RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s government approved in a virtual meeting on Tuesday listing government assets planned for privatisation in stock market TADAWUL after an initial public offering (IPO).

“Assets, sectors and services planned for privatisation shall be listed in Saudi stock market through direct or indirect initial public offering,” said a statement on state news agency SPA.

The privatisation drive is part of Vision 2030, a package of reforms led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that is intended to wean the economy off oil and create jobs for young Saudis.

Riyadh has struggled over the past few years to attract large investor interest for a slate of planned privatisations aimed at diversity of its oil-driven economy.

The most high-profile partial privatisation process of state oil giant Aramco IPO late last year was mainly dependent on local investors.

“The indirect IPO for such assets will be done through setting up companies that own the government stakes in these projects,” the statement added.

The government's aim to attract investment into everything from education to sports has been complicated by the fallout from the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Riyadh had previously set a goal of aiming to generate 35 billion to 40 billion riyals ($9.3 billion to $10.0 billion) of non-oil state revenues from its privatisation program by 2020. Some of that money would come from asset sales, while the rest would come from public-private partnerships.

(Reporting by Marwa Rashad Editing by Chris Reese and Lisa Shumaker) ((Nayera.Abdallah@thomsonreuters.com;))