Saudi Arabia and Italy signed 23 cooperation agreements in various fields

Saudi Minister of Investment: The Kingdom will spend more than a trillion dollars on direct contracts in major projects within years.

During the forum, Saudi Minister of Investment, Khaled Al-Faleh sent an invitation to Italian companies to strengthen their presence in the Kingdom, noting that there are currently 150 licensed Italian institutions operating in the Saudi market, “and this number can be increased significantly in the coming period.”

 $1.8 trillion

The Saudi-Italian Investment Forum was held yesterday, Monday, which was organized by the Saudi Ministry of Investment in partnership with the Italian Ministry of Companies and Products in the city of Milan in the Republic of Italy, in the presence of the Minister of Investment, Engineer Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, the Italian Minister of Companies and Royalties, Adolfo Orso, and a number of officials from the two countries, with the participation of government agencies and the sector. private of the two countries.

He noted that the Kingdom "will spend, over the remaining years of the current decade, more than one trillion euros ($1.8 trillion) in the form of direct contracts on major projects," which represents an important opportunity for Italian companies to enter the Saudi market.

21 agreements and memorandums of understanding

According to the official Saudi News Agency, SPA, the forum witnessed the signing of 21 agreements and memorandums of understanding in the fields of energy, clean energy, health, real estate, waste management, technology, manufacturing, and others, with the aim of enhancing commercial cooperation and developing commercial, industrial and investment relations, in addition to developing relations in various fields between the two countries.

Bilateral non-oil trade

The forum also included presentations and discussion sessions presented by participating government agencies that highlighted investment opportunities in the fields of clean energy, petrochemicals, health care, pharmaceuticals, life sciences, automobiles, advanced manufacturing, and real estate development in the field of tourism and hospitality.

It is noteworthy that the value of bilateral non-oil trade between the Kingdom and Italy between the two countries is estimated at approximately 5.6 billion Saudi riyals / 1.4 billion euros in 2022, which provides strong potential for further growth, as Italy is among the twenty largest countries investing in the Kingdom (in terms of stock). Foreign direct investment), as there are more than 150 Italian companies that have a foreign investment license in the Kingdom.

Vision 2030

It is noteworthy that the Saudi gross domestic product has achieved a cumulative growth of 66% since the launch of the “Kingdom’s Vision 2030” 7 years ago, and that the Kingdom today ranks among the top 10 destinations for foreign direct investments in the world.

  The achievements of “Vision 2030” were also evident through the advancement of the Saudi financial market “Tadawul” from 25th place in 2016 to become today among the 10 most important financial markets in the world.