RIYADH — The Ministry of Investment (MISA) announced on Tuesday that it had signed 101 investment deals worth more than $4 billion during the first quarter (Q1) of 2022. The ministry's announcement came after the appearance of the latest data of the foreign investment in Saudi Arabia, which showed that its direct flows in 2021 reached its highest level in 10 years, amounting to about $19.3 billion. MISA stated in its report that the deals that were signed will reflect on the high competitiveness of the Saudi economy, as it will attract many and more investment opportunities. Which also would create more than 5,816 jobs in the local economy. It was proven at the report that Saudi Arabia' economy is considered as one of the fastest recovering economies from the COVID-19 pandemic' effects globally. The Kingdom achieved a growth in real GDP by 9.6% during the Q1 of 2022 compared to the same quarter of 2021, which was driven by the increase in global demand for oil. While non-oil activities recorded an increase of 3.7% during the same period. The foreign direct investment (FDI) has recorded an increase in its flows to Saudi Arabia reaching about $19.3 billion (SR72.4 billion) in 2021, with an annual increase of 257.2%. The increase in the flow of the FDI in Saudi Arabia is due to the Kingdom's ability to provide a number of opportunities for investors thanks to incentive packages and the continuation of economic reforms, through which it has become easier to reach many untapped sectors by providing an attractive investment environment. It is noteworthy that MISA said, the expectations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the Kingdom's economy is the second fastest growing among the G-20 countries during 2022, and the expectations of international rating agencies, including Fitch Ratings, which modified the expectations of the long-term credit rating of foreign currency issuers in the Kingdom from stable to positive, all confirm the positive outlook for the Saudi economy. Minister of Investment Eng. Khalid Al-Falih stressed that the positive indicators of the Kingdom's economy reflect the high level of investors' interest, which also confirms the extent of the success of Vision 2030 in opening ways of investment in qualitative opportunities. He added that the national investment strategy in the Kingdom would contribute to supporting the acceleration of the process of enabling local and international investors to play a major role in one of the most important qualitative investment opportunities in the world. The minister indicated that the electric-vehicle maker Lucid company's announcement of its deal that it had allocated $3.4 billion to build a factory for electric cars in Saudi Arabia is one of the most important deals that took place during the Q1 of 2022 in the Kingdom. During the Lucid deal, CEO Peter Rawlinson praised the Kingdom's Vision 2030 for its transformation towards sustainable transportation as well as the renewable energy sources.
