Saudi Arabia is regularly criticised by human rights groups for its detention and torture of political opponents and for its intervention in the military conflict in Yemen, which has led to thousands of civilian deaths. The murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018 also led to worldwide outrage.
Experts have warned that the sharp decline in foreign investments by 85% in just one year is a real disaster that proves that foreign investors do not trust the projects launched by the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Despite all this, the Saudi government seems undeterred and, in October 2021, it set a new target of $100 billion in FDI a year by 2030, although there is plenty of scepticism about how realistic that target is.
When the crown prince launched his Vision 2030 economic strategy in 2016, the aim was for FDI to reach around $19 billion by 2020, but in fact it was just $5.4 billion that year.
Efforts to attract inward investment have been hampered by the clampdown on senior business executives and other figures in 2017 – billed by the authorities as an anti-corruption drive. The brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul the following year made international companies even more wary of being seen to support the Riyadh regime.
Much like with Formula One and professional golf, the world’s biggest oil exporter has in recent years leveraged its immense wealth to assert itself on the eSports stage, hosting glitzy conferences and snapping up established tournament organisers.
In January 2022, the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund launched the Savvy Gaming Group, which acquired top eSports firms ESL Gaming and FACEIT in deals reportedly worth a total of $1.5 billion.
Last March, it launched the Shareek programme, which aims to encourage large private sector firms to invest more in the economy between now and 2030, encouraged by tax breaks, soft loans and other support. State-owned enterprises such as Saudi Aramco are expected to play a significant role in this programme.
The government has adopted a carrot and stick approach to bringing more international money into the economy. As well as offering the sort of low-tax environment that is usual in the region, the government has said that, from 2023, foreign companies must have their regional headquarters in the kingdom if they want to compete for government contracts.
Saudi Arabia is regularly criticised by human rights groups for its detention and torture of political opponents and for its intervention in the military conflict in Yemen, which has led to thousands of civilian deaths. The murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018 also led to worldwide outrage.
Experts have warned that the sharp decline in foreign investments by 85% in just one year is a real disaster that proves that foreign investors do not trust the projects launched by the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Despite all this, the Saudi government seems undeterred and, in October 2021, it set a new target of $100 billion in FDI a year by 2030, although there is plenty of scepticism about how realistic that target is.
When the crown prince launched his Vision 2030 economic strategy in 2016, the aim was for FDI to reach around $19 billion by 2020, but in fact it was just $5.4 billion that year.
Efforts to attract inward investment have been hampered by the clampdown on senior business executives and other figures in 2017 – billed by the authorities as an anti-corruption drive. The brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul the following year made international companies even more wary of being seen to support the Riyadh regime.
Much like with Formula One and professional golf, the world’s biggest oil exporter has in recent years leveraged its immense wealth to assert itself on the eSports stage, hosting glitzy conferences and snapping up established tournament organisers.
In January 2022, the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund launched the Savvy Gaming Group, which acquired top eSports firms ESL Gaming and FACEIT in deals reportedly worth a total of $1.5 billion.
Last March, it launched the Shareek programme, which aims to encourage large private sector firms to invest more in the economy between now and 2030, encouraged by tax breaks, soft loans and other support. State-owned enterprises such as Saudi Aramco are expected to play a significant role in this programme.
The government has adopted a carrot and stick approach to bringing more international money into the economy. As well as offering the sort of low-tax environment that is usual in the region, the government has said that, from 2023, foreign companies must have their regional headquarters in the kingdom if they want to compete for government contracts.
