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Saudi Arabia’s push to move its economy away from oil and become a technology hub is making the world sit up and watch. The country has undergone a complete transformation in the past five years, with a strict regime that has kept women out of the workforce and discouraged foreign investment.
It all starts with Vision 2030—a comprehensive plan for Saudi Arabia’s economy with a focus on technology, education, infrastructure, tourism and entertainment.
Saudi Arabia’s move to rival Dubai as a technology hub has surprised many people. For decades, Dubai has been a destination in the GCC region, attracting talent, businesses and expatriates from all over the world.
As a true expat city, Dubai is well positioned to embrace the startup and tech trend. However, the UAE currently has a serious competitor in Saudi Arabia, which has a population of over 35 million, which is more than the entire GCC.
The country is investing heavily in startups, incubators, accelerators and funds. Emphasis is also placed on supporting female entrepreneurs, and it shows that women currently own 40% of small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country. The government has opened the region to tourism and other businesses.
The vision of Dubai and the wealth of Abu Dhabi
The Public Investment Fund (PIF) is at the center of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
The fund is working to double the value of assets to more than $1.07 trillion and grow the region’s economy by more than $40 billion by 2025, focusing on 13 key domestic sectors. The fund has created more than 10 new sectors, created more than 331,000 jobs in Saudi Arabia and established more than 30 new companies.
According to the FDI Confidence Index, in terms of emerging market trends, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar are firmly on the list, with many founders echoing the sentiment at various meetings and conferences that Riyadh is well on its way to becoming the new Dubai.
Randeep Sudan, who was the World Bank’s Information and Communication Technologies Experience Manager based in Washington DC, is among those who think that the region is not just replicating best practices, it is also adding continuity practices. “And all these changes, that have taken place, Saudi Arabia is one of the best examples of changing interest rates in this region. And I think there is some competition, in terms of you, the United Arab Emirates, Dubai, which is trying to move forward.
Image Credits: Nihar Apte
Information: US Securities and Exchange Commission
Bringing more women into the workforce
At the Biban Conference in Monsha’at in March, Saudi Arabia’s SME Ministry had 50% participation from women, an unprecedented statistic in the country.
In 2016, Afnan Abatain, director of the women’s entrepreneurship department of the Saudi Ministry of SMEs, said, “In 2016, only 21% of SMEs were women, but today 40% of SMEs are women,” in a conversation with Enterprises. Gulf of your story.
According to the Global Entrepreneurship Index, women account for 17.7% of entrepreneurs in the country.
Today we have a great ecosystem to encourage women to start or grow their businesses. You can get any kind of support at all stages—idea, scale, or even development stages,” says Abatan.
Significant investments in various economies
NEOM City and Line are two of the exciting developments the region has been undergoing lately. Credit rating agency Moody’s has changed its ratings from stable to positive for six Saudi corporates, of which PIF was one.
This rating change is in line with a number of initiatives, investments and changes made by Saudi Arabia, particularly significant for the PIF. Factors considered for this rating change include the quality of the fund’s investment portfolio and assets under management, the fund’s sustainable growth, sector diversification and investments in both domestic and international sectors.
More than 10 million SAR were filled in prizes and hackathons, three million online visitors, more than 1200 exhibitors and more than 24000 participants at Biban Conference 2023, which were part of training and mentoring courses.
Following the recently concluded LEAP conference, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Abdullah bin Amer Al-Swaha, announced that it will invest more than $9 billion to support future technologies, startups and digital entrepreneurs in the MENA region.
Others such as Microsoft have contributed $2.1 billion to high-end cloud computing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, while Oracle has invested $1.5 billion to expand its business in Saudi Arabia by launching new cloud environments. Meanwhile, the Chinese company Huawei offered to invest 400 million dollars in the cloud environment and launch the Zoom Cloud environment in the region. Saudi Press Agency.
A special way of construction
“There’s a unique Saudi way of doing things,” says founder and chairman Jonathan Ortmans. Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN). “They want brands to come in and share and work together. Because Saudi Arabia is developing technologies and building a startup ecosystem, it’s bringing people back from Saudi Arabia.”
“They know exactly what they’re doing, and they’re very happy and brave to work with others,” he says.
“Many countries in the region, especially Saudi Arabia, have very clear and precise goals. It helps when everyone – ministers, government, organizations, businesses – are all rowing towards the same goal at the same pace and pace,” explains Ortmans.
(Image credit: Nihar Apte)
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