RIYADH, 15 July 2004 — The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority has initiated a comprehensive survey of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Kingdom. The survey will result in the first reliable statistical database on FDI in Saudi Arabia, which will be based on actual investments as against estimates.

Announcing this, SAGIA Governor Amr A. Dabbagh said the database will include details of old and new FDI in Saudi Arabia. He noted that SAGIA’s current statistics report only the licenses issued to projects. “The new database will actually show how many of those projects have moved forward and how many remain on paper, which will be an important yardstick for us,” he said.

SAGIA recently awarded a contract to Riyadh-based Consulting Center for Finance and Investment to conduct the survey, which is expected to be completed in six months. The survey will cover all sectors of the economy in which projects have been licensed by SAGIA and other government agencies. Prior to SAGIA’s establishment, various government ministries and other agencies were in charge of issuing licenses.

The database will enable interested public and private sector organizations in the country and abroad to collect and analyze Saudi FDI data compiled according to international statistical standards.

The project is being carried out with the active cooperation and support of the ministries of economy and planning, the Central Department of Statistics (CDS), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the United Nations Commission for Trade and Development, which monitors investment flows around the world.

The first exercise under the project was a five-day “National Training Workshop on Compilation of FDI Statistics” organized jointly by SAGIA and ESCWA during July 3-7 in Riyadh. About 45 participants from different organizations including SAGIA, CDS and CCFI attended the workshop. Presentations and discussions at the workshop focused on FDI components and the methodology of collecting information and calculating investment flow. The last two days of the workshop were spent on finalizing the questionnaire for the FDI survey.

SAGIA has appealed to all businesses to participate in the survey.