In a meeting in Asharqia Chamber, the Executive Vice President of the National Center for Privatization, Mr. Mohammed Al-Shaalan, said that nine privatization initiatives have been reached in many government sectors for advanced stages.
On Tuesday 11/12/2018, Asharqia Chamber hosted a meeting with representatives of the National Center for Privatization and local investors.
Ibrahim Al-Sheikh, a member of the board of directors, opened the meeting with his welcoming speech by saying that under the guidance of our wise leadership, the Kingdom had charted a new road map towards national and sustainable economic growth.
It has boosted the mobilization of local investments in various activities and fields, as it is able to activate the cycle of economic growth and prosperity in the country, which is achieved mainly through the arms and minds and funds of the sons of this giving country.
Domestic investments are among the most important national options for optimizing the available natural or human resources, as well as opening doors to benefit from the private sector's administrative and investment capabilities in various fields.
He added, "Undoubtedly, the vision of the Kingdom 2030 and its new trends in the structure of the national economy by diversifying the economic base and opening the way for local investors to play a greater role in the development process form a new start towards the formation of programs (such as the privatization program) and new national bodies and centers (such as the National Center for Privatization) that aim at increasing the effectiveness of various sectors and services not previously invested."
The Executive Vice President of the National Center for Privatization, Mr. Mohammed Al-Shaalan, stated that nine privatization initiatives in many government sectors have reached an advanced stage and are expected to bring 20-25 billion riyals from private sector investment.
Al-Shaalan said that according to the privatization program plan, 30 privatization initiatives have been identified by 2020, which will contribute to the Kingdom's revenues of about 35-40 billion riyals and savings in expenditure (capital and operating) estimated at 25-33 billion riyals.
He added that the Center seeks to sell 5 government assets and 14 partnerships with the private sector by 2020 and that privatization initiatives are now part of the privatization program, which is one of the programs of the vision of the Kingdom 2030.
The privatization projects have been enclosed in cooperation with the relevant authorities and according to specific criteria.
The pivotal initiatives were identified because of their high impact, specific criteria such as readiness and sector needs.
Al-Shaalan said that the volume of privatization in the Kingdom is one of the largest privatization projects in the world.
He pointed out that privatization in the Kingdom is a process of change in ownership and management in enterprises, projects and public services from public to private sector that depend on market mechanisms and competition, and the application of multiple methods ranging from construction contracts, management, conversion or total or partial sale of assets to the private sector.
The program's strategy depended on the liberalization of state-owned assets to the private sector and the allocation of selected government services in several economic sectors including energy, industry, mineral wealth, housing, municipalities, environment, water, agriculture, health, information, transportation, labor and social development, Hajj and Umrah, education, and information and Communication Technology.
He added that all operations are carried out through several pillars "laying the foundations of regulatory and legal" as project manual allocation in May has been launched, as well as draft allocation system last July, and "laying the institutional foundations" through the launch of the rules governing the work of committees and teams in April, and "directing the program's initiatives" so that all the initiatives of the supervisory committees are put forward after taking the necessary governmental approvals as 11 supervisory committees were formed, "Each sector targeted a supervisory committee of its own", in addition to 3 specialized committees working on privatization initiatives.
For his part, the Deputy Executive Director for Consultancy in the Center, Mr. Faisal Al-Salloum, said that the privatization process is complex and requires long studies and preparations.
He said that the Center focuses on sectors with high success rates and does not include the high risk to win the investor and financier at the same time such as desalination and water treatment projects (estimated at 7 projects); the project of partnership with the private sector for the provision of educational buildings, which was recently issued by the Council of Ministers to implement the process of construction; and maintenance and conversion from the executive program of the initiative to strengthen partnership with the private sector to provide educational buildings with taking into account the adoption of the implementation budget of the track by an amount not exceeding (400) million riyals annually and for a period not exceeding (28) years, and the implementation of at least 120 schools in major areas of the Kingdom.
He concluded by stressing the privatization of flour mills, health projects, parking lots and public transportation projects and procedures with the concerned parties.
At the end of the meeting, Mr. Ibrahim Al-Sheikh, a member of the Board of Directors of Asharqia Chamber, honored The National Center for Privatization for holding this meeting.
He also honored the participating speakers for the information they provided to the local investor in the region.
