Saudi Arabia Signs Int’l Deals to Strengthen Tax, Customs Cooperation

Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan (X)

Saudi Arabia is working to improve its tax system and make compliance easier, with a focus on increasing tax collection efficiency and fairness. The government aims to ensure its tax policies do not harm the economy or deter investment.
Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan made these comments during the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Conference, where agreements were signed to boost tax and customs cooperation between Saudi Arabia, Croatia, Kosovo, and Kuwait.
The goal is to support trade, investment, and the adoption of modern customs technologies.
The conference will run until Thursday and includes several panel discussions, as well as over 70 workshops. Around 90 local and international organizations are participating in the accompanying exhibition.
At the conference, Al-Jadaan highlighted Saudi Arabia's progress in achieving its Vision 2030 goals.
He praised the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority for its digital transformation, with a 99.35% score in the UN Digital Government Index.
Al-Jadaan said the authority helps streamline business processes, promote international cooperation, and tackle tax and customs challenges to support economic growth.
He stressed the importance of international collaboration to address economic challenges, urging improvements in the tax system to attract investment, ensure fairness, and increase government spending efficiency.
Al-Jadaan also noted that Saudi Arabia is focusing on sectors like tourism and industry to boost economic growth and create jobs.
Regarding taxes, he emphasized the government's efforts to simplify the tax system and improve compliance while ensuring fair and efficient tax collection.
He also called for careful evaluation before any tax hikes to ensure they do not harm the economy or deter investment.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Hamoud Al-Harbi, spokesperson for the Zakat, Tax, and Customs Authority, said the agency is focused on using artificial intelligence and digital tools to improve security and ease trade.
Al-Harbi highlighted the authority's success in digital governance, ranking first among 226 government agencies for meeting key standards. It has also rolled out major projects like electronic invoicing.
He added that the authority is working to strengthen logistics security and simplify customs procedures, supporting Vision 2030 and helping make Saudi Arabia a leading logistics hub.
During a panel discussion at the conference, Bahraini Finance Minister Salman Al-Khalifa called for updating international frameworks to tackle new economic challenges.
He emphasized the need to adapt to changes like digitization and AI in global trade.
Al-Khalifa also highlighted Bahrain’s success in economic diversification, with non-oil sectors now accounting for over 85% of GDP, particularly in financial services, logistics, tourism, and manufacturing.
Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati discussed the challenges of digitalization in tax collection, stressing the need to update tax systems for fairness between countries.
She commended Saudi Arabia’s progress and mentioned that Indonesia has started taxing digital transactions and cryptocurrencies due to their rapid growth.
Indrawati emphasized the need for countries to create clear rules for taxing cross-border activities like e-commerce.