The Saudi Vision 2030 has already created billions of dollars worth of trade and investment opportunities for American companies across a wide range of industries, including defense, construction, healthcare, and petrochemicals. In an interview with Al-Riyadh, sister publication of Riyadh Daily, Edward Burton, CEO and President of the US-Saudi Arabian Business Council (USSABC), said that American companies have an opportunity to tap the Saudi market and work shoulder-to-shoulder with the Saudi private sector. They can build the capacity of the Saudi labor force and the country's young entrepreneurs, expanding the Kingdom's industrial base and bringing new technologies to market. Burton was present at the ceremony at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh in late May when multiple Saudi-US agreements were signed in the presence Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, and American President Donald Trump. "I witnessed the largest gathering of US Fortune 500 chairmen and CEOs in recent times sign a number of major business agreements. The high-level business delegation from the United States and their participation in the Saudi-US CEO Summit signaled a huge vote of confidence in the Kingdom's leadership and in the direction of the economy through Vision 2030." All the US Fortune 500 chairmen and CEOs who Burton spoke to saw the opportunity to grow their market share in the Kingdom, and recognized the prospects of helping in changing Saudi Arabia's future for the better. As the premier bilateral business organization promoting trade and investment between the US and Saudi Arabia, USSABC has assisted thousands of companies enter the Saudi market. The bottom line deliverable of the Council in Saudi Arabia is access – access to information and to senior decision-makers in the public and private sectors. Over the years Saudi Arabia has consistently ranked high among the world's countries attracting the highest foreign direct investment. "With the recent high-level mission of government and business VIPs from the United States to the Kingdom, we see a tremendous upside to the Saudi-US commercial relationship," he said. Excerpts from the interview: Edward Burton, CEO and President of the US-Saudi Arabian Business Council (USSABC) What are the sectors that will benefit from the agreements with the US? Vision 2030 prioritizes many sectors in an effort to diversify the economy. The US delegation that visited the Kingdom saw billions of dollars in deals and MOUs in sectors including oil and gas, petrochemicals, mining, construction, manufacturing, healthcare, and renewable energy. Companies such as The Dow Chemical Company, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Fluor Corporation, Honeywell International Inc., McDermott International, Inc., General Electric Company, and Jacobs Engineering Group signed agreements in these fields. Where do you see Saudi Arabia placed in 2020? Saudi Arabia aims to fulfill some of its Vision 2030 goals through the National Transformation Program (NTP), which focuses on achieving several goals by 2020. The proposed 2018 Saudi Aramco IPO represents a massive shift in national strategy and investment. The NTP focuses on promoting efficiency, cutting government waste, and more. The Kingdom has already implemented reforms for government performance metrics and transparency. Saudi Arabia has introduced or plans to implement taxes, such as a value-added tax and utility taxes. Government contracts will be more open and competitive. The NTP has already achieved some groundbreaking progress and will continue to do so through 2020. How do you evaluate the economic relations between the US and Saudi Arabia? I believe that the bilateral relationship will reach a new level of strength over the next 10 years as the Saudi private sector seeks to collaborate with US companies in order to increase its contributions to the country's economic diversification and expansion. As the entire realm of Public Private Partnerships (P3) is being explored by US-Saudi commercial linkages, we have definitely seen an uptick in the number of enquiries our Council has received from American companies. They were curious about the Saudi market and wanted to know how to make contact with reputable and vetted potential Saudi partners. What has fed a renewed interest in the Saudi market by American companies is the sheer magnitude and variety of investment and trade opportunities being widely reported by the media. These reports have only added to our call to US business to pay more attention to this critically important global and regional powerhouse. It is among the world's 20 largest economies and opening the doors to foreign investment much, much wider than ever before. Saudi Arabia is planning to have it own heavy military industry. How can the private sector help in that? And when do you think we will see heavy Saudi industry become a reality? US defense firms are already heavily engaged in the Saudi market by supplying equipment and training, and by localizing and expanding the Kingdom's manufacturing base. Major companies, such as Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, continue to sign major deals with the Saudi Ministry of Defense, Advanced Electronics Company, and Alsalam Aircraft Company, among others. With the continued level of interest and commitment in the Saudi market currently demonstrated by the world's largest and most advanced defense manufacturers, we believe it will not take that long for the Kingdom to realize its goal of having most of its defense needs locally produced. Can you please tell us something about Saudi business in the US? Many of Saudi Arabia's largest firms maintain an active presence in the US. They include the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation and Saudi Aramco. Additionally, large delegations of Saudi executives frequently travel to the US to attend trade and investment events. Just last month, a Saudi delegation attended the SelectUSA Investment Summit, the highest-profile event dedicated to promoting foreign direct investment into the United States. Their participation in these events is quite clearly a testament to the strength of the bilateral business relationship. We already know that from an individual investor prospective, Saudis are prolific investors in the United States with varied investment portfolios ranging from real estate to equity participation in companies across the country. How do you think the Kingdom can address its housing challenges? Housing construction is a priority for the Kingdom. A big part of the pressures in this sector are driven by the country's youthful demographics and consistently high birth rate. Residential and real estate demand is expected to grow by 44.5% by 2030 with current demand for construction driven by a shortage of residential housing due to undeveloped land and population growth. Aside from a significant ramp up in investments in this sector, Saudi Arabia is encouraging housing development by introducing the white land tax. Under this tax law, land owners must develop urban plots within 12 months or face a 2.5 percent tax. This measure will encourage development in high-demand areas that are ideal locations for housing. Hadeel Oueis
