Saeed Azhar and Yousef Saba

RIYADH, (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia is proving to be a successful country in pushing for regional headquarters for companies to establish in Riyadh. This isn’t a move that aims at dismantling existing corporate operations elsewhere.

This is the largest Arab oil exporter in the world and has granted foreign companies until the 2023 end to open a headquarters. If they do not, it will lose government contracts.

Fahd Al-Rasheed is the president of Riyadh’s Royal Commission. He told Reuters that there had been “a lot success” at attracting multinationals. Details would be revealed during Saudi’s flagship investor forum FII, which begins on Tuesday.

Companies want to relocate here. Rasheed stated that once they are informed about our investment opportunities, and what full offers we offer them, companies will immediately make the decision to move here. He spoke on Saturday at a Saudi climate forum.

He said that it was not about destroying what businesses are doing elsewhere in the region, but encouraging multinationals to open a local office.

Saudi Arabia still has not disclosed how many companies relocated to it as part of the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman drive to make Saudi Arabia a regional economic hub. It is now competing with United Arab Emirates commercial centre.

PepsiCo, Schlumberger (NYSE;) and Bechtel were among the foreign firms that agreed in January to open regional offices for Saudi Arabia. This is instead of Dubai, which would have allowed them to manage operations remotely.

According to sources, Saudi media houses in Dubai also began to relocate staff to Riyadh last month.

Rasheed stated that incentives are given per sector and it is not an all-encompassing process. He also said it would be easy to attract the investment banking industry.

Prince Mohammed’s plans to reduce oil dependence by creating new industries, megaprojects and building new businesses was cited. Riyadh is expected to announce a strategy soon.

The private sector has a $30 billion opportunity to invest in the Riyadh Sustainability Strategy. He stated that the investment banks must structure this so it is possible to take advantage of the unprecedented global opportunity.

Saudi Arabia has plans to increase the quality of life and double its population in the coming decade.