Riyadh — The growth of a stable real estate market and creation of a sustainable small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector are fundamental to the success of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, said government leaders and financial executives attending the second and final day of the 12th Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference in Riyadh on Wednesday.
Majed Al-Hogail, minister of housing, delivered day two’s opening keynote address and outlined the country’s ambitious plans to facilitate the sufficient supply and demand necessary to ensure a sustainably robust real estate market.
At the beginning of 2017, the Kingdom launched a housing program designed to hand over up to 120,000 units to citizens over the year, to complement the goals of Vision 2030.
The Sakani program is part of efforts to support the housing needs of around 280,000 families by the Ministry of Housing.
As well as real estate, the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 outlines a key role for small businesses and new start-ups. One of the stated goals of the program is to increase the SME contribution to GDP from 20 percent to 35 percent.
Ghassan Al-Sulaiman, Governor of General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, spoke about the need for the Kingdom’s smaller businesses to be given the necessary support to succeed in increasingly competitive domestic and international markets.
The conference closed with a panel discussion on the country’s equity capital markets, with topics covering Saudi Aramco’s much-anticipated IPO and other privatizations.
More than 1,800 delegates registered to attend the conference, which saw presentations and interviews with senior ministers from the Kingdom.
Mohamed Kharboush, Conference Director, Euromoney Conferences said: “This year’s Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference has provided in-depth insight into the momentum that is building to support the goals of Vision 2030, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.”
© The Saudi Gazette 2017
