Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman (MBS) has ordered the establishment of five major investments with Chinese and Korean firms at Taif Investment Forum.
Saudi Arabia will develop a $5bn Mars-themed city, a rose-growing industry and five five-star tourist resorts in Taif, sources familiar with the matter said.
Businesses in the Kingdom announced the signing of $2.9bn of contracts with Chinese and Korean firms at the Taif Investment Forum.
The contracts stipulate, among others, the establishment of the first phase of the space science fiction city Mars War, at a value of $1.3bn, which could exceed $5.3bn in the final stage of this tourist project.
Also included is the establishment of an emergency information centre, together with China Mobile company, at a value of $533M, to support the company’s planned centre in Jeddah, as well as a project to build five five-star tourist resorts, and other municipal projects worth over $267M.
Saudi Arabia has entered a dangerous phase due to the failed policies of Crown Prince, Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). The oil kingdom’s treasury is no longer able to spend on vital and important projects due to the lavish spending on unreal projects.
Saudi Arabia plans to open its domestic aviation industry to more competition, part of an overhaul that the government estimates will drive a $100 billion investment in the sector by the end of the decade.
Among the plans laid out by the General Authority of Civil Aviation, airports and ground-handling operations will be allowed to be privatised, and airports will also receive an incentive plan to raise their quality standards, according to a statement. License processes for ground handling and air cargo service providers will also streamlined, according to the release.
Economic experts, however, cautioned that privatizing airports will result in fewer Saudi workers and a greater reliance on skilled foreign labor, raising unemployment rates.
Experts predict that increasing the cost of airline tickets and freight services will hurt Saudi nationals and businesspeople. Additionally, this will cause the cost of imported goods to rise.
The move will also result in higher rates of social and economic inequality, the deterioration and elimination of the middle class, and higher rates of inflation and poverty nationwide.
Apart from the adverse impacts on the economy, privatization may also have political repercussions in certain situations. Most prominently, it can lead to the infringement of a state’s sovereignty by foreign entities like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Airport management firms will be able to enforce security regulations from their perspective and permit global security surveillance.
The financial situation in the Saudi Kingdom was deteriorated to the point that the MBS decided to sell the most vital sectors in the country, the health sector, to private industry.
Economic sources revealed that MBS seeks to sell 50% of the health sector to private investors. The sources indicated that MBS is no longer able to spend on the vital sector in the Kingdom.
In June, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) established a new entity, Nubco, to attract pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to invest in the development of pharmaceutical products, including insulin, vaccines and plasma treatments.
The private sector accounts for only 24% of the total number of hospital beds in the Saudi Kingdom, while this rate reaches 60% in Germany and 80% in the United States.
The Saudi Ministry of Industry announced the provision of an incentive package for investors in biopharmaceutical industries in particular, similar to every part of the value chains in health services, whose incentives are constantly being developed, with the aim of selling the health sector to them.
Healthcare is one of the main components of Vision 2030, a controversial plan launched by MBS.
