JEDDAH, 3 July 2005 — Saudi Arabia yesterday announced a series of measures to improve the country’s investment climate, removing obstacles facing private investors, allowing foreign manpower recruitment and speeding up licensing procedures.
Crown Prince Abdullah, who chairs the Supreme Economic Council in charge of economic reforms, approved the implementation of 17 agreements between the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) and relevant government departments to make Saudi Arabia more investment-friendly.
SAGIA chief Amr Al-Dabbagh said the agreements encourage the private sector to set up specialized universities and colleges in conjunction with renowned world universities, foster industrial projects by giving exemptions on customs tariffs, and granting facilities such as entry visas to foreign investors.
They also feature streamlining judicial procedures to resolve trade disputes, strengthening guarantees for investors, promoting women’s input in investment and speeding up the process of collecting imports from entry ports, he said.
Other measures include offering special incentives to locals and foreigners who invest in less developed areas of the vast Kingdom and drafting plans to raise the operational capacity of Saudi ports.
The mechanisms to improve the Kingdom’s investment climate were prepared with the support of a number of government agencies. They are: Ministry of Defense and Aviation, Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Planning and Economy, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Water and Electricity as well as Communication and IT Agency, the Court of Grievances, King Abdul Aziz City of Science and Technology and Experts Committee at the Cabinet.
Dabbagh expressed his thanks and appreciation to the government and the crown prince for their concern and continued follow-up on efforts to improve the investment climate in the Kingdom and in removing the obstacles that face investors. He said the challenge for SAGIA and the other agencies in the next stage was implementing the agreements.
Agreements include reducing the time for getting investment permission and trade registration in order to begin foreign projects and their activities as well as offering special incentives for projects that contribute to the GDP by easing the process of bringing in the expatriate workers they need and incentives to attract projects that will employ large numbers of Saudis.
Another agreement involves finding the mechanisms to solve the problems facing different investment sectors especially industrial projects and offering them longer customs’ exemption periods and providing the workers they need while taking into consideration the special nature of this sector.
The new measures simplify the process for foreign investors to get entry visas through Saudi embassies directly without the need for a letter of invitation, Dabbagh said, adding that this facility will be available in all 30 countries in the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Establishing SAGIA offices in a number of Saudi embassies abroad specialized in processing businessmen’s papers and providing information to foreign investors interested in investing in Saudi Arabia by partnering with Saudi investors or by establishing their own private projects fully owned by them are other incentives offered by the Kingdom to investors.
Dabbagh said SAGIA would announce on a regular basis the results of implementing these agreements and the range of their effects on the Kingdom’s investment competitiveness. “Administering the investment climate is a continued process and improving it will not be limited to implementing these agreements,” he said, promising further steps to promote foreign investment.
Crown Prince Abdullah directed SAGIA last year to cooperate with the relevant government agencies in finding solutions to the obstacles facing investors within six months. Accordingly, SAGIA founded a special agency to follow up on implementing the suggested solutions.
