Riyadh, on Sunday evening, launched the activities of the ninth international competitiveness forum for 2016. The forum has been successfully launched under the patronage of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and will entitle “Sector Competitiveness” amid important indicators aiming at developing investment mechanisms in Saudi Arabia, and stimulating the economy towards further growth.

On that subject, Abdullatif bin Al Othman, the third and current Governor of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, at the opening ceremony, revealed that this committee in addition to all concerned governmental authorities have prepared a comprehensive program for improving the competitive atmosphere in the Kingdom and for absolving all obstacles facing investors. The program is set to work under detailed recommendations and in specific periods.

Moreover, in a sideline press conference, Governor Abdullatif bin Al Othman confirmed that the recent economic initiatives taken by the Kingdom had come at the right time. Saudi Arabia now focuses on the diversification of income sources. “There will be multiple new sectors welcoming investment, in addition to the investing promise of other sectors such as energy, health, mining, services, retail, financial services, real-estate, tourism, as well as education and the reinforcement of work competition in Saudi Arabia”, Al Othman added .

Governor Al Othman stressed on the point that Saudi Arabia is open to investment and welcomes investors.

In his speech at the forum, Al Othman highlighted the accomplishments witnessed by the kingdom in light of the wise leadership of King Salman viewed throughout the course of the whole year.

“Despite disorder and wars ravaging across the region, the precedent year has viewed a movement supporting and organizing growth in the Kingdom; many decisions were made, alongside policies and serious procedures, aiming at accomplishing broad structural reform for national economy, and those decisions were followed with the establishment of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs.”

Among the achievements and decisions recorded in 2015 was the configuration of the residential sector, in addition to the imposition of fees on any underdeveloped property. The decisions issued worked on both providing residence and integrating the private sector into the construction sector.

“There are many policies and procedures that will be applied in the upcoming future: the suggestion of a group of sectors, economic activities for privatization, the cutting of red tape work for the private sector, improving levels of transparency, and accounting”, Al Othman added.

Saudi Arabia is considered to be the largest economy in the Middle East, ranking among the top 20 world economies. It has recorded a gross production approximated to 653 billion dollars for 2015, and is considered to be the fourth quickest growing economy in the world.