Saudi Arabia working on 160 privatisations

Saudi Arabia is working on 160 privatisations and intends to announce more next year, Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said on Thursday.

Speaking at a financial forum in Riyadh, he said plans to privatise assets in the education and logistics sectors were ongoing.

Earlier this year Saudi Arabia suspended the privatisation of the Ras Al Khair desalination and power plant, one of a number of state assets the government aimed to sell to reduce pressure on capital spending and diversify revenues away from oil.

According to Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030 website, the Saudi Privatization Program was launched in 2018.

In the previous stage, the program succeeded in developing general frameworks for the privatization system through the enactment of the privatization law and the establishment of the National Center for Privatization.

The Center aims to regulate the system project procedures and to enhance the participation of the private sector in a transparent and fair manner. It also aims to ensure the integrity of procedures related to contracts to provide an attractive regulatory and investment environment that stimulates private sector investment in the short and long term. The program also contributed to activating the sectors’ supervisory committees.

In the next stage, the program will focus its efforts on continuing to build the aforementioned enablers and intensify work to enhance the role of the private sector in providing services, maximizing the value gained from government assets, and raising the efficiency of spending. Moreover, sector privatization strategies will be developed in 16 sectors, including transport, health, education, municipal affairs, and others. This will enable government efforts to focus on legislative and regulatory issues.