A number of US companies have signed agreements with Saudi companies for projects related to solar energy, healthcare, employment and real estate development. American companies are currently negotiating with a number of real estate development companies in the Kingdom in order to provide new solutions to solve the current housing crisis.
Saudi companies are looking to these American companies for their experience and resources in this area, given their status as global leaders in overcoming economic and financial constraints affecting many countries, as well as their reliance on a housing construction model that is both cheap and fast to implement. The American companies will present engineering services, solutions and new plans to the local Saudi companies. Many Saudi construction companies have signed agreements with the American companies on the side-line of the US-Saudi investment forum. The Kingdom will see a substantial economic transformation as per the directives of King Salman to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the Investment Authority, to restudy commercial regulations and encourage the role of global companies in the Saudi market. Opening the market to global real estate companies is an encouraging step, and this also applies to opening the Saudi stock market to direct foreign investment. This all proves that the Kingdom will be more economically open, and we will see Saudi stocks on the Morgan Stanley Index for emerging markets in the coming period.
The Saudi market is an attractive market for many global real estate companies due to the high demand and high consumer purchasing power. According to Abdul Mohsin Al-Majnouni of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), the decisions and agreements announced at the US-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington earlier this month demonstrated the need to facilitate the arrival and participation of foreign companies in the Kingdom that will help in solving the real estate problems. The forum highlighted the many opportunities that are open for Saudi and American business ventures.
The forum’s importance was elevated because it was held in conjunction with King Salman’s historical visit to the United States, whose banks and finance firms are also to be invited to enter Saudi, with retail and commercial institutions mentioned by sources. American lenders are also suggested to tap into the kingdom’s lucrative mortgage market. With the Saudi government ramping up investment in free zones, roads, and communication networks, the kingdom will soon aim to employ and rely completely on US construction companies. Saudi investment firm Alkhabeer Capital said on Sunday it has acquired an office building in Houston, US in a deal with partner USAA Real Estate Company. Alkhabeer Capital also announced the acquisition of Park Ten Plaza, a three-storey, Class A office building in the US city. It did not disclose the value of the deal. The property is located in the Energy Corridor, which is home to several of the world’s largest energy companies as well as over 300 multinational companies. Developed in 1999, Park Ten Plaza, a 155,140 sq ft building, is fully leased to eight tenants and is anchored by two full-floor international space users who occupy 69 per cent of the overall rentable area. The US-Saudi investment forum resulted in 14 investment agreements including a US-Saudi real estate investment agreement between Doum Company which is located in New York to support the plans of Mohamed Ibrahim El-Sebei to invest in the real estate sector in the US.
