Business & Money | Sunday 31 January, 2016 9:37 am |

Proposals to allow 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in four sectors are being studied, Mohannad Hilal, secretary-general of Economic Cities Authority, has said.
“This (study) is within the framework to encourage foreign investment and diversify the productive base and confront falling oil prices,” he has been quoted as saying by Bloomberg. 
Hilal did not give details about the sectors, saying that the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) is the one to decide on this.
New procedures required for the visa system and quickening the pace of issuing work permits, he added. 
Abdullatif Al-Othman, governor of SAGIA, welcomed the recommendations on foreign investment. “We are happy to receive queries regarding foreign investment and to amend the law or regulations to attract investments to the Kingdom,” he said. 
“We have finalized the executive lists to allow 100 percent FDI in the wholesale and retail sector as against the current 75 percent,” he added. 
Saudi Arabia is planning to lessen the restrictions on foreign investments to reverse its fall that went down by $7.6 billion in 2015; it was $30 billion seven years ago. 
The Kingdom offers incentives to foreign investors, including reduction in direct taxation to 20 percent on profits with relaying losses to future years, while investors work in a secure environment protected by legislative and judicial regulations. 
The Saudi reform program focuses on decreasing government expenditure on unnecessary issues and stressing investments in the mining, health, education and municipality sectors, besides expanding its privatization program to reduce the strain on the budget.
Ten years ago, the Kingdom launched a plan to alter the economy and established four economic cities in Rabigh, Hail, Jazan and Madinah to change the face of the national economy, which depends to a great extent on oil revenues.