Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced plans to open its financial markets to all foreign investors on Feb. 1, removing longstanding barriers to participation in a major step toward the kingdom's Vision 2030 push to attract capital and diversify the economy away from oil.
Launched by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2016, Vision 2030 aims to reduce the kingdom’s reliance on oil by expanding investment in sectors such as AI, clean energy, entertainment, sports and tourism. In 2024, around 60% of government revenue came from crude oil exports.
What happened: In a state television broadcast on Tuesday, the Saudi Capital Market Authority said it will remove restrictions that have historically limited foreign investors' access to the country’s main stock exchange, the Tadawul. Under the existing rules, access to Tadawul shares was limited to investors with at least 1.875 billion Saudi riyals ($500 million) in assets under management.
The CMA said in a statement after markets closed on Tuesday that foreign ownership in the Saudi stock exchange stood at more than 590 billion Saudi riyals ($157.3 billion) at the end of September, with around 88% invested in the Tadawul All Share Index. The easing of rules is expected to “contribute to attracting additional international investments,” the CMA said.
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