Saudi Arabia has announced steps to remove obstacles in the way of investments in the kingdom and improve generally the investment climate.

Seventeen agreements between the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (Sagia) and government agencies, aimed at facilitating investments, received approval from Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Commander of the National Guard and President of the Supreme Economic Council.
Among the measures, incorporated in the agreements, are ones related to the easing of procedures for permits in higher education and reducing the time needed for permits and registrations to start foreign and Saudi businesses.
 Other agreements relate to facilitating visa breaks for start-ups of businesses that will make a sizeable contribution to the GDP and awarding similar breaks to businesses that meet the Saudisation quota.
Agreements have also been signed for adopting mechanisms to support investments in the industrial sector and granting longer customs exemptions to businesses in this field while facilitating work visas to needed workforces, taking into account the specialised nature of the sector.
The agreements call for several other measures to help investment growth:
Facilitating entry visas into the kingdom without the need for the customary ‘invitation letter.’ This agreement applies to investors from all 30 countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Setting up Sagia representative offices in select Saudi embassies to provide information and facilitation to prospective investors.
Improving arbitration procedures in the kingdom and enhancing transparency in the business environment.
Boosting the role of Sagia Comprehensive Service centres and ensuring proper implementation of the ‘one-stop shop’ concept.
Training of Sagia and investment-related personnel to better serve prospective investors.
Increasing women’s investments and participation in related fields.
Setting up Sagia investor help-desks inside airports around the kingdom.
Speeding up of customs clearance procedures at airports, border checkposts and seaports.
Offering incentives to Saudis and foreigners investing in the kingdom’s less-developed regions.
Developing a Ministry of Transportation and Ports Authority-Sagia plan to assess the ports’ efficiency, raise capacity and capture a bigger ‘goods-handling and shipping’ market-share.
On the matter of adopting procedures to make it easier to issue permits in higher education, Sagia governor Amr Abdullah Al Dabbagh commented: “Such processes will encourage the private sector to launch new universities and specialised colleges in collaboration with international institutes.” He stressed that discussions with international universities on the issue had already begun.
The committee of the Supreme Economic Council had recommended the adoption of mechanisms, set forth by a Sagia study, to improve the ground for local and international investment in the kingdom.  Crown Prince Abdulla commissioned Sagia to implement the 17 agreements and submit a quarterly progress report.
Crown Prince Abdullah’s directive was delivered to the concerned government agencies, namely the ministries of defence and aviation; municipal and rural affairs; interior; foreign affairs; economy and planning; finance; justice; higher education; education; commerce and industry; labour; transportation; health; and water and electricity, as well as the Communications and Information Technology Commission, the Court of Grievance, the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, and the Council of Ministers’ Commission of Experts.
These agreements strengthen the kingdom‘s competitiveness in the regional and international arenas and add significant momentum to the Saudi economy. Given the country’s strategic location and abundant natural resources, Saudi Arabia will continue to be an attractive investment destination, commented Al Dabbagh.
Sagia will periodically announce the results of the implementation of those agreements, said Al Dabbagh. Improving and facilitating investments in the kingdom is a dynamic process and not limited to the implementation of the 17 agreements, he added.
It was in 2004 that Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz commissioned Sagia to probe investment obstacles and propose solutions within six months. Sagia acted swiftly dedicating 50 per cent of its man-hours to the project. Furthermore, in a forward-thinking step, it institutionalised the unearthing of new investment impediments as previously identified ones were being resolved. Having mapped procedures within Saudi Arabia and benchmarked them against international best practices, it submitted a comprehensive report on proposed solutions to the Supreme Economic Council suggesting solutions based on international norms.
Sagia involved the World Bank and King Abdulaziz University Research Centre to conduct an objective assessment of its processes in order to better serve local and foreign investors alike.
“The directive of the Crown Prince to implement the 17 agreements is a crucial step in removing impediments to investment,” said Sagia. “It will help attract foreign investments into the kingdom as well as repatriate Saudi capital; the results will fuel growth in the job market and those regions seen as less opportune by investors.”
Since its inception in 2000, Sagia has issued 2,514 licences for a total value of $19 billion. Al Dabbagh said recently that more than $500 billion in investment opportunities existed in Saudi Arabia’s energy, transportation, and knowledge-based industry sectors alone.