Saudi Aramco may be the object of intense worldwide speculationas investment banks and global stock exchanges salivate at the prospect of the expected largest IPO ever, but Saudi Arabia actually has much more than its oil sector to offer investors.

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This diversification away from oil is the reason why King Salman bin Abdulaziz recently spent a month in Asia, signing multi-billion dollar deals with Indonesia, Malaysia, China and Japan. The kingdom's government is now pushing for more public-private partnerships, and Saudi Arabia says it wants to increase foreign direct investment from the current 3. It's not just oil buried in Saudi Arabia's land: The country has a treasure trove of other natural resources.

The plan is to producetons of aluminum per year.

The kingdom's road map to diversify away from oil is spelled out in its Saudi Vision plan, in which it acknowledges that "we still lack a competitive renewable energy sector at present. One near term goal is to maximize solar and wind power in the country by generating 9. Germany's Phoenix Solar has a head start in Saudi Arabia. In andthe photovoltaics company built two solar panel parks on the site of the kingdom's petroleum research center in Riyadh.

Saudi Aramco ordered the 3. And Phoenix Solar has seven to eight more projects in the pipeline in Saudi Arabia, according to Klaus Friedl, managing director for Phoenix Solar Oman, which is executing the projects.

Looking ahead, he said that upcoming competition in the country doesn't worry him. But in reality, the maximum is 10 competitors who are really in a position to win," said Friedl. You need at least a few power plants as reference projects and you need financial facilities for Saudi bonds. One key to growing the economy is opening up the capital markets. All of the listed names are Saudi companies. Mohammed El-Kuwaiz, vice chairman of the Capital Market Authority, regulates the exchange and envisions a day when foreign companies can list.

It was viewed as targeting local issuers and investors," El-Kuwaiz recently told CNBC. Right now, the only way a foreigner can invest in the Saudi equity market is by registering as a Qualified Foreign Investor QFIand the conditions are restrictive.

Those foreign investors are generally large financial institutions or fund managers that must have at least 3. QFIs — saudi stock exchange tadawul market and competition HSBC, which was one of the first foreign institutions to get the Saudi license — will have the right to subscribe in IPOs on the Tadawul, which is where Saudi Aramco is expected to have its primary listing. In February, the Saudi Stock Exchange launched a parallel market called Nomu, which has "lighter listing requirements" for domestic companies that want to go public.

After two years on the parallel market, a company may qualify to list on the main Tadawul index. Forex trading south africa standard bank companies are also open to QFI investors.

While several sectors may seem promising to investors, opening up the Saudi economy means changing several entrenched traditions. For example, allowing more women in the workforce or meeting Western expectations of transparency. They're perfectly happy producing oil.

No one's gone in there and done feasibility studies. Saudi stock exchange tadawul market and competition is about to change as engineering audits are reportedly underway in Saudi Arabia to determine the value of Aramco's oil reserves.

A major stumbling block has been the upgrading of skills: It's challenging to wean a population off of comfortable government jobs and explain currency hedging subsidies. But two years of low oil prices is a reality check for the country. Saudi Arabia's economic overhaul leans on the hope that non-governmental employment will grow quickly as the kingdom wants to increase the private sector's contribution from 40 percent to 65 percent of GDP.

This story was revised to correct that Friedl is managing director for Phoenix Solar Oman. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.

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Register Log In Profile Email Preferences PRO Sign Out. Unlocking Saudi Arabia's treasures means going beyond oil Pauline Chiou PaulineChiou. Antara Foto Wahyu Putro A via REUTERS. King Salman of Saudi Arabia L and Chairman of the House of Representatives Setya Novanto wave during a visit to the parliament building in Jakarta, Indonesia March 2, Mining It's not just oil buried in Saudi Arabia's land: One of two solar parks at the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Tadawul Saudi Stock Exchange.

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