Saudi Vision 2030 spurring growth across the real estate sector, says industry leader at Davos

DAVOS: Saudi Arabia’s finance minister on Wednesday said that the recent International Monetary Fund downgrading of its growth projection for the Kingdom’s economy for the year ahead did not paint the full picture.

Speaking on a panel at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mohammed Al-Jadaan said that it was important not to look just at gross domestic product but at other indicators as well.

The IMF revised Saudi Arabia’s 2025 GDP growth projection down to 3.3 percent, citing the impact of extended oil production cuts. 

Saudi Arabia’s commitment to economic diversification under Vision 2030 was driving steady growth, with the Kingdom prioritizing its non-oil GDP over traditional oil revenues. 

“The whole idea of Vision 2030 is to diversify our economy. So our focus is really the non-oil GDP, and non-oil GDP has been growing very healthily over the last few years,” he said.

Al-Jadaan underscored the significance of private-sector confidence, pointing to a sharp rise in private-sector investment as a percentage of GDP — from 16–17 percent a few years ago to 24 percent today.

“That 50 percent increase is not easy. Ask any economist, and they will tell you it requires significant structural change, and it is happening in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

Saudi Arabia had also made strategic decisions to contain oil production despite having significant spare capacity. “We can produce 1,000,000 barrels more per day and we will have the highest-growing GDP in the world, but how is this helpful? It isn’t, actually,” Al-Jadaan said.

“We need to be very careful when we look at GDP as a measure for growth because you need to look at other indicators,” he added.

With unemployment rates at historic lows and the private-sector thriving, Saudi Arabia continued to make “tough, difficult decisions” to sustain long-term growth. “If you want to see it, you will need to make tough decisions,” Al-Jadaan said.

Al-Jadaan also highlighted the role artificial intelligence could play in this diversification of the economy, saying in the future that the Kingdom could be exporting data instead of oil.

“I think AI is a trendy term, but if we are not careful we could be left behind,” he said. “We need to think: Where is our competitive advantage within the value chain of AI?”

To build the necessary infrastructure for AI, significant amounts of energy, particularly clean and renewable energy, were required, he said. This effort also demanded substantial land for renewable projects, robust fiber-optic networks and a skilled workforce.

According to Al-Jadaan, Saudi Arabia’s competitive edge lies in its ability to produce the world’s cheapest solar power, its government’s agile and supportive policies allowing quick licensing and approvals, and the Kingdom’s plans to implement regulatory measures that treat data centers with the same protections as embassies, ensuring robust security and compliance with international standards.

He also highlighted that Saudi Arabia was a world leader in government cybersecurity, adding that it was “handled, operated, managed, programmed and coded 100 percent by Saudi talent.”

Discussing the broader Middle East and North Africa region, which is projected to rebound from a growth rate of 2 percent in 2024 to 3.5 percent in 2025, according to IMF projections, Al-Jadaan said that he was optimistic about the region’s prospects.

He acknowledged its significant challenges, including high youth unemployment and geopolitical crises.

“MENA has possibly the highest youth unemployment in the world, at I think 27, 28 percent. MENA needs to create, according to the IMF, about 30 million new jobs by 2030,” he said.

Despite these challenges, Al-Jadaan highlighted the region’s strengths, including a young, tech-savvy population and abundant natural resources. “If we focus on human capital, if we focus on skilling our people in MENA, I think the potential is absolutely high,” he said.

He also called for regional stability and reform to unlock long-term potential, adding: “With the right ingredients of reforming governments, reforming governance and utilizing technology to our own competitive advantage, I think we’d see a new region.”
 

DUBAI: Oman’s state-owned logistics firm Asyad Group plans to sell shares in its shipping subsidiary through an initial public offering, it said on Wednesday, as part of the Gulf country’s privatization drive.
The group, owned by Oman’s sovereign wealth fund, plans to sell a stake of at least 20 percent in Asyad Shipping Co. and float it on the Muscat stock exchange, it said in a document detailing its intention to float.
“The intended listing would provide investors with the opportunity to invest in one of the world’s largest diversified maritime shipping companies and a key player in the Omani economy,” the company said.
Oman is pushing forward with a privatization drive to attract foreign investors.
That strategy, along with fiscal reforms, has helped the sultanate pay down debt and turn its large fiscal deficit of recent years into a surplus since 2022.
Asyad Shipping focuses on transporting liquefied natural gas, crude oil and other products. It lists energy firms BP and Shell, as well as trading firm Trafigura among its customers and partners.
Reuters reported in July last year that Asyad was planning an initial public offering of the subsidiary and had selected Jefferies Group and EFG Hermes as advisers.
The offering will be made in two tranches, with 75 percent made to eligible investors in Oman and qualified institutional and other foreign investors. Of the 75 percent tranche, 30 percent of shares have been earmarked for anchor investors, the firm said, without naming them.
The remaining 25 percent will be sold to retail investors in Oman.
The subscription period is expected to start next month, after the company has received regulatory approval.
Asyad Shipping plans to pay dividends semi-annually, beginning in September 2025 for the first six months of this year.
The company posted an adjusted core profit margin of 69 percent for the first nine months of last year, up from 65 percent over the same period in 2023.
Oman Investment Bank, EFG Hermes, JP Morgan and Jefferies are acting as joint global coordinators. Sohar International is acting as joint global coordinator and as issue manager.
Credit Agricole and Societe Generale are joint bookrunners.