The private sector has to change and adapt new business models, the Chairman and Senior Partner of KPMG in Saudi Arabia, Abdullah al-Fozan, said in an interview with Al Arabiya English.
“I said it over a year ago – that there is a new reality, the private sector should realize this and adapt. There is no way back. We are not going back to prior to 2016,” al-Fozan said.
Although the economic slowdown is challenging, al-Fozan added: “There is a big opportunity for the small and medium enterprises to grow within the economy in the coming few years.”
When asked if he expected further consolidations, mergers and acquisitions in the region, al-Fozan replied: “I think it’s not happening, unfortunately, due to lack of maturity in the private sector.”
“But I think there is a structural change within the economy and within the private sector that will create new players. So there will be a lot disappearing and a lot of newcomers in the economy,” the chairman added.
However, al-Fozan said that this will pose both an opportunity and a challenge. “You have to change your business model, and structurally, your business.”