National Privatization Strategy Approved In Saudi Arabia To Advance Infrastructure And Private Sector

Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Center for Privatization and PPP (NCP) Mohammed Aljadaan has confirmed that the Council of Economic and Development Affairs has approved the completion of the Privatization Program and the launch of the National Privatization Strategy, after the programme met its targets and supported wider economic diversification efforts.

The National Privatization Strategy is designed to upgrade public infrastructure and improve service delivery for the population of the Kingdom, including citizens, residents, and visitors. It also aims to expand private-sector involvement in sustainable economic growth, raise fiscal sustainability, and align sector performance with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.

The strategy plans to raise satisfaction levels with services across 18 sectors by generating tens of thousands of high-quality jobs and widening private participation. It targets more than 220 public-private partnership (PPP) contracts by 2030 and seeks to attract over $64 billion in private capital investments by the same year, according to the programme’s official figures.

To support these ambitions, the National Privatization Strategy sets out five core programmes to organise and strengthen the wider privatization ecosystem. It also details 42 executive initiatives that will implement these programmes. An executive programme will select and rank specific opportunities, through which more than 145 priority privatization prospects have already been identified for private investors.

Aljadaan stated: "In the Kingdom, we strive to establish future-ready infrastructure with high quality and efficiency, ensuring that public services delivered to citizens, residents, and visitors are among the best in the world, while strengthening the Kingdom's position as a global reference in public-private partnerships."

Since its launch, the Privatization Program has overseen several major achievements, starting with the establishment of the National Center for Privatization and PPP. NCP has developed more than 200 approved projects with total investments of $213 billion and supervised nearly 90 contracts, including asset transfers and PPP agreements across multiple economic sectors in the Kingdom.

The Privatization Program has also helped to increase the participation of the private sector in key activities, improve the operational performance of government-owned assets, and modernise the legislative and regulatory environment. These steps have been intended to make investment procedures clearer for companies, while also supporting economic diversification and improving the Kingdom’s overall competitiveness.

The minister of finance welcomed the approval of the National Privatization Strategy by the Cabinet on . Aljadaan announced that work has started on the strategy’s implementation, which is intended to allow government entities to focus more on legislative, supervisory, and regulatory responsibilities, while the private sector takes a wider role in providing and operating services.

The launch of the National Privatization Strategy signals the formal completion of the Privatization Program as planned at its inception in 2018, and a move from the initial foundation phase to an implementation and delivery phase. Officials state that the Privatization Program has achieved its main purpose, and that future efforts will concentrate on accelerating projects under the new strategy framework.

With inputs from SPA