The economy of Saudi Arabia is undergoing a major cross-sector transformation, with many sectors expected to experience a major boom in the coming years. Tourism, healthcare, hospitality, retail, energy, and manufacturing, to name a few, have attracted large investments, and are set to thrive and expand during the coming period. Take, for instance, the Saudi healthcare sector. In July 2022, Saudi healthcare operator Almeswak took a remarkable step and concluded a $530 million deal with UAE-based Gulf Islamic Investments (GII). Similarly, the Kingdom's Tourism Development Fund (TDF) announced the setting up of a $400 million hospitality investment fund in collaboration with the UK-based developer Ennismore and Al Rajhi Capital. Meanwhile, huge infrastructure projects are under way. It's safe to say that Saudi Arabia is envisioning a promising future. We at Bain & Company believe that we have an important part to play in building this future. We are well-positioned to play a major role in advancing Saudi Arabia's economic diversification programs and helping the Kingdom achieve Vision 2030. Our expansion into Saudi Arabia is largely motivated by the constant growth of the Saudi economy, which witnessed this year one of the highest growth rates (12.2%) in Q2 in the world. We consider the Saudi market — the largest in the region — as key for any consulting firm operating across the GCC. Bain has been serving clients in Saudi Arabia since 1993 and is currently in the process of further growing its client base across the Saudi private and public sectors. Since the launch of the ambitious Saudi Vision 2030, Bain has been supporting the roles of many government agencies in achieving the Vision's goals, by formulating specific strategic priorities and initiatives. We've worked with business and government leaders on transformation programs across many sectors, including human capital development, enhanced sustainability, and the creation of new industries, all as part of our goal to create benefits for the Saudi society. Today, we are primarily focused on helping our clients in the Saudi public sector roll out and implement their strategies through actual pilot and execution programs, allowing them to achieve tangible and value-add results. Bain's growth in the Kingdom was reinforced by the firm's alignment with the Saudi Green Initiative, which is grounded in our established Sustainability and Responsibility consulting service and our long-standing experience in this area. We intend to leverage our expertise to support the initiative's goals and ambitions, by helping our stakeholders incorporate sustainability in their core strategies and translate their goals into actionable projects. At Bain, we believe in leading by example and have therefore remained deeply committed to maintaining environmental standards in everything we do. Over the past 11 years, we've managed to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 direct emissions by 84%, by converting to 100% renewable electricity, improving the energy efficiency of our offices, and finding innovative solutions for our operations. This year, we announced an industry-leading move to achieve net-negative carbon status in 2022. The company will support nature-based projects to remove more than 100% of its 2021 scope 1, 2, and 3 carbon emissions, and aims at maintaining a net-negative status every year going forward. Additionally, we are offering an accelerated and specialized, post-graduate-level global ESG training program, to upskill all our consultants across the firm worldwide. The Further Academy programme, in partnership with world-class universities and business schools, including Imperial College Business School (London), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and HEC Paris, will equip each consultant to advise on ESG issues within their areas of expertise, ensure that an understanding of ESG risks and opportunities is at the heart of every client brief – and deliver on our firm's own, ambitious sustainable development goals. These steps demonstrate our commitment to sustainability and the priority that we place on minimizing the environmental impact of our global business operations. Getting back to our main subject, much of our efforts have recently been focused on attracting and hiring young Saudi talent. This is why, for the past three years, Bain has been a strategic partner to the prestigious Misk fellowship program, which aims at identifying, developing, and accelerating globally-competitive young Saudi talent. Our support for this program includes providing mentorship and training programs for more than 150 Misk fellows and offering internships and full-time jobs for aspiring graduates. Bain's culture is world-famous, and the firm is known for its diverse, equal, and inclusive work environment. We are certain that we will attract ambitious and highly qualified Saudi talent. We rank as one of the top companies to work for, and can without a doubt offer new talents the opportunity to expand their skills and advance their careers. The Saudi economy is set to be the world's fastest-growing major economy in 2022. We believe that we have a significant role to play in helping Saudi Arabia achieve its strategic goals and ambitions. In return, the Kingdom's growing market and booming economy offer great potential for Bain's expansion across the GCC and our global business growth. — The author is partner at Bain and leader of the firm's growth in the Kingdom since May 2022
