His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs, has inaugurated a program to strengthen the partnership with the private sector for local companies in Saudi Arabia. It has the aim of developing a stronger partnership between the government and the private sector and accelerating the achievement of strategic objectives to increase the resilience of the nation's economy and support sustainable growth and prosperity. HRH the Crown Prince stressed during the inauguration of the "Shareek" program at a virtual meeting held on Tuesday evening, chaired by His Highness, in the presence of a number of ministers, senior businessmen and heads of large companies in the Kingdom, that it is a strategic priority of the Kingdom to have a vibrant and thriving private sector. One that can play a pivotal role in the continuing growth, development and success of the nation's economic prosperity. The private sector will continue to play a vital role in helping the country to achieve the ambitions outlined in Vision 2030. Announcing the program, HRH the Crown Prince said: "Building a vibrant and prosperous private sector is one of the national priorities for the Kingdom and that is why we are today inaugurating a new and more powerful era in terms of cooperation and partnership between the government and private sector. The Shareek program we are announcing will strengthen the partnership with the private sector and has the objective of supporting local companies and enabling them to unlock new local investments valued at SAR 5 Trillion through the end of 2030." HRH the Crown Prince added that the Kingdom will undergo a step-change in investment over the coming period. "Three Trillion Riyals injected by The Public Investment Fund through 2030, as announced earlier this year; Four Trillion Riyals that will be invested under the umbrella of the National Investment Strategy, details of which will be announced soon; and Five Trillion from the large companies of the private sector, supported by the Shareek Program. The total investment injected from these three sources in the national economy is expected to reach 12 Trillion Riyals by 2030. This does not include government spending of Ten Trillion Riyals over the next ten years, and private consumption spending, expected to reach five Trillion Riyals by 2030. The total across all these sources reaches 27 Trillion Riyals, or $7 Trillion US Dollars over the next ten years," HRH the Crown Prince said. "The new Shareek program will help the private sector create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and will boost the contribution of the private sector to GDP by up to 65% by the end of the decade as part of the goals of Vision 2030," His Royal Highness added. HRH the Crown Prince noted: "The importance of the Shareek program is not limited to enhancing the private sector's role in the sustainable growth of the national economy. We see it as a long-term investment in the Kingdom's future and prosperity, based on stronger collaboration between the public and private sectors." The new program, named "Shareek", was launched as part of the Kingdom's continuous efforts to achieve Vision 2030's economic objectives, while creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs. This innovative and collaborative program aims to help private sector companies achieve their investment goals, accelerate the unlocking of investments worth SAR 5 Trillion ($1.35 Trillion) to the local economy by 2030, and fast-track the growth of the Kingdom's GDP. This will contribute to the continued progress of the Saudi economy's ranking among the largest global economies, with the goal of rising to 15th, from its current position of 18th, alongside enhancing confidence in the Kingdom's investment ecosystem. Shareek, which will strengthen the partnership with the private sector, has been structured to be an integral part of the country's National Investment Strategy and Economic Growth Plan. Details will be released soon and will be directly supervised by His Royal Highness alongside a committee of ministers and senior government officials from the relevant entities. A series of enablement levers across different business support areas have been created, whereby participating large companies can benefit with the goal of growing their local investments through the Shareek Program. This voluntary program comes with clearly-defined eligibility criteria for participation. Participating firms will work closely to create tailored investment plans with the relevant Ministries that can offer support required to enable plans to be fast-tracked to reality. Shareek will operate under the relevant approved guidelines from the World Trade Organization (WTO), and in accordance with other relevant domestic and international regulations and policies. The program will maximize the resilience and competitiveness of large Saudi companies, both regionally and globally. It will also work as a stimulus for those who will receive support to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The inception of the new program positions Saudi Arabia as an enabler of business and a supportive environment for investment, through proactive, innovative, and forward-looking measures. The first Memorandums of Understanding between large companies and Shareek are expected to be signed starting in June.
