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Saudi Industrial Investments Rise by 54% Following Exemption from Financial Fees

A factory in Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A factory in Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
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Saudi Industrial Investments Rise by 54% Following Exemption from Financial Fees

A factory in Saudi Arabia. (SPA)
A factory in Saudi Arabia. (SPA)

The Federation of Saudi Chambers announced that industrial investments in the Kingdom have increased by 54%, reaching around SAR 1.5 trillion. This surge follows a 2019 government decision to exempt the industrial sector from financial fees.

A report by the Federation assessed the economic impact of the government's decision to bear the financial fees for the industrial sector from 2019 until the end of 2025. The study used a comprehensive approach, measuring the decision’s impact based on seven economic indicators: contribution to GDP, the number of industrial establishments, investment volume, employment, non-oil exports, the quality of national products, and foreign investments in the sector.

According to the report, economic data and indicators confirm the positive effects of the exemption on the national economy overall, and the industrial sector in particular.

The sector’s GDP contribution rose from SAR 392 billion in 2019 to SAR 592 billion in 2023, accounting for 14.7% of GDP. The number of industrial establishments grew from 7,625 in 2019 to 11,868 by 2024, a growth rate of 55.6%. Additionally, investments in the sector increased by 54%, reaching approximately SAR 1.5 trillion compared to SAR 992 billion previously.

The report highlighted that foreign investments in the industrial sector have grown, thanks to the decision to bear financial fees. The number of foreign factories increased from 622 to 1,067, reflecting a growth rate of 71.5%. The capital invested in the sector grew from SAR 43 billion to SAR 93 billion, a growth rate of 116.2%.

By the end of the first quarter of 2024, the number of workers in the industrial sector reached around 1.2 million, including 358,000 Saudis, with a localization rate of about 28%. Saudi workers in the industrial sector represent around 12.9% of the total Saudis employed in the private sector.

The industrial sector became the largest contributor to creating jobs for Saudis during the period from Jan. 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, with the number of nationals increasing by 59%, adding more than 82,000 jobs.

The report also noted that the industrial sector helped boost non-oil exports, which reached an estimated SAR 208 billion, achieving a 12% growth.

Additionally, the report explained that the decision contributed to improving the quality of national products, through the adoption of new business models by industrial establishments, the localization of the latest technologies in manufacturing, the attraction of skilled talent, and the increase in product offerings to meet local market demands.

These efforts resulted in a rise in the percentage of industrial product exports, increased domestic demand for local products, and a higher number of products receiving the Saudi Quality Mark from the Saudi Standards, Metrology, and Quality Organization.

In September 2019, the government issued a decision to bear the financial fees imposed on expatriate workers in industrial establishments. The decision was recently extended until the end of 2025. Over 8,000 industrial establishments have benefited from the move, with the estimated cost of expatriate labor fees on the industrial sector amounting to around SAR 5 billion.

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Business

Foreign Investors Consolidate their Bets on Saudi Arabia as Economic Reforms Gather Pace

The King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh. (SPA)
The King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh. (SPA)
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Foreign Investors Consolidate their Bets on Saudi Arabia as Economic Reforms Gather Pace

The King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh. (SPA)
The King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia is no longer just an oil-price bet for global investors. It is becoming a core emerging-market play. That is the view of Emmanuel Laurina, head of Middle East, Africa, and official institutions at State Street, one of the world’s major financial services and asset management firms.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Laurina said a structural shift is reshaping how global institutions view the Kingdom, and why State Street is placing a major bet on its market.

Laurina explained that Saudi Arabia has moved from an oil-linked allocation to a central component of emerging-market portfolios.

The shift is being driven by a broader range of investable sectors, particularly finance, energy, and raw materials, giving investors real diversification in a world where many emerging markets are dominated by technology, he stressed.

Saudi Arabia’s inclusion in major global equity and bond indexes has helped anchor foreign inflows and strengthen the market’s role in international allocations, he said. Vision 2030 reforms have also widened opportunities beyond oil.

What is drawing investors now?

Laurina said market liberalization and the opening of share trading to foreign investors through the development of the Saudi Exchange, Tadawul, have helped attract liquidity and deepen international participation.

He also pointed to Saudi Arabia’s push into artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure as the Kingdom seeks strategic partnerships with major global technology companies.

In fixed income, Laurina said Saudi government bonds carry a strong A+ credit rating and offer a positive yield spread over US Treasuries, making them attractive for investors seeking dollar-denominated diversification.

Access has also improved sharply, he said. The abolition of the qualified foreign investor regime and the shift toward direct ownership of listed securities mark a major step forward.

Still, some structural limits remain. These include foreign ownership caps at individual and aggregate levels, and the need to trade through local brokers. Laurina said the listing of foreign exchange-traded funds in the Kingdom remains only partly developed because Saudi Arabia’s domestic market-making ecosystem is still limited.

New fund targets Saudi equities

Laurina said State Street recently launched an exchange-traded fund in partnership with the Saudi Public Investment Fund, giving international investors access to Saudi equities through a systematic active strategy that seeks to beat the benchmark across full market cycles.

The launch reflects rising client demand and a clear shift in the Saudi market’s composition, away from oil stocks and toward sectors such as healthcare, utilities and technology, he went to say.

ETFs, he said, are only one part of a wider ecosystem that includes institutional mandates, strategic partnerships, index-driven flows and growing activity in private markets, especially in Vision 2030 priority sectors.

Laurina said the Middle East and Africa are central to State Street’s future growth strategy.

The strategy rests on three pillars: building institutional asset classes in the Middle East and North Africa, internationalizing Sharia-compliant portfolios, and meeting growing demand for regionally focused investment solutions.

Riyadh became State Street’s 11th global investment center in 2024, he said, as the company continues to expand its local investment and research team.

Laurina said Saudi Arabia is now a pivotal market and a key growth engine in State Street’s Middle East and Africa strategy.

Business

Standard Chartered CEO Seeks to Reassure Staff over AI-linked Job Cuts

FILED - 11 January 2012, China, Hong Kong: FILE PHOTO - A general view of the facade of Standard Chartered Bank branch in Hong Kong. Photo: Jens Kalaene/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
FILED - 11 January 2012, China, Hong Kong: FILE PHOTO - A general view of the facade of Standard Chartered Bank branch in Hong Kong. Photo: Jens Kalaene/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
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Standard Chartered CEO Seeks to Reassure Staff over AI-linked Job Cuts

FILED - 11 January 2012, China, Hong Kong: FILE PHOTO - A general view of the facade of Standard Chartered Bank branch in Hong Kong. Photo: Jens Kalaene/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
FILED - 11 January 2012, China, Hong Kong: FILE PHOTO - A general view of the facade of Standard Chartered Bank branch in Hong Kong. Photo: Jens Kalaene/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa

Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters sought to assuage staff concerns on Wednesday, a day after saying that the bank will cut thousands of jobs over the next four years as it moves to replace "lower-value human capital" with technology.

"Many of you will have seen media coverage following the Investor Event in Hong Kong, particularly the reporting around automation, AI, and workforce changes," Winters said in a memo to the bank's ⁠staff reviewed by ⁠Reuters.

"I know this may be unsettling when reduced to simple headlines or a quote out of context," he said.

A spokesperson for the bank confirmed the memo's content.

StanChart said on Tuesday it would cut 15% of ⁠its corporate function roles by 2030, which, according to a Reuters calculation, would result in nearly 8,000 redundancies out of its more than 52,000 staff in such roles.

The bank cited AI as a driver to slim its operations in its quest to increase profitability and tackle competition.

"It's not cost-cutting. It's replacing in some cases lower-value human capital with the financial capital ⁠and ⁠the investment capital we're putting in," Winters said on Tuesday.

In his memo to staff on Wednesday, Winters said the bank had been open that its workforce will evolve.

"Some roles will reduce in number, some will change, and new opportunities will emerge. We will continue to prioritize investment in reskilling and redeployment wherever we can," he said.

"Where changes do happen, we will handle them with thought and care," he added.

Business

Ukraine Ally Britain Eases Sanctions on Russian Oil as Fuel Prices Surge Over Iran Conflict

A seized suspected Russian oil taker by the French navy is photographed in the Mediterranean Sea in Fos-sur-Mer, southern France, on Jan. 26, 2026. (AP)
A seized suspected Russian oil taker by the French navy is photographed in the Mediterranean Sea in Fos-sur-Mer, southern France, on Jan. 26, 2026. (AP)
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Ukraine Ally Britain Eases Sanctions on Russian Oil as Fuel Prices Surge Over Iran Conflict

A seized suspected Russian oil taker by the French navy is photographed in the Mediterranean Sea in Fos-sur-Mer, southern France, on Jan. 26, 2026. (AP)
A seized suspected Russian oil taker by the French navy is photographed in the Mediterranean Sea in Fos-sur-Mer, southern France, on Jan. 26, 2026. (AP)

The UK government has quietly watered down sanctions on Russian oil in an effort to shelter Britons from the cost-of-living squeeze triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

A trade license that came into effect Wednesday permits the import of Russian oil that has been refined into jet fuel and diesel in third countries, such as India and Türkiye.

The US-Israeli war on Iran and Iran's closure of the strait, through which about a fifth of the world's oil usually passes, has sent fuel prices soaring around the world and sparked concerns about a shortage of jet fuel.

UK Treasury minister Dan Tomlinson said the changes are “for a time limited period and on a very specific issue.”

Britain has been one of Ukraine's strongest allies since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, and the government insist its sanctions against Russia remain among the toughest in the world.

But lawmaker Emily Thornberry, who chairs Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said Ukrainians would “feel very let down” by the move. She said Ukraine’s allies should keep squeezing Russia’s oil industry, because it “is absolutely crippling their economy.”

The US has also eased Russian sanctions. Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent extended a 30-day sanctions waiver allowing the purchase of Russian oil shipments already at sea.

On Tuesday, finance ministers from the US, Britain and the other Group of Seven wealthy nations issued a joint statement reaffirming “our unwavering commitment to continue to impose severe costs on Russia in response to its continued aggression against Ukraine.”