The transfer of Saudi media institutions to Riyadh represents the "cherry on top" of the Saudi repositioning cake, politically, economically, sportingly, and culturally, after the Kingdom succeeded in achieving its goals over the past 10 years, according to the Editor-in-Chief of Al-Eqtisadiah, Mohammed Al-Bishi, on the "Halla" podcast.

Al-Bishi explained that the impact of this transfer extends beyond the media sector to other economic sectors, foremost among them supply chains, the advertising market, and the production sector, in addition to enabling the emergence of more distinguished national cadres of Saudi men and women in the field of media and its periphery.

Saudi Minister of Media Salman Al-Dosari had referred to a "strategic repositioning for moving channels" during the launch of Al-Sharq Bloomberg, the latest step in transferring Arab and international media institutions to the Saudi capital.

That was preceded by the official full launch of Al-Arabiya channel from its main headquarters in Riyadh on February 8 of this year, after the official completion of transferring all its operations and programs on July 19, 2025.

The MBC Group had also begun its journey of return and gradually transferred its operations, officially completing the transfer of its headquarters to Riyadh in January of this year, after nearly three decades of being based outside Saudi Arabia.

Al-Bishi pointed out that these companies moved or returned to Riyadh amid transformations in the media landscape and after a major transformation taking place in Saudi Arabia over the past 10 years, with the launch of Vision 2030.

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Al-Bishi explained that the strategic repositioning mentioned by the Minister of Media is actually benefiting from Saudi Arabia's current position after this transformation: "its economic, political, cultural, and sporting position, within the media framework."

He said: "Strategic repositioning means benefiting from all your capabilities, potentials, and comparative advantages in the region and the world, and employing them within Saudi Arabia. This is what has happened and is happening today in Saudi Arabia. I used to tell some colleagues that the transfer of Arab channels and other newspapers and channels moving to the capital Riyadh is akin to the cherry placed on top of the cake."

He continued: "Over the past 10 years, this cake was made—the cake of economic and political transformation in Saudi Arabia. In the first phase, Saudi Arabia strategically repositioned itself in politics. Today, no president is elected in the world, nor any political discussions take place, without starting from Riyadh. The US president was elected, and his first visit was to Riyadh; the French president was elected, and his first visit was to Riyadh; the Lebanese president was elected, and his first visit was to Riyadh."

He added: "Major events, such as the Arab-American Summit, were held in Riyadh. The Africa-America Summit was held in Riyadh. Most economic events also saw a strategic repositioning during the early stages of Vision 2030, due to Saudi Arabia's weight and geography."

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Economic movement attracts global companies to Riyadh.

Al-Bishi said that Saudi Arabia launched to implement its vision and achieve economic movement through restructuring foreign investment, creating new foreign investment laws, and today it has achieved the highest rate of foreign investment restructuring in the region.

He pointed to the transfer of 700 global companies' headquarters to Riyadh, which now hosts major events, saying: "We are talking about major conferences that were held in the region and neighboring countries; today their main location is Riyadh. We are talking about the Future Investment Initiative (FII), which has become the second largest economic gathering in the world after Davos."

He continued: "These things were not held in Saudi Arabia before. Saudi Arabia has repositioned itself economically today. Also, regarding major projects, just by reviewing the largest real estate and commercial projects in the world, you will find Saudi Arabia is their first destination."

The economic movement and mega projects, such as Qiddiya, AlUla, the Red Sea, and Diriyah, have also made Saudi Arabia a world-class tourist attraction. Al-Bishi said: "Today, Saudi Arabia has exceeded the target of attracting 100 million tourists annually. It now has a new target of 150 million visitors annually, a figure not seen in our region, neither in Asia nor in the Arab world."

The Saudi repositioning also included the cultural and sports aspects. Al-Bishi said: "Today, Saudi Arabia hosts the most important sporting events in the world. Saudi Arabia considers sports as part of the economy. Therefore, the major competitions in the region and its surroundings must be in Saudi Arabia, and that has been achieved."

After achieving accomplishments in the cultural field, including building the largest opera house in the region and the Arab world in Riyadh, and preparing cultural sites such as Mada'in Saleh and Historic Jeddah, among others, came the role of media, says Al-Bishi.

Economic impact of transferring media institutions to Riyadh.

The transfer of major media institutions to the Saudi capital Riyadh achieves a significant economic impact, including supply chains, production companies, and service sectors such as hotels, real estate, logistics, and others, according to Al-Bishi.

The Editor-in-Chief of Al-Eqtisadiah pointed out in the episode that some statistics indicate about 9,000 employees from these groups have moved to Riyadh.

He said: "These people were renting homes and had economic and consumption activities. But beyond the impact of this number on the city's economy, there are further economic gains."

He added: "Groups of this large size produce, according to some statistics, about 70% of the visual, audio, and print media landscape in the region. These institutions specifically, if we add Rotana Khalijia as well, the economic gains go beyond the issue of employees to matters related to production chains, production companies, employment centers, the quality of employment, and the ancillary businesses of media production, which are numerous."

Al-Bishi mentioned among these sectors: hotels, the automotive sector, the entertainment sector, and the restaurant sector, all of which, he said, are in one way or another linked to the presence of these major institutions in one place.

Al-Bishi also sees a great potential to attract partners in production and investment in the media field, which is expected to achieve economic gains for local and national companies.

Small and medium enterprises are the biggest winners.

Al-Bishi also believes that small and medium enterprises will be the biggest winners, along with the production of national cadres in the media field.

He said: "I believe that small and medium enterprises had a problem in communicating with the most important media institutions because they were in a region different from their own. Today, geographical proximity has become important and vital for direct communication with these institutions and benefiting from the volume of contracts."

He explained that channels do not produce all their content internally, but rather partner with dozens of small and medium enterprises to produce their programs or visual, print, and audio content, as well as in logistical operations.