Saudi Arabia approves new agriculture and privatisation laws

Rules governing agriculture sector will replace existing regulations on fishing, livestock and trade in agricultural machinery

Saudi Arabia approved privatisation law and new agriculture law on Tuesday. Reuters 

Saudi Arabia approved new privatisation and agriculture laws as it looks to boost the economy and attract foreign direct investment.

The country's Cabinet made the decision during an online session chaired by King Salman bin Abdulaziz, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

The agriculture law, when it comes into effect, will replace a number of other existing legislation related to fishing, livestock, beekeeping, fishing, investment and protection of living aquatic resources in the kingdom's territorial waters.

The new law will also replace regulations relating to trade in agricultural machinery and organic agriculture, according to the SPA. The government did not specify when the new laws will come into effect.

Saudi Arabia, Opec’s top oil exporter, is rapidly transforming its economy to cut its dependence on oil revenue to fuel growth. Privatisation is a key plank of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 economic diversification agenda and Riyadh has already started part-selling state-controlled entities.

The kingdom raised close to $30 billion from the sale of shares in Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producing company in 2019. Its listing on the Tadawul stock exchange was the biggest initial public offering in the world at the time. The kingdom also sold a stake in two grain mills and two more assets are being offered to private investors in the same sector.

Saudi Arabia’s National Water Company is also inviting private sector participation in the building and running of a series of new wastewater treatment plants across the country.

As part of its 2030 National Water Strategy, NWC is issuing tenders inviting private firms to participate in developing 114 sewage treatment plants with a total capacity of 5.1 million cubic metres per day.

The Arab world's biggest economy plans to raise more than 50bn Saudi riyals ($13.33bn) from the sale of stakes in state-controlled entities over the next five years, its finance minister Mohammed Al Jadaan said last year.

It is also developing a number of new projects including Neom, a $500bn futuristic project consisting of a nature reserve, coral reefs and heritage sites on about 50 islands off the Red Sea coast, and a mega entertainment and sports project named Qiddiya in the capital Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is also injecting billions of dollars into the economy to spur growth. The fund will inject $40bn on an annual basis in 2021 and 2022, according to the kingdom's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Last year, the kingdom approved a mining law to boost foreign direct investment in the kingdom. The law came into effect on January 1.

Saudi Arabia’s economy is set to grow 2.6 per cent in 2021 after shrinking an estimated 3.9 per cent last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the International Monetary Fund.