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When ‘Programme HQ’ was publicly announced at Saudi Arabia’s investor conference in January only 24 multinationals had provisionally agreed to the move © Fayez Nureldine/AFP via Getty Images |
For decades, most top foreign executives popped in and out of Saudi Arabia for business while setting up homes in Dubai as the latter’s more liberal, western-style lifestyle trumped the oil-rich kingdom’s ultra-conservative culture when it came to establishing a regional base.
But now some are worried that their lives, and those of their families, could be upended after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman delivered an ultimatum to multinationals: move your regional headquarters to the kingdom or forget about securing prized government contracts.
The move, announced in February, is Prince Mohammed’s boldest attempt to accelerate his ambitions to transform Riyadh, the once sleepy Saudi capital, into the premier business and finance hub for the Middle East, Africa and parts of western Asia. Companies have been given three years to adapt to the measure, which will be enforced by entities including “agencies, institutions, and funds owned by the government” and comes into effect at the beginning of 2024.
But many executives view it as an attempt to strong-arm global companies to bend to Prince Mohammed’s will and are struggling to work out exactly what it would mean for those that have traditionally preferred to locate their regional headquarters in Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Manama.
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