RIYADH: The approval of the Privatization Law by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday would speed up the privatization of many 16 government sectors, according to Minister of Finance and Acting Minister of Economy and Planning Muhammad Al-Jadaan. Opening up these sectors to local and foreign firms would help boost the balance of payments and raise the private sector's contribution to GDP from 40% to 65 percent.

Al-Jadaan, chairman of the Privatization Program Committee and the Board of Directors of the National Center for Privatization (NCP), said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency that the Kingdom's Vision of 2030 aims to increase investment in the national economy by creating attractive investment opportunities for the private sector, increasing its contribution to the national economy.

The Privatization Law seeks to create a space that encourages increasing the volume and quality of services given to people and emigrants, as well as establishing the requisite regulatory and investment flexibility for privatization projects in the Kingdom.

According to Al-Jadaan, the new legislation would increase private sector involvement in economic development for privatization projects accessible and facilitating these opportunities transparently and equitably. The fairness of procurement processes will be guaranteed as well as comprehensiveness and consistency of services rendered and the utilization of assets relevant to privatization programs.

With the support of NCP, the minister claimed that the law would help stimulate economic growth by encouraging the launch of privatization programs, ventures, and collaborations between the public and private sectors in front of local and foreign investors. NCP is the competent authority for implementing the Privatization Law in partnership and cooperation with the target sectors and their supervisory committees.

The legislation is intended to promote the privatization system's efforts. It will provide creative alternatives to the local economy and the state's budget, and the opportunity to attract local and foreign investments, further helping people find jobs.

The modification of the Privatization Law, according to Eng. Rayan Naqadi, CEO of NCP, aims to increase the private sector's contribution to government projects. It enables the distribution of responsibilities and risks between the government and the private sector, reducing the government's capital budget, and organizing all activities and procedures related to implementing privatization policies.

The Privatization Law's goal, according to Sultan Al-Qahtani, NCP’s deputy CEO for legal and regulatory affairs, includes increasing the number of privatization projects further stimulating the private sector. It aims in establishing an investment climate that encourages local and foreign investors to participate in privatization opportunities.

The legislation establishes a wide range of regulatory controls to boost investor interest in the privatization process. It confirms the execution of privatization contracts, ensuring the financial obligations resulting from privatization contracts are met in the long run in the state's general budget.

The Privatization Law also enables the Kingdom to deal with the unique problems that privatization projects usually face. It's worth remembering that NCP is one of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs' executive services. It was established as the backbone of the Kingdom's Saudization program. It is currently working on a package of initiatives and projects aimed at realizing Vision 2030.