Microsoft, Oracle, Others To Invest In Saudi Arabia An Amount Of $9 Billion: Minister

Saudi Arabia has managed to pull an investment of more than $9 billion in future technologies, including US firms Oracle Corp and Microsoft, they are constructing cloud areas in Saudi Arabia, a government minister said. Microsoft, one of the popular firms, is going to invest an amount of $2.1 billion in a global super-scaler cloud, and Oracle will invest $1.5 billion.

Alswaha did not elaborate on the time frame. Oracle told that the investment would take several years. The minister said that  Huawei of China is planning to invest almost $400 million in the infrastructure of the cloud to deliver its facilities in Saudi Arabia and other cloud areas in cooperation with oil giant Aramco. Another $4.5 billion was invested in global and local assets across various sectors at the forum, Alswaha added.

Tonomus, a subsidiary of the crown prince’s $500 billion NEOM signature project, said last year it would invest $1 billion in AI by 2022, including the metaverse platform. The increased demand for cloud computing has prompted technology companies namely Amazon, Oracle, and Alphabet‘s Google, all are motivated to set up data centers around the world to speed up data transfer.

Saudi Arabia: Growing Investment Destination

the Ministry of Investment has assigned one of its most important tasks to enable investors to access investment opportunities and provide them with facilities, flexibility, and other services. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has advanced 29 places in the “Doing Business 2020” report released by the World Bank. Saudi Arabia also increased the number of SMEs to over 626,000 in 2020.

Saudi Arabia seeks to identify and develop investment opportunities and stimulate local investment by providing facilities and services to investors. Saudi Arabia coordinates with regional investors via:

• Carrying out economic analyzes of the market, either by providing various and standard information or by providing and processing reports and case studies, sharing this information in databases, and assisting with feasibility studies.

• Building partnerships and networking with commercial and industrial entities and local companies for potential partnerships.

• Preparation of field visits to the investor, preparation of logistics and reservations, and coordination of negotiations with government authorities and related parties.

• Finding a suitable location, providing legal advice, and coordinating with the relevant authorities.

• Offer incentives.

• Facilitate business.

• Solving operational problems for investors.

Bankruptcy law

The Kingdom has protected the private sector through the Bankruptcy Act and its statutes, which are intended to allow debtors to reconcile their financial affairs and resume operations while preserving the rights of creditors. It was established by the Insolvency Commission to improve the safety of doing business in the Kingdom and raise awareness among the business community. The Commission accomplished the following:

• Managed 99 administrative liquidation proceedings.

• Reviewed 17 open bankruptcy complaints as required by law.

• Licenses issued to 94 bankruptcy trustees and 56 professionals, which can be viewed on the commission’s website.

• Established bankruptcy register, which can be accessed via the commission’s website

Commercial franchise E-platform

Saudi Arabia has launched the Commercial Franchise electronic platform, which contributes to the support and development of the SME sector by creating new horizons for investors and entrepreneurs to develop and expand their businesses. The Kingdom enacted the Commercial Franchise Law, which contributed to giving companies access to markets, increasing the contribution of small and medium enterprises to the economy, and increasing the quality of services and commodities offered in the kingdom.

Investing in Saudi Arabia Vision 2030

Through Vision 2030, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia seeks to uplift the country’s economy and diversify its sources of income. The Kingdom launched economic reform packages to create significant employment opportunities, began to capitalize on the Kingdom’s major strategic assets, and shifted the growth of the economy towards diversification.

Investment opportunities

Saudi Arabia developed reforms aimed at facilitating and automating procedures, one of which reduced overall investment license requirements by 54%. In addition, the launch of the Private Sector Feedback Platform and the Public Consultation Platform contributed mainly to these achievements. In addition, property ownership can be transferred within 60 minutes, and a 73% reduction in restricted chemicals has been achieved to facilitate import procedures.

Whether local or foreign, an investor can view all available opportunities broken down by sector and learn a lot of information and numbers to help them make a decision.

Strengthening the position of investors

The Kingdom introduced reforms aimed at promoting women’s involvement in economic development by establishing the same age for both sexes, preventing gender-based discrimination in wages, occupation, the field of work, and working hours, and allowing women to join and operate business enterprises without prior obtaining consent.

To facilitate the start of investment activities, the kingdom wanted to help investors by starting business activities step by step. She provided them with guidance and advice on starting a business in terms of laws and licenses to obtain. The Beneficiary has access to the Meraas platform as this platform gathered all e-Governance services on one page, from licensing, service delivery, etc. 

E-commerce index with the issuance of the E-Commerce Act, which aims to promote and develop e-commerce activities to keep pace with global technological developments and growth in e-commerce. . The law contributed to the increase of e-shops registered on the “Maroof” platform at the beginning of 2020 by 45%. The authority has also launched the “Thakaa” smart library, developed commercial franchises, launched the Commercial Franchise Center e-platform, and grown the SME sector by 37% compared to 2016.

The growth and expansion of emerging SMEs were done by providing a package of services and resources in specific periods, resulting in the development of a business environment and stimulating innovation, the launch of 5 dedicated accelerators that support and stimulate small and medium enterprises and favor +200 enterprises.

The Kingdom has launched start-up centers and shared workspaces through the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, which authorizes business owners to establish centers and take advantage of incentive programs offered by Monsha’at. This post represents 159 licenses and the average time to get a license is 2 business days.

Research on the Market Of Saudi Arabia

The Saudi government has worked to monitor the market by conducting research, evaluation, and development of progress. This effort is to identify defects and solve them and to know the strengths and motivations of investors. The Saudi government established the National Center for Competitiveness to develop and improve the environment faced by the public and private sectors, proposing solutions, initiatives, and recommendations, and monitoring their implementation, following best practices and procedures that lead to an increase in the kingdom’s competitiveness both locally and internationally.

The Kingdom established the Tayseer National Center for Competitiveness, which was launched as an initiative to improve and develop the competitive environment and improve the Kingdom’s ranking in relevant global indicators and reports. These goals have been achieved by implementing reforms in the investment sector, it was introduced by the Kingdom can be highlighted by the approval of the 7 Basic Principles of the policy of investment, the issuance of the New Bankruptcy Law and its Statutes, the issuance of the Commercial Courts Law and its Statutes, etc.

The reviews are highly valued, and legislation and practices help in deciding the results, therefore a private sector visualization platform was created for this presentation.

Government Investment

Government investment aims to achieve Vision 2030 goals and acts as the primary driver of the Kingdom’s economy and investment. It also forms the structure of the economy of the region, through the creation of strategic partnerships and the launch of several initiatives that contribute to the achievement of the goals of Vision 2030.

edited and proofread by nikita sharma