Saudi Arabia has set privatization targets until Q1 2019, says economy minister

Saudi Arabia has finalized the timetable for its privatization program until the first quarter of 2019, offering opportunities in education, healthcare, grain silos and desalination sectors, minister of economy and planning Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri told Future Investment Initiative (FII) 2018 in Riyadh on Thursday.

"Between now and the first quarter of 2019, we have our priorities set – we will introduce four opportunities in silos and grains, schools in the education sector, hospitals and other assets in healthcare and some desalination plants," he stated.

"We, in Saudi Arabia, have aligned ourselves with all the government entities and Vision 2030 to make sure that we are ahead when it comes to execution."

Calling the scale of Saudi Arabia’s privatization program as "quite significant," the minister disclosed that companies from Europe and Asia have shown interest in the Kingdom's privatization initiative.

Saudi Arabia aims to generate SAR 35 to SAR 40 billion in non-oil revenues from its privatization program by 2020 and create up to 12,000 jobs, the state news agency Saudi Press Agency reported in April, citing a document.

The initiative targets 14 public-private partnership (PPP) investments and includes the corporatization of Saudi ports and the privatization of the production sector at the Saudi Saline Water Conversion Corp and the Ras Al Khair desalination and power plant.