," held on Wednesday in Riyadh as part of the Local Content Forum 2024.

He noted that the vision's goals include developing and diversifying the economy and increasing quality opportunities to ensure sustainability and competitiveness both locally and internationally. He reviewed several successful global experiences in local content that have contributed to increasing the percentage of local content across various sectors and achieving global leadership.

Al-Falih also highlighted the role of the initiatives and programs under the National Investment Strategy, such as special economic zones, regional headquarters, and the Shareek Program, in enabling and motivating investors to invest in the Saudi market and building an attractive investment environment that enhances global quality investments, which will lead to strengthening the national economy and creating more job opportunities.

He mentioned that 95 deals, with an investment value exceeding SAR100 billion, are currently under negotiation through the "GSCRI" initiative.