Ali Mohammed Al-Hazmi

From Asset Management to Value Creation

July 15, 2026 - 23:35 | Last updated July 15, 2026 - 23:35

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Is the success of government entities measured by the number of investment opportunities they present, or by the economic value they create? When the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing announced the offering of more than 13,000 investment opportunities during the first half of 2026, attention turned to the number, but the number itself does not tell us much. From an economic perspective, large figures do not necessarily mean significant achievements, as the true value lies not in the number of announced opportunities, but in their ability to attract investments, create jobs, and transform public assets into engines of growth. In economics, successes are not measured by the number of initiatives, but by the impact they leave on the real economy.

From this standpoint, what is happening today in the municipal sector goes beyond being a program for presenting investment opportunities; it reflects a deeper institutional transformation in the way public assets are managed. Today, municipal lands and facilities have surpassed the idea of being government properties that need to be preserved, and are treated as economic capital that should maximize its returns and be transformed into a growth engine.

This transformation represents an important shift in the philosophy of government work. Until recently, the success of a government entity was measured by the size of its assets or the number of projects it implemented. Today, the criteria have become more sophisticated: how much investment has this asset attracted? How many jobs has it provided? And what is the amount of added value it has created for the economy? This simply confirms that the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing has made a transition from managing properties to managing value.

At the same time, the role of the private sector has also changed. The government has shifted its focus to planning, regulation, and creating an investment-friendly environment, while the private sector handles financing, development, operation, and innovation. This transformation has played an important role in easing the burden on public finances, leading to improved efficiency in asset utilization, increased productivity, and enhanced economic competitiveness.

The importance of this transformation extends beyond the municipal sector itself; it is directly linked to one of the key targets of Saudi Vision 2030, namely increasing the private sector's contribution to GDP to 65%. Achieving this goal will not be realized through increased government spending alone, but by creating real investment opportunities that enable the private sector to deploy capital, develop public assets, and expand economic activity across various regions and sectors.

Every municipal land that turns into a commercial project, a tourist facility, a health center, a sports facility, or a logistics project expands economic activity, creates job opportunities, stimulates supply chains, and generates new revenues, which ultimately reflects in the increased contribution of the private sector to GDP. Thus, investment in municipal assets is a tool to achieve one of the most important targets of the Kingdom's economic transformation.

Here, an important economic concept emerges known as return on public assets. A government asset should not be measured by its book value or area, but by its ability to generate sustainable economic and social value. An underutilized land represents a lost opportunity cost, while developed land becomes a source of revenue, an engine for investment, and a tool for improving quality of life.

International experiences provide clear models for such a transformation. For example, in Singapore, the secret to its economic success lies in the strategic management of public assets. Despite limited land, the government adopted an approach based on maximizing the economic value of each asset and linking land-use decisions to long-term economic and social returns. Thus, government assets became a source for financing infrastructure and enhancing financial sustainability, rather than just properties held by the state. This philosophy was not limited to Singapore; Australia adopted asset recycling programs, while Canadian municipalities relied on extensive partnerships with the private sector, in a global affirmation that the efficiency of asset investment has become more important than merely owning them.

These experiences confirm that the transformation witnessed in the Kingdom is not an exception, but part of a global trend redefining the role of the state in the economy. Modern states no longer measure their success by the size of assets they own, but by their ability to maximize returns from them and turn them into tools for growth, productivity, and financial sustainability.

From this perspective, the announcement by the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing should not be read as news about 13,000 investment opportunities, but as an indicator of a deeper economic transformation: municipalities are transforming from service providers into market makers, enabling investment and managing assets with an economic mindset. This transformation may be one of the most important quiet economic reforms taking place in the Kingdom, as it reshapes the relationship between the state and the private sector, making public assets more capable of creating wealth rather than just preserving it.

Is the success of government entities measured by the number of investment opportunities they present, or by the economic value they create? When the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing announced the offering of more than 13,000 investment opportunities during the first half of 2026, attention turned to the number, but the number itself does not tell us much. From an economic perspective, large figures do not necessarily mean significant achievements, as the true value lies not in the number of announced opportunities, but in their ability to attract investments, create jobs, and transform public assets into engines of growth. In economics, successes are not measured by the number of initiatives, but by the impact they leave on the real economy.

From this standpoint, what is happening today in the municipal sector goes beyond being a program for presenting investment opportunities; it reflects a deeper institutional transformation in the way public assets are managed. Today, municipal lands and facilities have surpassed the idea of being government properties that need to be preserved, and are treated as economic capital that should maximize its returns and be transformed into a growth engine.

This transformation represents an important shift in the philosophy of government work. Until recently, the success of a government entity was measured by the size of its assets or the number of projects it implemented. Today, the criteria have become more sophisticated: how much investment has this asset attracted? How many jobs has it provided? And what is the amount of added value it has created for the economy? This simply confirms that the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing has made a transition from managing properties to managing value.