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Saudi Arabia Seeks to Monitor Projects in Iraq, Expand Private Sector Businesses

Saudi Arabia to expand the export of its national products and services abroad (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia to expand the export of its national products and services abroad (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Seeks to Monitor Projects in Iraq, Expand Private Sector Businesses

Saudi Arabia to expand the export of its national products and services abroad (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia to expand the export of its national products and services abroad (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia is intensifying its efforts to expand the scope of private sector businesses and open wider horizons for national products and services, through a number of programs, initiatives, and services.

The Saudi Export Development Authority (SEDA) called on the private sector to review the latest reports on projects in Iraq through the “International Tenders” service, in a step towards providing continuous support to exporters and identifying the best investments that contribute to expanding their business.

The International Tenders service aims to open new opportunities for national companies to expand in international markets and increase their competitiveness by allowing them to export services and products via international tenders in several targeted sectors.

Saudi Exports called on all companies interested in receiving the service to register, which is a condition for any company to get the service.

Last year, SEDA launched the "International Tenders" service to support exporters, increase their competitiveness, and boost the export rate of Saudi services, products, and re-exportation.

The Authority will identify over 120 international tender opportunities in a number of target countries, mainly covering construction and industrial supplies and infrastructure projects.

The service includes eight targeted sectors and 24 sub-branches, where Saudi Exports will provide periodic reports with data and analyses for the most important projects in targeted countries.

Saudi Exports will also provide periodic reports on data and analysis of the most important projects in the targeted countries.

Last month, SEDA launched Institutional Transformation Strategy to boost non-oil exports, in line with the objectives of Vision 2030.

The Strategy aims to move to a new stage that aligns with the objectives of Vision 2030 in integration with a number of relevant government agencies to diversify the local economy by promoting Saudi non-oil exports.

Saudi Exports announced that over 220 exporting companies benefited from the 'Saudi Export Stimulus' Program, while the 'Made in Saudi Arabia' Program attracted over 1,200 local companies and introduced their products to global markets.

The authority's new strategy aims to boost the participation of non-oil exports from 16 percent to at least 50 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, in line with Vision 2030.

The Saudi government is focused on boosting non-oil exports by providing programs and initiatives aligned with Vision 2030, including “Made in Saudi Arabia,” under the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP).

The Program aims to support national products through an effective economy and unify production services. It combines the identity of Saudi products and services to promote them locally and internationally.

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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.