Within the last 75 years oil turned the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from a society dependent on oasis and agriculture into the largest economy in the region and the most important oil producer in the world. Saudi Arabia’s transformation started in 1933, when a concession was granted to Standard Oil of California (today’s Chevron). The demand for its oil and the revenues thereof has catapulted Saudi Arabia onto the world stage and has turned it into a key player in the region and beyond.

Since the discovery of oil the society of Saudi Arabia also underwent significant transformation, with both the economy as well as the population portraying rapid growth during this period. With the intention of reducing its dependency on oil Saudi Arabia has embarked on programmes to diversify its economic activity. The Kingdom has initiated successful reforms to improve its business environment for foreign investors. Saudi Arabia regards itself as the world’s fastest-reforming economy and is ambitious to further improve it competitiveness ranking. Government expects that these reform programmes will boost the manufacturing output and will lower the dominance of the oil sector.

Due to the size of the economy as well as the young and rapidly growing population Saudi Arabia exhibits attractive investment and trade opportunities. The population growth for instance guarantees a steady and increasing demand for food and food processing equipment.
The Wesgro Country brief comprises a full overview of trade and investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia, with a political, economic and regulatory overview.

The updated Wesgro IQ Fact Sheet on Saudi Arabia provides updated trade and investment trends for Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the Western Cape.

KPMG Specialist Muhammad Saloojee, based in Riyadh, recently briefed a Western Cape political and business delegation when on a mission to the Gulf about Investment and Taxation in Saudi Arabia.