RIYADH, 21 December 2003 — Saudi Arabia’s income tax law will be approved shortly, Finance Minister Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf announced yesterday. “The income tax law is an important one and investors expect such laws,” he said.
Speaking to reporters after chairing a Saudi-Chinese business meeting here, Al-Assaf said the surplus in this year’s budget would be set aside to pay the Kingdom’s public debts. He said he expected an even better financial result in the coming fiscal year.
Referring to the insurance companies law, he said the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency was making efforts to draft the executive bylaw to monitor the companies, adding that the bylaw would be ready shortly.
“The capital market will start its activities soon after the issuance of regulations related to the capital market authority’s board of directors,” he said.
He said pegging the Saudi riyal to the US dollar was in the interest of the Kingdom’s economy.
Al-Assaf announced that a high-level GCC delegation consisting of finance ministers and businessmen from the six member states will visit China to explore avenues for further enhancing economic cooperation.
China’s bilateral trade with the Kingdom alone stands at $6 billion. Though Dr. Al-Assaf did not give a specific date for the visit, Jia Ling, deputy secretary general of the Chinese-Saudi Friendship Association, told newsmen that it would probably be in February. The finance minister presided over the second Saudi-Chinese joint committee session, which was held to identify trade and investment opportunities as well as exploring means of setting up joint ventures and training programs to facilitate technology transfer.
On behalf of the Council, Abdul Rahman Al-Jeraisy invited the Chinese to consider setting up a factory for producing date-based medicines.