Under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Eng. Abdullatif Al-Othman Governor, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) opened here today the 9th Global Competitiveness Forum (GCF 2016) in Riyadh. The participants in the three-day forum, included a group of leaders of thought, economy and businesses of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the world. In his opening speech at the forum, Al-Othman stressed that the forum' session of this year coincides with the first anniversary of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques taking over the reins of power. Al-Othman highlighted the great achievements that have been achieved in the Kingdom under the wise leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques during the last year. He said that despite the unrest and wars afflicting the region, the past year has seen a dynamic developmental and organizationally-intensive movement in the Kingdom, pointing out to the declaration of a number of policies and procedures to achieve broad structural reforms in the national economy, and the establishment of the Council of Economic Affairs and Development. SAGIA's Governor spoke in detail about many economic plans and procedures to be implemented in Kingdom in future, which include the launching of a range of sectors and economic activities for privatization, overcoming the legislative, regulatory and bureaucratic obstacles facing the private sector and improving transparency and accountability levels. He explained that these policies and measures aimed at supporting the Saudi economy, which occupies a prominent position among the top 20 economies in the world. About enhancing competitiveness in the Kingdom, he said that SAGIA has recently completed, with the support and supervision of the Council of Economic Affairs and Development, several programs, including national development plans to invest in 18 sectors to raise their competitiveness and attractiveness. At the end of the opening ceremony, the SAGIA's Governor has honored the sponsors, including the Saudi Press Agency 'SPA', as the media sponsor of the Forum. After that, the Governor with a number of dignitaries that attended the ceremony, made a tour of the accompanying exhibition in which several governmental and private agencies are participating.
