JEDDAH, 21 March 2004 — A recent survey conducted by the Consulting Center for Finance and Investment has revealed the major concerns of foreign investors in the Kingdom after the introduction of the new investment law which most welcomed. Issues such as visa restrictions, WTO membership, and Saudization were included in the questions.
Responses to the questions were limited to “good”, “restrictive”, and “too restrictive”.
The two areas where the majority of foreign investors found the current conditions in Saudi Arabia too restrictive were the non-membership of the WTO and visa restrictions. This was closely followed by the social life here and the legal system (45 percent and 42 percent respectively.) Only ten percent of respondents considered the legal system “good” while 26 percent accepted the style of social life.
Saudization was also heavily criticized in the survey with only 26 percent perceiving it as “good”.
On the other side, compulsory health insurance gained the highest positive rating with 75 percent. Other successes were the heavily debated schooling system (58 percent), and the cost of water and electricity for industrial users (68 percent and 52 percent respectively.)
Opinions were spilt over the issues of the banking system and capital market setup.
Based on comments made in the survey by foreign investors, easing visa restrictions and allowing business delegations to visit the Kingdom would help promote and enhance trade opportunities and investments. Also needed is more training of Saudis to increase their chances of being employed by local and foreign firms.
Other suggested areas for improvement were to beef up the critical infrastructure like telecommunications and have more fully-fledged investment banks to provide loans and investment services.