Saudi Arabia extends validity of industrial licences to five years

New permits or those being renewed will have a five-year term as the kingdom moves to attract investors

Employees walk outside the Maaden Aluminium Factory in Ras Al-Khair Industrial area near Jubail City. Increasing the validity will help to sustain factories and reduce review periods by investors. AFPShow more

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources said on Sunday that it has increased the term of industrial licences to five years.

Currently, the licences are valid for three years. However, new business permits or those that are being renewed will be valid for five years if investors meet all necessary requirements.

The move is intended to attract new and "more qualitative investments in various industrial activities, especially those that require medium to long periods of time", ministry spokesman Jarrah Al-Jarrah said.

It will also help to sustain factories and reduce review periods by investors in the sector, he said.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, is rapidly transforming its economy to cut its dependence on oil revenue.

The country has taken various steps, including measures to ease administrative procedures and introduce investor-friendly regulations, to attract investors.

The kingdom will offer $6 trillion worth of major opportunities to investors over the next decade, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said earlier this year during the World Economic Forum.

The opportunities "include $3tn in investments in new projects within the framework of the opportunities provided by the kingdom's Vision 2030" and promising growth sectors, the SPA said.

Saudi Arabia last year approved a mining law to boost foreign direct investment in the sector.

The law, which came into effect in January, will help the country to explore mineral resources worth about 5tn riyals ($1.3tn), according to Invest Saudi.

Saudi Arabia's efforts have borne fruit as the country continues to attract foreign capital despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the kingdom's Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih said during the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh earlier this year.

However, Mr Al-Falih did not give a direct investment figure for 2020 investment.

In 2019, FDI in the kingdom grew by 7 per cent to $4.6 billion, according to the UN Conference on Trade And Development's 2020 World Investment Report.