It is therefore probable that the increased structural changes entailed in the liberalisation of sectors such as agriculture and the textile industry would entail demands for support to manage the changes and a better business climate in many industrial nations in order to facilitate mobility between sectors. I have previously mentioned the important work conducted with regard to creating and implementing norms and standards to prevent economic crises in different countries around the world. Despite good results, historical experiences show that crises will probably occur nevertheless. In a few cases this will lead to states experiencing payment problems. We therefore need to have a multilateral framework that can efficiently deal with any problems that arise. Both the IMF and other international forums have put a lot of work into improving crisis management in recent years. Several improvements can be noted, including collective action clauses, which are increasingly used in sovereign bond contracts and will facilitate renegotiation of sovereign bond debts in the future.3 Some progress has also been made within the framework for cooperation between the public and private sectors with regard to a voluntary code of conduct for states’ payment problems. Of course these improvements are very positive. However, my impression is that we need a coherent framework for orderly renegotiations of sovereign debt in countries facing insolvency that cover all types of debt.
According to a recent report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Saudi Arabia emerged as the largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Arab world in 2006, attracting $ billion in FDI, an increase of 51 percent over 2005. The global rating agencies Standards & Poors and Fitch have also raised the sovereign credit ratings of the Kingdom to A+. Also, Saudi Arabia has been upgraded according to the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index from 38th place to 23rd place in 2007. The Government has encouraged the establishment and growth of value-added industries in areas where the Kingdom has competitive advantages, namely, cheaper energy, strategic locations and availability of raw materials. King Abdullah has recently launched four megaeconomic cities in Rabigh, Hail, Al-Madinah and Jazan, which are expected to draw almost  BIS Review 150/2007  1  SR 300 billion in investment and create more than a million jobs. It is worthy to note that these economic zones are located in the less developed cities and in areas away from the existing economically developed regions and are specifically selected to ensure that development and employment opportunities are spread around the Kingdom. An important indicator of progress made in diversifying the economy is provided by the trend in our non-oil exports. Such exports were insignificant in early eighties, but they have been rising sharply in recent years. Since 2000, they have risen continuously.