Saudi Arabia is open for business, says SAGIA governor

Saudi Arabia is open for business and is working to become one of the top 20 countries in the World Bank's Ease of Doing business list, Ibrahim Al-Omar, governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), said at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) 2018 in Riyadh on Wednesday.

"We are open for business, and this is a golden opportunity for all investors to join us in our historic journey," he noted.

The governor pointed out that the Kingdom has identified about 400 reforms and 40 percent of those have been completed so far. This includes the announcement of the insolvency law, the establishment of the commercial arbitration centre and starting up of a business within 24 hours using online services.

Al-Omar stated that the country is working improving connectivity and access to financial sectors, provide deep and effective capital markets and transparency and the predictability for the capital market and business environment, to make it attractive for international investors.

"Saudi Arabia is the largest economy in the Middle East and one of the G20 members. Saudi Arabia sits at the heart of Arab and Islamic market. We have launched a privatization programme and many gigaprojects. So, yes, we have a big market," he added.