Saudi Arabia Implements Economic and Development Reforms to Boost Global Competitiveness

Saudi Vision 2030 set out the Kingdom's comprehensive transformation across economic and development sectors, with the objectives of positioning Saudi Arabia among the world's most competitive countries and establishing a diversified economy that strengthens its global competitiveness.
 The vision also provides a roadmap for developing an attractive business environment that supports investment and establishes the Kingdom as a global center for trade and business.
 This transformation has been supported by a series of reforms and initiatives aimed at strengthening the business and investment environment and advancing the Kingdom's economic development.
 Reforms, Initiatives Work Model
 In 2016, Saudi Arabia began a determined work program to accelerate progress, bringing together the efforts of various government entities. The program included developing an innovative work model based on productivity, sustainability, inclusiveness, and economic resilience. It drew on the experiences of advanced countries in global indicators and reports, as well as international expertise from organizations specializing in these areas, including the World Economic Forum, the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), the World Bank Group, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law.
 The work model aimed to create a more competitive environment by identifying and analyzing obstacles and challenges, proposing solutions, initiatives, and recommendations, and following up on their implementation in line with global best practices.
 Monitoring Global Reports, Indicators
 Represented by the Saudi Competitiveness and Business Center (SCBC), the Kingdom adopted principles of governance and continuous adaptation to global developments to keep pace with the highest standards across all stages of work and strengthen economic and developmental competitiveness. This approach involved monitoring and analyzing indicators and reports issued by reputable international organizations, identifying areas for improvement, and working with relevant entities to enhance the Kingdom's rankings.
 The SCBC directly monitors five comprehensive reports and indicators related to competitiveness and covering a wide range of areas. It also assigns responsibility for monitoring 26 other reports and indicators to relevant government entities according to their respective mandates. These entities analyze the findings, propose recommendations, and follow up on their implementation in line with the fields and sectors covered by the reports.
 Engaging Stakeholders
 The Kingdom's work model for implementing economic and developmental reforms and initiatives through the SCBC is based on transparency and participation. It has adopted public consultation as a key regulatory development tool, promoting consultation among the public, government entities, and the private sector and involving them in drafting projects related to economic and developmental matters.
 Stakeholders are treated as strategic partners through efforts to gather their views on draft regulations before their adoption. This includes establishing the unified electronic platform for receiving the views of the public and government entities, known as the Istitlaa Platform.
 The Kingdom has also strengthened engagement with stakeholders by organizing meetings and workshops with local and foreign private-sector representatives to identify and analyze the challenges they face in conducting business across various economic sectors. These efforts include developing recommendations, proposing necessary reforms, and following up on their implementation.
 Key Reforms and Initiatives
 Following a review and analysis of international reports and indicators, as well as challenges identified by the public and private sectors, the SCBC proposed a series of reforms and initiatives to address these challenges and strengthen the Kingdom's competitive business environment. The reforms were implemented either through subcommittees established under the Executive Committee for Improving Business Performance in the Private Sector and Enhancing Its Role in Economic Development, known as "Tayseer," or directly by relevant government entities, which monitored implementation and provided the necessary support to ensure effective delivery.
 Over the past decade, the Kingdom, through SCBC and its government partners, has implemented approximately 1,000 economic and development-related reforms and initiatives covering legislative, procedural, and technical aspects across 16 priority sectors.
 These efforts included strengthening the Kingdom's legislative framework through the issuance of approximately 1,200 laws and regulations. Among the most notable were the Companies Law, Bankruptcy Law, Commercial Courts Law and its implementing regulations, Commercial Register Law, and Trade Names Law.
 The reforms also streamlined procedures for establishing and operating businesses, enabling investors and entrepreneurs to complete government transactions related to their businesses through a single point of contact. Business processes were further improved by redesigning 100 investment journeys across various sectors and converting more than 600 licenses into instant licenses.
 The reforms and initiatives covered logistics, education, healthcare, tourism, data, and several other priority sectors.
 Verifying Implementation of Reforms and Initiatives
 The Kingdom's work model goes beyond launching reforms and initiatives to follow up on their implementation and assess their impact. This is done through mystery shopper experiences, surveys, and opinion polls targeting beneficiaries to verify government entities' compliance with the reforms and recommendations, identify challenges, and evaluate the services provided.
 Outcomes of Reforms and Initiatives
 The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made significant progress in global competitiveness rankings and reports, supported by the reforms and initiatives implemented to advance its economy and development. In the 2026 World Competitiveness Yearbook, published by the IMD, the Kingdom ranked third among G20 countries and 13th globally out of 70 economies. It also recorded strong performance across several sub-indicators, ranking among the world's top 10 in 74 indicators.
 This pioneering experience has contributed to the development of a distinctive Saudi approach to enhancing competitiveness, prompting the World Bank Group to select the Kingdom as a center for knowledge exchange and the global dissemination of economic reform practices.
 The Saudi experience has also attracted interest from countries seeking to strengthen their competitiveness and improve their economic and business environments. Several countries have expressed interest in benefiting from the Kingdom's accumulated expertise and knowledge to help develop similar competitive models.