Saudi-Arabien Wirtschaftshandbuch Saudi Arabia Business ... - Ghorfa

Jeddah economic forum
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ed by the Saudi government to improve the investment
conditions are successful and have found international
favour. Saudi Arabia was also similarly assessed by the
conservative US research institute Heritage Foundation.
In its annual report on “global economic freedom”, Saudi
Arabia was among the most free economic countries
in the Middle East.
The flow of foreign direct investments has risen considerably
compared to the 1990s. According to estimates by the
UNCTAD, Saudi Arabia now has the largest sum of incoming
foreign investments in the Middle East. For 2006,
SAGIA assessed the incoming foreign investments at 18.3
billion US$, which equates to an increase of 18% compared
to 2005. In 2006, foreign investments had reached
a total of 47.8 billion US$. The growth in investment can
also be seen in the growing value of the licences issued by
SAGIA that totalled 8.5 billion US$ for 660 projects in
2001 and 30.1 billion US$ for 1,422 projects in 2006.
Until now, the level of investment made by German companies
in Saudi Arabia is relatively low although there is
an investment promotion and protection agreement (IFV)
between both states that came into effect on 9th January
1999. The level of direct German investment in Saudi Ara-
bia is given as 131 million Euro for the end of 2005 (end
of 2004: 107 million Euro). The IFV guarantees the German
investor international protection. In particular, the
agreement governs the granting of national treatment and
most-favoured national treatment, ensures damages in
the event of dispossession, the free transfer of capital and
revenue, and international arbitration. The IFV forms
the framework for granting federal investment guarantees
against political risks. Both instruments, i.e. the IFV and
the investment guarantees provided by the federal government,
have proven to be an effective and important system
for protecting German investment interest and stakes
abroad. The guarantee instrument is the most important
pillar in the German system of promotion instruments for
foreign investment.
In addition to stakes in Saudi companies and these investment-like
loans, it is also possible to secure so-called
“Service Contracts” in the crude oil and natural gas
field. Likewise, revenue from the investments can also
be covered. The guarantees can also be applied for when
investments are made in infrastructure projects, which
are financed via the operator model. Investment guarantees
by the state are often the prerequisite for banks
to agree to a loan.
This shows that there are important underlying conditions
in Saudi Arabia that allows German companies to
actively exploit the existing market potential with their
capital, technologies and business expertise. According to
information previously released by SAGIA, the number
of joint ventures created by companies of both countries
totalled 120 in 2005 with a capital of 3.5 billion US$, of
which around 63% is owned by Saudi investors. It is safe
to assume that there are even more joint ventures today.
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PerSPekTiVen Der
WirTSchAfTSkOOPerATiOn
Deutsche Firmen haben seit Anfang der 80er Jahre
großen Anteil am Auf- und Ausbau der sau dischen
Infrastruktur. Flughäfen, Krankenhäuser und Wohnbauten
wurden ebenso errichtet wie elektrotechnische
oder petrochemische Anlagen. Bei einem weltweit
verschärften Konkurrenzdruck kamen in den letzten
Jahren immer mehr preisgünstige Anbieter, insbesondere
aus Fernost, zum Zuge. Deutsche Firmen sind auf
dem qualitätsbewussten saudischen Markt jedoch auch
weiter hin an zahlreichen Projekten beteiligt.