The World Bank recently ranked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 12th among 183 countries on the ease of doing business. This reflects the huge efforts that the kingdom has made in recent years to improve its business environment and develop some of the most liberal foreign investment laws in the region. Nevertheless, private equity investors have voiced concerns about how these laws are applied in practice.
Unlike in other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, there is no general limit on the amount of foreign investment that can be made in a Saudi company and the establishment of 100% foreign-owned companies is permitted. The only exceptions are strategically significant sectors such as defence, oil exploration and media.
When licensed under the investment laws, a foreign-owned entity enjoys all the privileges and incentives offered to wholly Saudi-owned companies, including the right to own freehold property in connection with its licensed activity. KSA has also entered into numerous international treaties granting relief from double taxation and offering guarantees as to repatriation of profits and compensation in case of expropriation.
No comments:
Post a Comment