Investment Requests in Saudi Industries Exceed $13 Billion

A worker housing project in Yanbu. (SPA)
A worker housing project in Yanbu. (SPA)
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Investment Requests in Saudi Industries Exceed $13 Billion

A worker housing project in Yanbu. (SPA)
A worker housing project in Yanbu. (SPA)

Official information revealed on Monday that requests for investment in Saudi basic and manufacturing industries in the cities of Jubail and Yanbu amounted to SAR 50 billion ($13.3 billion) during the first quarter of 2020, despite the repercussions of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

Royal Commission president for the two cities, Abdullah bin Ibrahim Al-Saadan, said that the Kingdom’s effective steps to protect citizens and residents from the pandemic and the early and firm precautionary measures it has taken have reduced its negative effects on various aspects of life.

Al-Saadan was speaking during a virtual meeting held on Monday with the members of the National Committee for Industry in the Council of Saudi Chambers, with the participation of the executive heads of the Royal Commission, to answer the questions of businessmen and investors from different regions of the Kingdom.

He noted that the industry and mineral wealth sector was the target of great initiatives to support and stimulate the economy and reduce operating costs and financial obligations to the private sector.

Al-Saadan explained that shipping lines that connect the industrial city of Yanbu with the port of Jeddah and East African ports would serve many investors through the quick access to customers and markets at an appropriate cost and would greatly increase the volume of exports and imports in the future.

With regards to employment in industrial areas, he stated that the Royal Commission was working on a development project that targets the workers’ residential areas.



China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to citizens of nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy.
Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The permitted length of stay for visa-free entry is being increased from the previous 15 days, Lin said, and people participating in exchanges will be eligible for the first time. China has been pushing people-to-people exchange between students, academics and others to try to improve its sometimes strained relations with other countries, The Associated Press reported.
China strictly restricted entry during the pandemic and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. It restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore in July 2023, and then expanded visa-free entry to six more countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — on Dec. 1 of last year.
The program has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, notably Thailand, which wants to bring back Chinese tourists.
For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official.