RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s services sector is set to benefit from increased global opportunities after the Kingdom’s National Competitiveness Center signed a deal with the World Economic Forum. The two entities signed a cooperation agreement in Geneva on Thursday to promote the commercial sector’s growth and foster increased cross-border transactions, particularly for small and medium enterprises. The agreement falls within the broader efforts of the Kingdom’s trade system to play a pivotal role in realizing the goals of Vision 2030, according to Commerce Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi. In addition to this, the agreement also aims to boost the integration of the national economy regionally and globally, Al-Qasabi stressed. According to National Competitiveness Center CEO Iman bint Habas Al-Mutairi, the agreement also comes with the keenness to benefit from various international experiences. This arrangement includes ensuring the best methods and practices are followed to enhance the Kingdom’s competitiveness by simplifying the systems and legislation of the services trade sector, which supports the development of the Kingdom’s global trade activities. She continued that the agreement evaluates the procedures for services trade practices and related legislation in the Kingdom. Al-Mutairi also noted that the agreement contributes to evaluating the possibility of exporting services by analyzing the relative advantages enjoyed by the services sector, facilitating its procedures and shipping them to reach the target markets. For his part, WEF President Borge Brende highlighted that the agreement strengthens the regulatory frameworks for services through cooperation between the public and private sectors. He added that this partnership would open a new path for sustainable development, especially since the current regulatory policies challenge trade in services and contribute to raising costs. In June, Saudi Arabia ranked 17th globally out of 64 countries that are the most competitive in the world in the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2023, published by the International Institute for Management Development. Among its G20 peers, the Kingdom is ranked as the third most competitive economy, ahead of countries such as the Republic of Korea, Germany, and France, as well as Japan, Italy, and India. The Kingdom is also placed ahead of the UK, China, Mexico, Brazil and Turkiye.