Abha, Taif, Hail and Qassim airports and 4,500 km roads in Saudi Arabia to be privatised

The CEO of the National Center for Privatization (NCP), Mohannad Basodan, revealed the plans to privatise 4,500 kilometres of contemporary roads in the Kingdom as well as the airports in Abha, Taif, Hail, and Qassim.

According to Basodan, a number of privatisation projects have been revealed, including about 200 approved projects, 140 of which have been made available to both domestic and foreign investors.

He noted that the series of privatisation projects in the Kingdom includes the airports of Abha, Taif, Hail, and Qassim as well as approximately 4,500 kilometres of contemporary roads. "The Kingdom has the largest series of privatisation projects in the region, which include various qualitative investments, and these are made available in advance to give investors the opportunity to prepare well in advance before their offering," he said.

General hospitals, university hospitals, health services, laboratories, and radiology are all part of the privatisation of the health industry, according to Basodan. In addition to water and wastewater treatment projects, he added, "the education sector includes school buildings, colleges of excellence, establishment of model institutions, and other related activities."

According to Basodan, these projects are scheduled, 60 of them were started during the previous period, and additional projects are in different stages of preparation. He claimed that over the previous five years, the NCP had been successful in awarding contracts for 43 initiatives, including partnerships, asset sales, and institutional transformation.

"The first quarter of 2023 saw the signing of contracts for transportation-related initiatives, including alliances between Spain and Saudi Arabia and China and Saudi Arabia. There are numerous ventures to draw in international investors and open projects.

In order to give local and foreign investors enough time to learn about privatisation projects in the Kingdom and their nature before they are formally offered to the market, it is notable that the National Center for Privatization has identified 200 projects that are accessible to them.

Muhammad Al-Jadaan, the minister of finance, had earlier urged the publication of more information about privatisation initiatives in order to strengthen the relationship between the public and private sectors and draw in new foreign investment. This also aims to give the local private sector access to the opportunities that have been revealed.