About 68% of Saudi investors are corrupt: report

Nearly 68 per cent of Saudi investors resort to corrupt ways to promote their businesses while government bureaucracy remains a key obstacle to investment in the world’s dominant oil power.

The findings were included in a report released at the Riyadh Economic Forum this week and was published by Aleqtisadia newspaper, which also said nearly 56 per cent of local investors believe the commercial arbitration system in the Gulf Kingdom is weak.

Respondents who believe government bureaucracy is a main hurdle to investment increased by 13 per cent to 62 pr cent over the previous survey in 2005. The number of respondents who see public utilities as another obstacle increased by 34 per cent to 65 per cent.

“The study showed that 68 per cent of investors in Saudi Arabia resort to irregular methods to facilitate their businesses, including bribery, nepotism and fraud,” the Arabic language daily said.

“The number of those who believe the attitude of government employees poses a real obstacle to investment also increased by nearly 25 per cent to 64 per cent…five years after the creation of industrial cities in the country, the degree of implementation has remained modest while economies cities have yet to produce concrete results.”

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