The British newspaper: The Financial Times described Saudi Arabia as a hell for foreign investors led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In a report, the newspaper questioned the chances of the success of Bin Salman’s plans within the framework of Vision 2030 for economic diversification and attracting large foreign companies to open a headquarters in the country, the Saudi website Lex wrote.
According to the British newspaper, there is a great deal of confusion in the work of various Saudi ministries, as Muhammad bin Salman has set the goals of these ministries as part of his conflicting plans.
The newspaper wrote: “There is a big contradiction in the statements of the Saudi Ministry of Investment, which shows that Saudi Arabia is a paradise for investors, but in fact this country is hell for them; Because there are delays in payments as well as bureaucracy that hinder business, there are also concerns about bin Salman’s oversight environment and reputation in his repressive campaigns against businessmen.
The newspaper stressed that Saudi Arabia continues to face a major challenge in attracting companies such as automobiles, aviation, consumer goods, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and green energy companies.
The report goes on to intensify economic competition between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, especially over hosting corporate headquarters.
According to the newspaper, “Saudi Arabia is working to legalize alcohol and tourism in the Red Sea, and the UAE is shifting its working weeks from Monday to Friday and is making changes.”
An international report has previously shown many weaknesses for Saudi Arabia in attracting international companies to open a headquarters in Saudi Arabia.
For years, foreign companies have preferred to set up regional offices in the UAE and direct and manage their regional projects from these offices. However, acknowledging the UAE’s competitive advantage as the region’s trading hub, the Saudi finance minister expressed hope that the two countries could henceforth play healthy competition to play a complementary role in the region’s economic development.
According to AFP, Saudi cities lack adequate infrastructure in key sectors such as transportation and banking, and some ministries suffer from deep-rooted bureaucracies.
Riyadh is far from Dubai and even Abu Dhabi in terms of social liberalization, housing, education and recreation, said Ryan Boehl, a Middle East expert at Stratfor Consulting.
He added: “Another difficult fact is that in Saudi Arabia, 19 million mostly conservative citizens will be less receptive to Western social customs in the coming years than in the UAE.”
Modern infrastructure has made Dubai a preferred location for international companies, and the wealthy Gulf emirates have made it easy to open a business in a bureaucratic area.
Riyadh was shaken by tough policies, security threats and corruption while the business climate in Dubai was booming.
Gulf economists believe that the realization of Saudi Arabia’s approach to becoming the region’s economic hub and the opening of offices of foreign companies in Saudi Arabia, given the country’s traditional image of economic and investment activists, requires a fundamental change in some sectors and Many years have passed.
Saudi Arabia has recently entered the field of attracting foreign investment to marginalize and exclude the UAE, a sector that has been of interest to the UAE for many years and has been successful in this area.
