RIYADH: GE HealthCare has announced its new regional headquarters in Riyadh amid Saudi Arabia’s push to attract international businesses to relocate their base to the Kingdom. The announcement was made during the Global Health Exhibition in the Saudi capital, where the medical tech firm outlined its commitment to the Kingdom’s healthcare sector. This comes on the heels of other major players joining the relocation trend. Jones Lang LaSalle, a global real estate services firm, and the consulting giant Deloitte had already declared their intent to shift their regional headquarters to Saudi Arabia earlier this month. First announced in February 2021, the initiative mandates that international firms seeking government contracts in the Kingdom must establish their regional headquarters in Riyadh by no later than Jan. 1, 2024. The goal is twofold, aiming to stimulate local job creation in line with economic diversification plans and to stay competitive in the face of growing regional competition. The health sector transformation program within the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 doctrine focuses on improving access to healthcare, modernizing facilities and equipment, and enhancing the role of private sector investment. “If you go back a few years, by memory, we will realize the effectiveness of using digital healthcare. During the pandemic, Saudi was ranked second in managing the pandemic. Digital health or e-health contributed heavily,” Saudi Health Minister Fahad Al-Jalajel said earlier this month. “Nowadays in Saudi, any individual can access quality healthcare regardless of their physical location. This is actually done by leveraging digital health,” he added. As the Kingdom aims to digitalize 70 percent of patient activities by 2030, health tech sector growth has become imperative to meet these goals. The company’s innovative approaches, spanning from precision care, reimagined patient treatment and advanced imaging, will address the evolving healthcare demands in the Kingdom and the broader region. Saudia Arabia aims to restructure the sector by enhancing its capabilities as an effective, integrated, value-based ecosystem focused on the patient’s well-being. The Kingdom has committed to investing in the health technology sector, with the 2023 budget allocating over SR180 billion ($50.3 billion) to healthcare and social development, reflecting the government’s commitment to this initiative. Much of this budget is focused on digital health to enhance accessibility, efficiency, and transparency within the sector.