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Al-Falih: Saudi Arabia More Competitive Due to Strategic Location, Economic Vision

Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih spoke at the Global Industry Summit 2025. Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih spoke at the Global Industry Summit 2025. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Al-Falih: Saudi Arabia More Competitive Due to Strategic Location, Economic Vision

Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih spoke at the Global Industry Summit 2025. Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih spoke at the Global Industry Summit 2025. Asharq Al-Awsat

Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih has said that Saudi Arabia is steadily advancing toward greater industrial competitiveness, thanks to its strategic location, high-quality resources, and ambitious economic reforms, noting the Kingdom has now become a key pillar in the reshaping of global supply chains.

He highlighted global industrial competitiveness and the emergence of a new landscape for supply chains worldwide, stressing that industrial production is no longer concentrated in a few major global centers.

Al-Falih indicated that supply chains are now being reorganized into regionally connected industrial clusters, allowing them to capitalize on this transformation to attract investment and boost their industrial importance.

The minister delivered his remarks during the 21st session of the UNIDO General Conference (GC21), held in Riyadh under the title “Global Industry Summit 2025."

He noted that the conference comes at a pivotal moment as the global economy witnesses changes in trade and investment patterns, accelerated industrial technologies, and increasing sustainability demands, which represent both a challenge and an opportunity.

He highlighted that the Middle East holds nearly half of the world’s proven oil reserves and 40% of confirmed gas reserves, in addition to vast mineral resources, including 79% of cobalt, 44% of manganese, 21% of graphite, and significant deposits of other critical minerals.

Al-Falih noted the transformation of the region, which has evolved from being viewed primarily as a source of energy and capital to steadily becoming a platform attracting industrial and technological investment, leveraging its abundant human, natural, and financial resources.

He pointed out that the Middle East and North Africa account for approximately 6% of the world’s population, 5% of global trade, and 4% of global GDP, while receiving only 3% of global investments.

He stated that economic diversification is a key focus, emphasizing that Saudi Vision 2030 is built on broadening income and growth sources, promoting innovation, and empowering youth, who constitute two-thirds of the population, are digitally connected worldwide, and possess a strong entrepreneurial spirit.

The minister outlined the Kingdom’s main strategic transformation pathways, including advanced manufacturing, mining, and downstream petrochemicals, alongside the development of the mining sector, whose estimated mineral reserves are valued at approximately $2.5 trillion and can be leveraged with low-emission energy.

Moreover, he stressed Saudi Arabia’s progress in clean energy, as well as blue and green hydrogen, noting the development of one of the world’s most competitive renewable energy assets.

According to Al-Falih, the Kingdom has a goal to become a global leader in artificial intelligence by 2030, with the digital economy expected to contribute 19% of gross domestic product (GDP. He cited Saudi Arabia’s top global rankings in technology and connectivity indicators.

He also noted significant growth in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, with venture capital activity rising 158% to reach $1.3 billion in the third quarter of the year, alongside the issuance of more than 2,500 innovative entrepreneur registrations from around the world to operate in the Kingdom.

"Saudi Arabia is experiencing rapid expansion in promising sectors such as tourism, hospitality, culture, and heritage, through major international projects like AlUla, Diriyah, and Red Sea Global, which have become key drivers of economic growth and high-quality job creation," the minister said.

The Kingdom supports regional growth through broad partnerships with neighboring countries, including Egypt, India, Pakistan, and the Levant states, in addition to the regional headquarters program that attracts global companies to establish their business centers in Saudi Arabia, the minister added.

He addressed the strength of Saudi Arabia’s financial markets, noting that the Kingdom’s sovereign wealth capital amounts to approximately $1.5 trillion. He highlighted that GDP has doubled since the launch of Saudi Vision 2030, the contribution of non-oil activities has risen to 56%, and gross fixed capital formation has more than doubled, surpassing strategic targets by 50%. Meanwhile, foreign direct investment inflows and stock have quadrupled, he noted.

The minister said Saudi Vision 2030 was founded on partnerships from the outset, with international organizations, most notably UNIDO, playing a key role in capacity building, strengthening industrial policy, and accelerating development across various sectors.

Al-Falih also stressed that the best way to build the future is through bold, responsible, and collaborative investment, expressing the Kingdom’s pride in its international partnerships and its commitment to continuing joint efforts toward a more prosperous and sustainable future.

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Business

Leading Harvard Trade Economist Says Saudi Arabia Holds Key to Success in Fragmented Global Economy

Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).
Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).
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Leading Harvard Trade Economist Says Saudi Arabia Holds Key to Success in Fragmented Global Economy

Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).
Professor Pol Antràs speaks during a panel discussion at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat).

Harvard University economics professor Pol Antràs said Saudi Arabia represents an exceptional model in the shifting global trade landscape, differing fundamentally from traditional emerging-market frameworks. He also stressed that globalization has not ended but has instead re-formed into what he describes as fragmented integration.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the sidelines of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies, Antràs said Saudi Arabia’s Vision-driven structural reforms position the Kingdom to benefit from the ongoing phase of fragmented integration, adding that the country’s strategic focus on logistics transformation and artificial intelligence constitutes a key engine for sustainable growth that extends beyond the volatility of global crises.

Antràs, the Robert G. Ory Professor of Economics at Harvard University, is one of the leading contemporary theorists of international trade. His research, which reshaped understanding of global value chains, focuses on how firms organize cross-border production and how regulation and technological change influence global trade flows and corporate decision-making.

He said conventional classifications of economies often obscure important structural differences, noting that the term emerging markets groups together countries with widely divergent industrial bases. Economies that depend heavily on manufacturing exports rely critically on market access and trade integration and therefore face stronger competitive pressures from Chinese exports that are increasingly shifting toward alternative markets.

Saudi Arabia, by contrast, exports extensively while facing limited direct competition from China in its primary export commodity, a situation that creates a strategic opportunity. The current environment allows the Kingdom to obtain imports from China at lower cost and access a broader range of goods that previously flowed largely toward the United States market.

Addressing how emerging economies should respond to dumping pressures and rising competition, Antràs said countries should minimize protectionist tendencies and instead position themselves as committed participants in the multilateral trading system, allowing foreign producers to access domestic markets while encouraging domestic firms to expand internationally.

He noted that although Chinese dumping presents concerns for countries with manufacturing sectors that compete directly with Chinese production, the risk is lower for Saudi Arabia because it does not maintain a large manufacturing base that overlaps directly with Chinese exports. Lower-cost imports could benefit Saudi consumers, while targeted policy tools such as credit programs, subsidies, and support for firms seeking to redesign and upgrade business models represent more effective responses than broad protectionist measures.

Globalization has not ended

Antràs said globalization continues but through more complex structures, with trade agreements increasingly negotiated through diverse arrangements rather than relying primarily on multilateral negotiations. Trade deals will continue to be concluded, but they are likely to become more complex, with uncertainty remaining a defining feature of the global trading environment.

Interest rates and artificial intelligence

According to Antràs, high global interest rates, combined with the additional risk premiums faced by emerging markets, are constraining investment, particularly in sectors that require export financing, capital expenditure, and continuous quality upgrading.

However, he noted that elevated interest rates partly reflect expectations of stronger long-term growth driven by artificial intelligence and broader technological transformation.

He also said if those growth expectations materialize, productivity gains could enable small and medium-sized enterprises to forecast demand more accurately and identify previously untapped markets, partially offsetting the negative effects of higher borrowing costs.

Employment concerns and the role of government

The Harvard professor warned that labor markets face a dual challenge stemming from intensified Chinese export competition and accelerating job automation driven by artificial intelligence, developments that could lead to significant disruptions, particularly among younger workers. He said governments must adopt proactive strategies requiring substantial fiscal resources to mitigate near-term labor-market shocks.

According to Antràs, productivity growth remains the central condition for success: if new technologies deliver the anticipated productivity gains, governments will gain the fiscal space needed to compensate affected groups and retrain the workforce, achieving a balance between addressing short-term disruptions and investing in long-term strategic gains.

Business

Aljadaan: Emerging Markets Account for 70% of Global Growth

Al-Jadaan speaking to the attendees at the "AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies" (Asharq Al-Awsat
Al-Jadaan speaking to the attendees at the "AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies" (Asharq Al-Awsat
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Aljadaan: Emerging Markets Account for 70% of Global Growth

Al-Jadaan speaking to the attendees at the "AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies" (Asharq Al-Awsat
Al-Jadaan speaking to the attendees at the "AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies" (Asharq Al-Awsat

Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed Aljadaan stressed Sunday that the world economy is going through a “profound transition,” saying emerging markets and developing economies now account for nearly 60 percent of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in purchasing power terms and over 70 percent of global growth.

In his opening remarks at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies, organized by the Saudi Ministry of Finance and the IMF in AlUla, the minister said these economies have become an increasingly important driver of global growth with their share of global economy more than doubling since 2010.

“Today, the 10 emerging economies in the G20 alone account for more than half of the world growth. Yet, they face a more complex and fragmented environment, elevated debt levels, slower trade growth and increasing exposure to geopolitical shocks.”

“Unfortunately, more than half of low income countries are either in or at the risk of debt distress. At the same time global trade growth has slowed at around half of what it was pre the pandemic,” Aljadaan added.

The Finance Minister stressed that the Saudi experience over the past decade has reinforced three lessons that may be relevant to the discussions at the two-day conference, which brings together a select group of ministers and central bank governors, leaders of international organizations, leading investors and academics.

“First, macroeconomic stability is not the enemy of growth. It is actually the foundation,” he said.

“Structural reforms deliver results only when institutions deliver. So there is no point of reforming ... if the institutions are unable to deliver,” he stated.

Finally, he said that “international cooperation matters more, not less, in a fragmented world.”

Business

Georgieva from AlUla: Growth Still Lacks Pre-pandemic Levels

Kristalina Georgieva speaking to attendees at the second edition of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Kristalina Georgieva speaking to attendees at the second edition of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Georgieva from AlUla: Growth Still Lacks Pre-pandemic Levels

Kristalina Georgieva speaking to attendees at the second edition of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Kristalina Georgieva speaking to attendees at the second edition of the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies (Asharq Al-Awsat)

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Sunday that world growth still lacks pre-pandemic levels, expressing concern as she expected more shocks amid high spending and rising debt levels in many countries.

Georgieva spoke at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies, organized by the Saudi Ministry of Finance and the IMF in AlUla.

The two-day conference brings together a select group of ministers and central bank governors, leaders of international organizations, leading investors and academics to deliberate on policies to global stability, prosperity, and multilateral collaboration.

Georgieva said that the conference was launched last year in recognition of the growing role of emerging market economies in a world of sweeping transformations.

“I came out of this gathering .... With a sense of hope for the pragmatic attitude and determination to pursue good policies and build strong institutions,” she said.

Georgieva stressed that “good policies pay off,” and said that growth rates across emerging economies reached four percent this year, exceeding by a large margin those of advanced economies that are around 1.5 percent.