RIYADH: Saudi Arabia attracted 1,275 new foreign establishments in October, with declared capital totaling SR10.3 billion ($2.7 billion), according to the Federation of Saudi Chambers' first report tracking foreign business entries into the Kingdom.
The federation said it hopes the reported capital will translate into productive investments that contribute to the national economy.
The chamber’s Secretary-General Sultan Al-Musallam told Asharq Bloomberg that the October report is the first in a planned monthly series tracking the growth of foreign establishments in the Kingdom. He said the federation currently monitors declared capital, but hopes to see these funds translate into investments that become operational and contribute to production within the Saudi economy.
The chamber aims to help foreign investors move more quickly from securing licences to launching operations, enabling those with industrial licences to get their factories up and running, begin production and start exporting as soon as possible, Al-Musallam said.
According to the federation’s report, the new establishments represented investors from 45 countries, with an average of 56 registrations per day. Manufacturing accounted for 35 percent of the total, followed by construction and building at 22 percent and information and communications technology at 10 percent.
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Al-Musallam believes that manufacturing and construction accounting for 57 percent of the new establishments reflects the priorities of Saudi Vision 2030, amid the expansion of factories, major projects and infrastructure across the Kingdom’s regions.
He attributed the market’s appeal to the regulatory and legislative reforms the nation has undertaken over the past 10 years, numbering more than 1,000 reforms, noting that the industrial sector alone has more than 23 enabling measures and incentives.
These developments come as Saudi Arabia seeks to support the growth of its non-oil sector, whose contribution to the budget jumped to 55 percent in the third quarter, recording its second-highest quarterly level ever.
The report highlights significant differences in the scale of declared investments. A total of 639 establishments recorded declared capital of SR100,000 or less each, while 10 establishments reported combined capital exceeding SR758 million. However, the analysis cautioned that the figures do not necessarily reflect actual foreign direct investment flows.
Monthly monitoring of establishments’ growth
Al-Musallam revealed that the federation intends to issue a monthly report to monitor the growth of foreign establishments, explaining that the October analysis represents the first edition and that the federation will track changes in the numbers from month to month.
He referred to coordination meetings held approximately every two weeks with Ministry of Investment leaders, aimed at facilitating foreign investors’ entry into the market, in cooperation with the trade ecosystem and chambers of commerce.
The federation comprises around 84 business councils, encompassing approximately 4,000 Saudi businessmen and businesswomen and more than 10,000 members of the international business community, according to Al-Musallam. He stressed that cooperation between the relevant entities aims to facilitate foreign investors’ transition from an interest in the Saudi market to carrying out actual economic activity.
