The General Investment Authority data showed that the number of new foreign investments in the Kingdom increased by 54 percent in 2019 compared to the number of licenses issued in 2018.
The number of new companies last year reached 1130 new companies last year, compared to 736 companies in 2018, an increase of 395 companies during a year, the highest increase during the past ten years.
According to the monitoring unit of the reports in the newspaper "Al-Iqtisadiya", the number of new companies from India and the UK that entered the Saudi market during 2019 jumped by more than 300 percent, where last year 140 Indian companies entered compared to 30 companies in 2018, an increase of 367 percent.
One hundred British companies also entered over the last year the Saudi market, compared to 24 companies in 2018, an increase of 317 percent.
In 2019, 82 U.S. companies entered, compared to 24 in 2018, an increase of 242 percent.
According to the report of the General Investment Authority for the latest investment developments in the Kingdom issued yesterday, coinciding with the near launch of the World Economic Forum in Davos, foreign companies from India, Britain, Egypt, the United States, Jordan, France, and China topped the most investing countries in the Kingdom in 2019.
In terms of sectors, the sectors of "industrialization", "construction" and "communications and information technology" topped the most popular sectors, as demand for these sectors increased, along with the development of infrastructure driven by the progress achieved in giant projects taking place in the Kingdom in line with the "vision" 2030 ", during the year 2019, 193 construction companies, 190 manufacturing companies, and 178 new information and communication technology companies were established.
With regard to the comparison between the seasons of the year, the last quarter of 2019 was the most active during the year, as the number of new foreign companies that began investing in the Kingdom increased to 305 companies, compared to 238 companies during the same period of 2018.
Commenting on the growth of foreign investments in the Kingdom, Engineer Ibrahim Al Omar, Governor of the General Investment Authority, said, "Saudi Arabia is witnessing a tremendous economic transformation that enhances attracting investors and empowering the private sector, and the positive growth that we witnessed during 2019, is a great step on the way towards achieving the vision Year 2030 ".
Regarding local and international partnerships, Al-Omar stressed that one of the authority's most important goals in attracting foreign investments is the localization of technology, knowledge transfer and the provision of jobs, pointing out that more than 30 percent of the total investments that were attracted to the Kingdom contributed to putting them in the form of foreign partnerships with the sector National Private, to enable the local investor and enhance his position in all areas of investment.
This growth in foreign investment in Saudi Arabia came as a result of the comprehensive economic and social reforms that the country witnessed during the year 2019 aiming to improve the investment environment in the Kingdom and attract new investments to it.
The World Bank has praised in its report, "Ease of Doing Business," which was recently issued by the impact of these reforms at the global level, as it placed the Kingdom in the first place among the fastest-improving and reforming countries in the world, to advance the Kingdom by 30 places in the report for 2020.
The Investment Authority launched its marketing and media campaign under the identity of "Invest in Saudi Arabia" to introduce the investment opportunities and reforms witnessed by the Saudi investment environment within the activities of the World Economic Forum held during the period from 21 to 24 of January in the Swiss city "Davos".
Events organized by the authority in cooperation with its partners from the government and private sectors in the Kingdom include a working dinner; more than 100 personalities from decision-makers and major international investors will meet their Saudi counterparts tomorrow, Tuesday, to get acquainted with and discuss investment opportunities in the Kingdom, and see developments in the investment environment and related reforms.
The events also include major marketing campaigns that contain an advertising campaign with the most important international media, in addition to promoting investments in the Kingdom through the largest advertising platforms in Davos.
