Saudi Arabia aims to create 35,000 jobs in more than $18 billion deal
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's intention is to double Riyadh's population at transforming its capital city into one of the 10 largest city economies in the world: "We are aiming to make Riyadh one of the ten largest city economies in the world. Today it stands as the 40th largest city economy worldwide and we also aim to increase its population from 7.5 million residents today to between 15 and 20 million people in 2030,” the Crown Prince explained.". To this end, Saudi Arabia has reached an agreement with numerous companies to to establish their regional offices in Riyadh. A deal that would create 35,000 new jobs. According to initial estimates by the Royal Commission for the city of Riyadh, the arrival of these headquarters would boost the national economy by up to SR70 billion ($18.67 billion) by 2030.
Among the most relevant brands in the operation are Pepsi, Bosch, Deloitte, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), Boston Scientific and Bechler. Deloitte's CEO, Mutasem Dajani, stressed the importance that Riyadh is acquiring, not only with respect to the rest of the country, but also internationally: “Riyadh is undergoing a remarkable transformation to reinforce its position as one of the world’s major global centres for business, tourism and quality of life". This is a very important step for Saudi Arabia and especially for its capital, which represents about 50 percent of the non-oil economy in Saudi Arabia and enjoys cost advantages over other urban centers. The cost of creating jobs in the city is 30 percent less than in other cities in the Kingdom.
Khalid Al-Falih, minister for investment, added that a number of key reforms relating to the establishment and governance of special economic zones, labour and education laws would be ratified in the first half of this year. Companies operating in the zones will enjoy a range of tax exemptions, incentives, labor law improvements and relevant labor law exemptions for ten years, as well as fast and simple commercial licensing.
Al-Rasheed said that some $220 billion had already been spent or earmarked as government investment for projects in and around Riyadh, but that most of the rest of the required investment would come from the private sector. The details of the whole operation are not yet known, but it is expected that they will be ready for the second quarter, a period in which all the details of the financing should also be known. At the moment it is not clear how the remainder of the project will be developed due to the changes in plans that the Arab state is facing. A few days before the announcement of this multi-million-dollar deal, Italy announced the suspension of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, according to Italian Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio, as a "clear message of peace". Not forgetting, of course, the review of the arms sales agreement by the United States following the arrival of Joe Biden in the White House. Riyadh hopes that these actions on the part of Italy and the United States are temporary and that they can complete the agreements already reached with both governments, as well as the culmination of this pact, which, if it succeeds, will place the capital of Saudi Arabia among the most important financial cities in the world.