Saeed Alkhotani Saudi Gazette RIYADH – Around $30 billion investment opportunities in Sudan will be offered to the Saudi investors at the opening of the Saudi-Sudanese Investment Forum here Saturday. The two-day forum will be inaugurated by Dr. Fahd Bin Abdulrahman Balghunaim, Saudi Minister of Agriculture, and Dr. Mustafa Othman Ismail, Sudanese Minister of Investment, at the headquarters of the Council of Saudi Chambers with the presence hundreds of Saudi and Sudanese investors and businessmen. According to the Secretary General of the National Authority of Investment in Sudan, Ambassador Ahmad Mahjoob Shawar, the $30 billion investment opportunities are in 356 projects that were carefully studied by the authority to suit Saudi investors. “They include 147 economic projects, 117 agriculture projects on 8 hectare lands provided with all services, 76 industrial projects, and 16 projects in the field of oil and minerals,” he pointed out.
Shawar further said the move to participate in this bilateral forum comes as part of Sudan's aspirations and plans for the year 2013 to market investment opportunities in the country, locally, regionally and internationally, especially in the light of the new investment law, to attract more investments. He added that the new law contains many investment features that eliminated the shortcoming of the old law. Among the new features are the “abolition of discrimination between public and private sector enterprises, establishing one window to service investors, offering guarantees against confiscation or nationalization, facilitating of profit transfers abroad and raw materials imports,” he said. In addition to the presentations and workshops on the large number of Sudanese projects in the forum, the new investment law in Sudan will be highlighted. Also, a number of successful Saudi investment experiences will be presented and major obstacles to investing in Sudan will be discussed in search for solutions.
