RIYADH — Mohannad Basodan, CEO of the National Center for Privatization (NCP), unveiled the plans to privatize the airports of Abha, Taif, Hail and Qassim, as well as about 4,500 kilometers of modern roads in the Kingdom. In an interview with Al-Arabiya, Basodan said that a series of privatization projects has been announced and these include around 200 approved projects, of which about 140 projects have been made available to local and international investors. "The Kingdom has the largest series of privatization projects in the region, which include various qualitative investments, and these are made available in advance to give investors the opportunity to prepare well in advance before their offering," he said while noting that the series of privatization projects in the Kingdom includes the airports of Abha, Taif, Hail and Qassim, and about 4,500 kilometers of modern roads. Basodan said that privatization in the health sector includes general hospitals, university hospitals, health services, laboratories and radiology. "In the education sector, it includes school buildings, colleges of excellence, establishment of model institutions, in addition to water and wastewater treatment projects," he said. Basodan noted that these projects are scheduled, and 60 projects were launched in the last period, and there are projects in various phases of the preparation period. He stated that the NCP had succeeded, during the past five years, in awarding contracts for 43 projects, ranging from partnership, sale of assets, or institutional transformation. "The first quarter of 2023 witnessed the signing of contracts for projects in the transport sector, including Spanish-Saudi, and Chinese-Saudi alliances. There is a diversity of operations to attract foreign investors and available projects." It is noteworthy that the National Center for Privatization has identified 200 projects available to local and international investors, with the aim of giving them sufficient period of time to learn about privatization projects in the Kingdom and their nature before officially offered to the market. Earlier, Minister of Finance Muhammad Al-Jadaan urged to continue publishing details about projects for privatization so as to enhance partnership between the public and private sectors and attract new international investments. This is also aimed to enable the local private sector to benefit from the announced opportunities.
