PSP law to spur governance for privatization, strong investor turnout seen: Nagadi

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Rayyan Nagadi, CEO of National Center for Privatization and PPP (NCP) said that the private sector participation (PSP) law will strengthen the governance of the privatization process, starting from the offering to the award.
 

Speaking to Al-Arabiya TV, the top official stated that the law will facilitate all contractual relationships and ensure the rights of all stakeholders. He added that, prior to the law, there were exemptions from related laws - such as the procurement law - which were necessary and had to be referred to the highest authorities, such as the Cabinet, for approval.
 

Nagadi said that the law will enable the government authorities to accelerate the participation of the private sector in projects and will also help speed up the privatization and execution of projects. He also noted that the studying phase, the preparation and approval of projects will be accelerated, while continuing to conduct studies required for developing a suitable structure to attract investors and banks.
 

The law places a special focus on projects in water, education, health and transport sectors, in addition to other projects in various sectors. This year saw phase two of the PPP and Privatization (PPP&P) projects of restaurants and will also see the offering of franchise contracts for ports and phase two in schools, hospitals, and health centers, he indicated.
 

There has been strong interest from foreign investors across several sectors, such as water and transport, said Nagadi, expecting more turnout by government bodies and investors of all types over the coming period.
 

According to data compiled by Argaam, the Saudi Cabinet, in a meeting chaired by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud today, March 17, approved the private sector participation law. 
 

Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Minister of Finance, said that NCP implement PPP&P initiatives and opportunities in 16 sectors to provide the best services, in line with Vision 2030.