Evaluating the Impact of Vision 2030's Legal Reforms on Attracting Foreign Investment to Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Over the years, Saudi Arabia has relied heavily on oil exports, making it one of the world’s largest oil exporters. Oil accounted for over 42% of Saudi Arabia’s GDP, 90% of export revenue, and 87% of budget revenues. However, this dependence on oil creates significant vulnerabilities which impact the economy negatively. This includes the decrease in oil prices, demographic changes, the world’s transition towards renewable energy and concerns about the long-term sustainability of oil-based economies. These challenges led to the transformation plan Vision 2030 Launched in 2016 to diversify the economy. Vision 2030 aims to diversify the economy into non-oil sectors such as tourism, technology, and renewable energy. 5 Some of the indicators include Increase KSA's share of non-oil exports, Raise private sector contribution to 65% of GDP, Increase FDI contribution to GDP to 5.7% among others.

To achieve this, different economic, social, and legal reforms were instituted while improving the foreign investment positioning of the country. The legal reforms remain one of the significant initiatives to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) by creating a more transparent, efficient, and business-friendly regulatory environment. Hence, this research aims to analyse critically the Impact of Vision 2030's Legal Reforms on Attracting Foreign Investment to Saudi Arabia.