Communications and Information Technology Commission participates in Competitiveness Forum with competitive investment opportunities

The Communications and Information Technology Commission is participating in the activities of the 9th International Competitiveness Forum 2016, held today under the generous patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz - may God protect him. The forum attracts the most prominent global leaders and figures every year in Riyadh, to review the most prominent global experiences in developing national economies and enhancing their competitive capabilities.

This year, the forum focuses on "competitive sectors" as a main theme, and also highlights the indispensable components in driving the competitiveness of sectors, and the strategies that governments should follow to accelerate their competitive capabilities, in addition to the role of competitive sectors in maintaining sustainable economic growth.

It is noted that the telecommunications sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was the first in the privatization program, which aims to raise the efficiency of the national economy and increase its competitiveness, as the Kingdom sought to liberalize the sector and open it to competition, in order to provide advanced communications and information technology services throughout the Kingdom comprehensively, with high quality and competitive prices, through several stages. The establishment of the Communications and Information Technology Commission in 2001 was the most important factor in liberalizing the telecommunications market, as a fair regulatory environment based on clarity and transparency was made available to stimulate competition, and protect the public interest and the rights of all parties.

Opening the door to competition for providing mobile communications services is considered the most prominent event in the Kingdom's experience of liberalizing the telecommunications sector and opening the door to competition, as a number of licenses for providing mobile communications services were issued starting in 2004. A new structure for the Communications and Information Technology Commission was also adopted, through which new sectors were created to focus more on shared competition affairs and its protection, and to prepare for issuing new licenses for mobile virtual network operators.

The Communications and Information Technology Commission's participation in the 9th International Competitiveness Forum comes to present investment opportunities in the communications and information technology sector in the Kingdom, and to highlight the strength of its infrastructure, in pursuit of diversifying the economy and sources of national income. It is worth noting that the Commission participated on the sidelines of the aforementioned forum with an accompanying exhibition under the slogan (Competitive Investment Opportunities).