A Tale of Two Bilateral Investment Treaties and a Vision: How Compatible are the Saudi Post-Vision-Announcement Bilateral Investment Treaties with the Saudi Vision 2030? (The Route Towards More Sustainable Saudi Bilateral Investment Treaties)

Abstract

A major goal of the Saudi Vision of 2030 is to create a more diverse, thriving and sustainable economy for a country that has economically been, for a long period, dominated by the commodity of oil. The Saudi Vision aims at increasing the level of foreign direct investment (FDI) contribution to gross domestic product from 3.8% to 5.7% by 2030. Bilateral investment treaties (BITs) play a vital role in regulating, if not attracting, FDI. Nonetheless, the Saudi Vision does not include any intended reforms as to drafting and concluding BITs. Thus, this dissertation will fill this gap and that by focusing on the Saudi post-vision-announcement BITs and examine the compatibility of these BITs with the sustainable development goals that the Vision has called for. The dissertation will start by setting the scene of the Saudi Vision and then discuss the link between BITs, sustainable development and attracting FDI.

As for answering its main question, this dissertation will, thereafter, elucidate some of the practices adopted by Saudi Arabia when drafting BITs and the possible ways of enhancing them – an area which has received scant attention and consideration, if any, in the accessible literature. The dissertation will finally conclude with further suggestions that can be beneficial to the facilitators of the Saudi treaty at all levels. Even though this dissertation is geographically focused on Saudi Arabia, it is believed that researching this area of law and coming up with suggestions for good practices can be beneficial for many other countries.