Saudi Arabia opens up to foreign investors

Saudi Arabia has initiated a huge reform project to modernise its economy and society. The Saudi economy is to be diversified with the help of investors and expertise from abroad. This also offers many new business opportunities for German companies. In the white paper "A country opens up", we highlight the opportunities and challenges.

Saudi Arabia is the largest economy in the Middle East and around 800 German companies are already active there. Nevertheless, the Kingdom and the opportunities that exist there have so far received little attention in the German media. This should change, as the "Vision 2030" social and economic reform programme is opening up numerous new business opportunities not only for large German corporations, but also for small and medium-sized German companies.

With this ambitious reform project, the Saudi government aims to reduce the country's dependence on the volatile oil industry and diversify the economy. Gigantic mega and infrastructure projects are intended to sustainably pave and consolidate Saudi Arabia's path into a post-oil era. In doing so, the Gulf state wants to increasingly attract foreign investors and expertise from outside.

"Vision 2030" includes huge modernisation and liberalisation steps. In recent years, a series of measures have been taken to establish internationally comparable standards in Saudi Arabia, for example to create legal certainty for innovations and patents.

Foreign companies are expected to invest locally in Saudi Arabia in the long term and create new jobs for the young, rapidly growing Saudi population. In order to promote investment, "Vision 2030" includes development and support programmes in the areas of energy, mining, infrastructure and education.

"Vision 2030" has also triggered social and societal change in the Kingdom. The Saudi government has relaxed the previously very restrictive gender segregation and strengthened women's rights. The country is increasingly opening up to foreigners, for example for tourism. This development will continue in the coming years.

The first economic successes of the consistent project implementation are already visible. As a result, Saudi Arabia has made a significant leap forward in the World Bank's "Ease of Doing Business Index" - a ranking of the business friendliness of national economies - from 92nd place in 2019 to 62nd place in 2020.

The continued implementation of Saudi reform projects and the liberalisation of society also offer investment and market entry opportunities for German companies that are willing to become involved in Saudi Arabia. The "Vision 2030" funding initiatives have created a framework that can offer planning and investment security for the next five to ten years.

In the white paper "A country opens up", which we have prepared in cooperation with the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen (GESALO), we present the Saudi reform project "Vision 2030" and show which investment opportunities are available in Saudi Arabia for German companies in the following sectors: Healthcare, tourism, culture and entertainment, manufacturing, wholesale and retail, renewable energies, transport and logistics.

The white paper also highlights the challenges that need to be overcome. In many cases, the business opportunities will clearly outweigh the challenges. However, it is necessary to weigh up each individual case.