Business environment in Saudi Arabia: priorities for reform

Ali H. Alireza, Managing Director of Haji Husein Alireza talks about business environment in Saudi Arabia.

He says, “I think policy-makers ought to focus on the business environment and make it easier to start a business in Saudi Arabia. We have many entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia, and many opportunities for SMEs to grow and flourish here, but we need regulators to create a business environment where the creation and startup of SMEs is encouraged and helped by the government.

The government has traditionally been a big employer in the public sector of Saudi jobseekers, but this cannot continue forever because the public sector cannot keep growing. In the future, the task of providing employment and jobs for Saudis will fall more on the private sectors’ shoulders, so they need support from the government to grow economic opportunities and businesses.

We need a lot of encouragement for businesses, and business regulations should not over regulate that could stifle economic growth. The opportunities and the needs are there, but what we need to do is encourage the creation and growth of businesses, and cut the red tape to see the entrepreneurial spirit of Saudi businessmen flourish.”