Saudi Arabia’s Investment Ministry said on Sunday the number of licenses issued to new investors during the first half of 2021 reached 1,054, an increase of 108% as compared to the same period last year, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The ministry said joint investment licenses between Saudi and foreign investors amounted to 45% of the total licenses issued in the first six months of 2021, while the figure was 27% during the same period last year.
The ministry said the second quarter of 2021 recorded a noticeable improvement. The retail sector ranked first in the number of licenses issued with 24%, followed by the industrial sector with 20%.
In other news, an Austrian trade delegation headed by the Vice President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber Richard Schenz was briefed in Riyadh on the promising investment opportunities in the Kingdom.
The briefing came during a meeting at the headquarters of the Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC) with the Council’s Vice-President Tariq Al-Haidari, Assistant Secretary-General for International Affairs of CSC Waleed Al Orainan, and several Saudi business owners.
Al-Haidari explained that the volume of trade relations between the Kingdom and Austria is “modest” compared to the investment opportunities available and the economic capabilities of both countries.
Al-Haidari noted that the Kingdom is a major destination for Austrian exports.
In 2019, Austrian exports to Saudi Arabia amounted to 1.7 billion riyals ($453.3 million), while the value of the Kingdom’s exports to Austria amounted to 129 million riyals ($34.4 million).
A large part of goods imported to the Kingdom from Austria in 2019 were pharmaceutical products, but also included machinery, electrical appliances, optical and medical devices, and vehicles.
Al-Haidari pointed out that the Kingdom exports plastic goods to Austria.
According to Al-Haidari, the Kingdom has taken several measures to improve its business environment, including facilitating procedures related to trade and investment, providing incentives to foreign investors, and providing new channels of communication with its partners around the world.
