Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman attended the ceremony of announcing the first wave of projects supported by the Private Sector Partnership Reinforcement (Shareek) Program, amounting to SR192 billion in Riyadh on Wednesday.

The Shareek Program is Saudi Arabia’s dedicated program for large companies, designed to help unlock the full potential of the Kingdom’s private sector, and contribute to achieving the national targets defined by Vision 2030. The Crown Prince, who launched the program on 30 March 2021, closely oversees its implementation as the chairman of the Large Companies Investment Committee. To date, there are 28 companies enrolled in the Shareek program.

A number of senior ministers and private sector leaders attended the ceremony and witnessed the signing of framework agreements for 12 projects that have been approved within the Shareek incentives criteria, across eight companies, in a number of strategic sectors.

These projects will contribute to the Kingdom’s economic growth, diversify industries, promote innovation, and further enable public-private partnerships. The Shareek program is helping eligible companies accelerate planned projects and identify new potential partnerships and investment opportunities through government support.

The first wave of supported projects will have a strategic impact on several economic sectors in the Kingdom, encompassing investments worth SR 192.4 billion, of which SR 120.23 billion will be spent by large companies by the end of 2030, to achieve more than SR 466.83 billion in GDP growth by 2040 and create 64,451 local jobs.

In his speech at the ceremony, Abdulaziz Al-Arifi, CEO of Shareek program, stated that the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, led by the Crown Prince, contributes to making the Kingdom a leading destination for investment and growth, with its focus on bolstering partnerships with the private sector as a key catalyst for sustainable economic development. Furthermore, the Shareek program has become a key choice for large private sector companies, evidenced by the 12 projects enabled by the program across four sectors.

Al-Arifi pointed out that the overall value of the announced investments is around SR 192 billion, including SR 120 billion spent by large companies by the end of 2030 to achieve more than SR 466 billion in GDP growth by 2040.

Al-Arifi said that these projects support the growth of eight national companies and contribute to raising their international competitiveness, in addition to generating a strong ripple effect across entire value chains, which results in great investment opportunities for a wider segment of the private sector. The broad economic impact is one of the main criteria considered by Shareek when assessing potential projects, he added.

The signing ceremony included the announcement of the following strategic projects:

Aramco will receive support to accelerate the implementation of five projects which will create more than 10,000 jobs, including a joint venture steel plate manufacturing project, aimed to make Saudi Arabia 100 percent self-sufficient for steel plate demand by 2030; a cloud project which will attract Google Cloud services into the Kingdom and establish Saudi Arabia as a hub for advanced cloud computing technologies; an engine manufacturing project which will aid in the development of a sustainable maritime sector and unlock greater value from metals and machinery sectors, which are central to diversified industrial development; and a casting and forging project in Ras Al-Khair, which will enhance the integration of industrial supply chains in the Kingdom.

The projects also include the Amiral Petrochemical Complex project, contributing to the localization of chemicals production, with the aim to strengthen the Kingdom’s global leadership in the petrochemical industry.

In the energy sector, ACWA Power will receive Shareek support for the construction of the world’s largest green hydrogen plant, which is being developed in partnership with NEOM Green Hydrogen Company and Air Products Qudra. The project demonstrates Saudi Arabia’s capabilities as a green energy leader, in support of the Kingdom’s net zero ambitions.

Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) will receive support to accelerate its Phosphate 3 project in Wa’ad Al Shamal, which is set to position the company as the third-largest global producer of phosphate fertilizers by 2029 and enhance the Kingdom’s position in the world’s agricultural value chain, aiding global food security.

Within the Kingdom’s petrochemicals sector, the industry leader SABIC has received support for a catalyst project, primed to reduce Saudi Arabia’s import dependency and enhance its position as an exporter by establishing KSA’s first catalyst manufacturing hub.

Through a joint venture, Shareek will provide support to Advanced Petrochemical Company to produce methionine, which will contribute to enhancing food security in the Kingdom and raising the efficiency of food security.

In the growing telecommunications industry, Saudi Telecom will implement an EMC cable project, strengthening Saudi Arabia’s position as a MENA region digital hub and reliable route for data traffic. Also, Zain Saudi Arabia will be accelerating a data center project, set to help transform the Kingdom into a digital economy by ensuring readiness for future IT advancements.

Saudi logistics giant Bahri will scale up its capacity for ammonia transportation through a project supported by Shareek, set to provide ammonia transport services for the first time in the Kingdom, reducing international vessel dependency and enhancing local content in the logistics sector.

Shareek aims to unlock SR 5 trillion in domestic private sector investments by 2030 and contribute to the goals set out in Vision 2030, which target an increase in private sector GDP contribution to 65 percent and an increase in non-oil exports from 16 percent to 50 percent.

The program is implemented with the support of several sectorial supervisory committees led by senior government officials. The projects announced at the event represent the first wave of supported projects. Many more are expected to be supported, and these will be announced in due course.