RIYADH — Minister of Finance Muhammad Al-Jadaan said that some sectors will be excluded from the decision to stop government agencies’ contracting with any foreign commercial company or establishment that has a regional headquarters in the region outside the Kingdom. He pointed out that even though Saudi Arabia has the largest economy in the region, its share of regional headquarters is much smaller, accounting for less than five percent at present. “The new decision aims to help the government’s endeavor to provide job opportunities to Saudi youth and attract foreign direct investment so as to diversify the Kingdom’s economy,” he added. Meanwhile, Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih identified five main benefits from the decision to limit the government agencies’ contracting to international companies that have a regional center in the Kingdom. Al-Falih said in a statement on his Twitter account that the decision, which was announced on Monday, will be reflected positively in terms of creating thousands of jobs for citizens, transferring experiences, localizing knowledge, apart from contributing to developing local content and attracting more investments to the Kingdom. Prince Faisal Bin Abdul Aziz Bin Ayyaf, mayor of the Riyadh region, has issued a directive to take a count of the companies contracting with the mayoralty in all fields. The mayoralty said in a statement posted on its Twitter account: “In order to achieve the goals of Riyadh’s strategy... the mayor of Riyadh has directed to restrict the companies contracting with the mayoralty to all fields, and to emphasize the presence of their regional headquarters in the capital in line with the government’s directive to stop contracting with any foreign company or institution that has a regional headquarters in the region outside the Kingdom.” Speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette, observers pointed out that the government’s setting of a time frame for the decision to begin in January 2024 gives foreign companies an opportunity to study their options, and limit the impact of the decision on any current contracts. They emphasized that the presence of the regional headquarters of major international companies in the Kingdom helps meet the needs of the Saudi market in an ideal way and facilitates the speed of procedures, as the Kingdom is the largest market in the region and the main economic engine in this part of the world.