Kingdom welcomes foreign investment

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Kingdom welcomes foreign investment

The policy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia welcomes and invites foreign capital to participate in economic development projects in cooperation with Saudi businesses.

The Kingdom acknowledges that a steady flow of technology and expertise into the country is required to achieve its ambitious economic goals.

Therefore, the government policy aims to encourage private ownership instead of imposing restrictions on the movement of capital inflow.

Foreign investments that fulfill the requirements of the Foreign Capital Investment Code will be given the same privileges as that of national capital and entitled to the same treatment, protection and incentives accorded to national development projects, which, under the Code, do not include petroleum and mineral projects. Development projects are defined by the Ministry of Industry and Electricity.

Provided that the share of national capital is at least 24 percent, industrial or agricultural projects that fulfill certain requirements enjoy the following benefits: an income tax holiday of up to 10 years from the commencement of commercial production and the ownership of land under regulations on non-Saudi land ownership.

For industrial projects, the same privileges as that of Saudi capital are given under the National Industries Protection and Encouragement Regulations. These privileges include exemption from customs duties on machinery; equipment, tools and spare parts imported for industrial projects, exemptions from customs duties on primary raw materials, semi-finished goods, containers, etc., that are necessary for industrial projects (if similar items are not sufficiently available locally); provision of land at a nominal rate for factories and residential quarters for workers; low electricity and water rates; no restrictions on the repatriation of profits; and special treatment for local government procurement products as well as those that are considered national products according to the Arab League and Saudi Arabian bilateral trade agreements.
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