License to foreign investors rises by 70% in Q1 2019: SAGIA

The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) has issued 267 new licenses for foreign investors to operate across the Kingdom in Q1 2019, a rise of 70 percent year-on-year (YoY).

As many as 30 percent of those licenses came in partnership with local investors, SAGIA said.

The number of foreign investor licenses issued for the construction sector increased to 39 in Q1 2019 compared to 22 licenses a year earlier.

Nine licenses were granted in the education sector in the same period, compared to one license in Q1 2018.

The healthcare sector, Hassana Investment Co., the investment arm of the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI), formed a joint venture with UAE-based NMC Healthcare to acquire and develop a pan-Saudi network of healthcare facilities with a capacity of up to 3,000 beds. The new joint venture will be implemented at a total cost of up to SAR 6 billion over the next five years.

The mining and quarrying industry saw 11 new foreign companies receiving licenses, compared to only three in Q1 2018.

There were also a record number of new foreign entrepreneur licenses issued in Q1 2019, with 45 new startups setting up in the Kingdom, compared to 13 in the same period last year.
 

A total of 30 companies from India received licenses, compared to 14 in Q1 2018 while 13 Chinese companies also received licenses, compared to just seven during the same period last year, SAGIA added.