Saudi Arabia has unveiled a flurry of new investment projects led by the world s biggest steelmaker as the kingdom dangles incentives for companies willing to operate in its special economic enclaves.
China s Baoshan Iron Steel Co. will commit 15 billion riyals 4 billion to build a plant for steel plate manufacturing in a new economic zone in Ras Al-Khair on the eastern coast of the kingdom, according to an announcement made at an event in Riyadh on Monday.
The presence of domestic names like Himmah, an auto-parts export hub located in Africa and the Middle East, will drive capital into some of the other special regions that authorities are setting up across the country and have attracted the likes of Lucid Group Inc. as anchor investors.
Saudi Arabia wants to turn the region into a paradise for investment with preferential corporate tax rates, exempting companies based there from many customs duties and enabling full foreign ownership of businesses.
The effort to diversify the oil industry of the world's biggest oil exporter is, in turn, leading to an economic embrace of China. In recent times, Beijing and Riyadh have enhanced relations, with more than $50 billion of investment agreements signed in a China summit hosted by Saudi Arabia in 2022.
The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pushes for the $1 trillion economy to open to international markets and develop everything from heavy industries to tourism and tech startups. Another ambition is to compete with Dubai, the Middle East's main commercial hub, by convincing companies to build a larger presence in Saudi Arabia.
In response, the crown prince announced the creation of four new special economic zones. In total they have attracted $12.6 billion, with an additional $31 billion in investments now in progress.
In the case of Baosteel, the Saudi venture marks its first full-process production base abroad. In an effort to establish a local presence, it joined forces with Saudi Aramco and the Kingdom's sovereign wealth fund.
No Jazz Struggles on streaming, but vinyl sales give the genre hope.