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Saudi Launches 200 Projects in 74 Countries to Support Kingdom’s Non-Oil Exports

Saudi Arabia pushes for national products to reach global markets (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia pushes for national products to reach global markets (Asharq Al-Awsat)
    Riyadh – Bandar Muslim
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Saudi Launches 200 Projects in 74 Countries to Support Kingdom’s Non-Oil Exports

Saudi Arabia pushes for national products to reach global markets (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia pushes for national products to reach global markets (Asharq Al-Awsat)

More than 200 projects were launched in 74 countries to support the export of Saudi national products, revealed a recent report that monitored the level of achievements of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 in 2021.

The projects come within the framework of supporting Saudi products’ access to international markets, the report added.

Empowering local content and national industries in all fields and upgrading their quality are among the priorities of Saudi Vision 2030, which looks to raise the contribution of non-oil exports to the Kingdom’s non-oil GDP to about 50% by 2030.

The report, which Asharq Al-Awsat viewed a copy of, revealed several achievements related to achieving a diversified economy and enhancing local content.

For example, the “Saudi Made” program managed to attract more than 1,100 local companies, with more than 4,500 products in 16 diversified sectors.

“Saudi Made” offers a large package of advantages and opportunities for companies, expands the scope of their work and helps them to promote their services and products locally and globally and direct purchasing power towards them after adhering to the quality and standards specified in the program.

In the military sector, according to the report, the Saudi Council of Ministers approved the strategy of the military industries sector in the Kingdom.

The strategy aims to develop national industrial capabilities in the military field, support investors, transfer technology, and provide job opportunities for the country’s young men and women, as the total number of licensed companies in the military sector reached 144 by the end of 2021.

Moreover, as part of the strenuous efforts to diversify the economy and localize industries, Saudi Arabia launched the National Strategy for Transport and Logistics Services.

The strategy includes a wide range of major projects and ambitious initiatives that will push the sector's services to advanced levels regionally and internationally to support sustainable development in all regions of the Kingdom.

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IMF: Middle East Conflict Escalation Could Have Significant Economic Consequences

Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
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IMF: Middle East Conflict Escalation Could Have Significant Economic Consequences

Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki

The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East could have significant economic ramifications for the region and the global economy, but commodity prices remain below the highs of the past year.

IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack told a regular news briefing that the Fund is closely monitoring the situation in southern Lebanon with "grave concern" and offered condolences for the loss of life.

"The potential for further escalation of the conflict heightens risks and uncertainty and could have significant economic ramifications for the region and beyond," Kozack said.

According to Reuters, she said it was too early to predict specific impacts on the global economy, but noted that economies in the region have already suffered greatly, especially in Gaza, where the civilian population "faces dire socioeconomic conditions, a humanitarian crisis and insufficient aid deliveries.

The IMF estimates that Gaza's GDP declined 86% in the first half of 2024, Kozack said, while the West Bank's first-half GDP likely declined 25%, with prospects of a further deterioration.

Israel's GDP contracted by about 20% in the fourth quarter of 2023 after the conflict began, and the country has seen only a partial recovery in the first half of 2024, she added.
The IMF will update its economic projections for all countries and the global economy later in October when the global lender and World Bank hold their fall meetings in Washington.
"In Lebanon, the recent intensification of the conflict is exacerbating the country's already fragile macroeconomic and social situation," Kozack said, referring to Israel's airstrikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
"The conflict has inflicted a heavy human toll on the country, and it has damaged physical infrastructure."
The main channels for the conflict to impact the global economy have been through higher commodity prices, including oil and grains, as well as increased shipping costs, as vessels avoid potential missile attacks by Yemen's Houthis on vessels in the Red Sea, Kozack said. But commodity prices are currently lower than their peaks in the past year.
"I just emphasize once again that we're closely monitoring the situation, and this is a situation of great concern and very high uncertainty," she added.
Lebanon in 2022 reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF on a potential loan program, but there has been insufficient progress on required reforms, Kozack said.
"We are prepared to engage with Lebanon on a possible financing program when the situation is appropriate to do so, but it would necessitate that the actions can be taken and decisive policy measures can be taken," Kozack added. "We are currently supporting Lebanon through capacity development assistance and other areas where possible."