Saudi Arabia has lured a coterie of 24 multinationals to set up regional headquarters in Riyadh as the Gulf kingdom seeks to turn its capital into a business hub to rival Dubai’s dominance.
US engineering group Bechtel and Indian hotelier Oyo are among the companies that will establish regional headquarters, according to Fahd al-Rasheed, president of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City.
The announcement from the multinationals, which came during a Future Investment Initiative conference held in Riyadh last week, marks another step towards a rehabilitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious economic reforms, which were thrown into turmoil by the gruesome murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Multinationals now appear more comfortable with the reputational risk attached to the kingdom, which is also mired in a bloody war in Yemen, as they eye potential profits from Prince Mohammed’s plan to cut the country’s dependence on oil and overhaul the economy.
No comments:
Post a Comment