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Oil rick kingdom had recently announced a privatization plan that includes identifying 160 projects
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Saudi finance minister Al-Jadaan opened a high-level G20 conference with his Italian counterpart Daniele Franco
Saudi Arabia will raise $55 billion from privatization including sale of assets and public-private partnerships, according to the kingdom’s finance minister who was quoted by Arab News on Thursday.
Mohammed Al-Jadaan said Saudi Arabia had recently announced a privatization plan that includes identifying 160 projects in 16 sectors, including asset sales and public-private partnerships.
“Our goal is to secure about $55 billion from the privatization plan, of which $16.5 billion will be in public-private partnerships.”
He added: “We are looking forward to using the private sector to manage and finance infrastructure, health services, urban transport networks, school buildings, airport services, water desalination plants, and sewage treatment through these partnerships, in order to ensure better, more cost-effective and efficient implementation that reduces the use of materials and energy, while providing improved products and services for the benefit of citizens and the world at large.” Al-Jadaan added that financing sustainable development and quality infrastructure are some of the concerns of the G20, and that bridging the infrastructure financing gap required more effort. Al-Jadaan opened a high-level G20 conference with his Italian counterpart Daniele Franco.
Al-Jadaan said that the G20, under the Kingdom’s presidency last year, prepared the Group of Twenty report, in cooperation with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in cooperation with institutional investors and asset managers in infrastructure. Saudi Arabia is a member of the G20 troika, and the Kingdom is keen to support the group’s efforts to achieve strong, balanced, sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
Al-Jadaan opened a high-level conference entitled “2021 G20 Infrastructure Investors Dialogue: Financing Sustainable Infrastructure for the Recovery,” along with Italian Minister of Economy and Finance Daniele Franco, in the presence of a number of G20 finance ministers, international and regional organizations, representatives of the private sector, senior investors and asset managers.
The finance minister said that infrastructure plays an important role in promoting economic activities, fundamentally supports productivity, and provides a solid foundation for robust, inclusive and sustainable growth.