MEASURED GROWTH
As the biggest pension agency in the region, PPA has one eye on developments in the Kingdom and the other on PPPs.
BIOGRAPHY
Mohammed bin Talal Al-Nahas is the Governor of PPA. Previously, he served as general manager at Al-lnma Bank and regional manager of central region branches at SAMBA Financial Group. He serves as a member of the board of directors of the International Company for Water and Power Projects. He has been non-executive and non-independent director at Saudi Telecom Company since 2017. He serves as chairman of the auditing and risk committee at AI-Raidah Investment Company of PPA. Al-Nahas holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the King Saud University and an executive program certificate from the University of Michigan.What have been the major highlights in the past year, and what will be the strategic focus of the PPA for 2019?
2018's main highlight was the establishment of a new entity, Al Raidah, focused on the real estate sector. The new team is working on an aggressive strategy, seeking partnerships with international property management companies. There are 7,000 units ready for rent in the central, western, and eastern regions, along with 2,500 units scheduled for completion in 1Q2019. In Jeddah, we have around 74 buildings that will be released gradually by contractors in 4Q2019. Our focus for 2019 will be register returns on investment to capitalize on the set of initiatives undertaken in the past year. Indeed, we recently restructured and engineered the whole company with new asset allocation, and our efforts have been recognized by the international security organization in Geneva with two awards. So far, we have achieved 90% of our objectives in terms of investments, as witnessed by the 10 KPIs we recently released, with another 10 ready to be released as well. From a technology and services point of view, we have achieved 60% of our targets, and by the end of 2019 we will implement 80-85% of our overall strategy.
How are you restructuring the work done for the government?
Undoubtedly, in 2018 we saw a great deal of progress. At present, we have many development programs, such as the association program with the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) through which we have hired and trained more than 50 female workers for a wide variety of jobs that require high skills, such as law, finance, and technology. We are also proud of managing IDC, which we have been working on for the past four to five years. We also opened the Crown Plaza Hotel in Al Raidah Digital City, whose rooms are fully occupied.
What trends have you observed in Saudi Arabia's economy, and what do you foresee for 2019?
PPA has a great opportunity to become one of the main investors in PPPs. We hope the government will come up with more PPPs over the years so we can bid and win some of them. We are interested in utility companies and the evolutions they are undergoing, as it is an area of focus. In the healthcare sector, we are looking to build a medical city in Jeddah through Al Raidah, which is currently reviewing the proposals that we are looking at. Modern government projects increase investors' appetite, both foreign and local. This market has a great future with the inclusion of more entrants in the capital markets, whether through an active or passive approach, and for 2019, we foresee many changes when it comes to the size and shape of capital investments. We are the biggest pension agency in the region, and we look forward to where the country is going.
MEASURED GROWTH
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Interview
Mohammed A. Al-Mowkley , Deputy Minister of Water Services, Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture & CEO, National Water Company (NWC)
NWC leads the Kingdom's efforts to preserve water as a non-renewable national resource and drastically reduce the average per capita water consumption.
read articleInterview
Majed H. Al Saadi , Managing Director, Priority Projects Office (PPO), Local Content and Government Procurement Authority
PPO and ECA act as an accelerator for the realization of Vision 2030 by bridging the gap between the private and public sectors and helping the government diversify the economy in the long run.
read articleInterview
HRH Princess Hala bint Khaled bin Sultan Al-Saud C, Chairman, Saudi Law Conference (SLC) organizing committee & Founder,, Burhan Almarifa
Burhan Almarifa is focused on maturing the legal sector, encouraging innovation, and enabling research and development in KSA through knowledge transfer and consultancy.
read articleInterview
Sahel N. Abduljauwad, Rector, King Fahd University oF Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM)
The King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals has long been the backbone of Saudi Arabia's formidable drilling expertise. Today, it is working to train the next generation of renewable energy and water management scientists.
read articleInterview
Dr. Abdullah Al-Rubaish, Rector, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University (IAU)
Dr. Abdullah Al-Rubaish was appointed vice president of KFU in 2007 and president in 2010. He combined his executive experience from serving in various deanships at KFU with academic practices to become associate professor of medicine and work as a medical consultant at the Department of Internal Medicine. He graduated from KFU's College of Medicine and completed his medical internship at KFHU, where he also pursued a fellowship program. He became a member of the UK Royal College of Physicians and the Arab Board after he completed his sub-subspecialty in Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Alberta, Canada.
read articleInterview
Rajaa Moumena, Founder & President, Future Institute of Higher Education and Training
Saudi Arabia is allowing women more privileges, including driving and becoming ambassadors. The Future Institute of Higher Education and Training is trying to help by providing courses they need to adapt to this new world.
read article