Four special economic zones will be established in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to facilitate foreign investment

Four special economic zones will be established in Saudi Arabia, — Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced on Thursday, April 13th.

The purpose of the new zones, which will be located in Riyadh, Jazan, Ras al-Khair and King Abdullah’s Economic City, is to open up new opportunities for international investors and create new business centers in key growth sectors.

Benefits for companies in the new zones will include:

• competitive corporate tax rates;
• exemption from customs duties on imports, production resources, machinery and raw materials;
• «flexibility» in attracting and hiring the best talent around the world;
• 100% foreign ownership of companies.

These four special zones include:

1) King Abdullah Economic City — for advanced manufacturing and logistics companies (car assembly, consumer goods, computer technology and MedTech);

2) Jazan is an industrial center and platform for companies trading with the fast-growing markets of Africa and Asia;

3)Ras Al-Khair (Ras Al-Khair) is a platform in the Persian Gulf for companies from the maritime industry;

4) The Cloud Computing Economic Zone, located in the King Abdullah City of Science and Technology (KACST), is for rapidly developing technology companies. The zone is based on an innovative hybrid model that allows investors to create physical data centers and cloud computing infrastructure in several locations throughout the Kingdom.

The zones, which will be regulated by the Office of Economic Cities and Special Zones, will provide new solutions to the problems faced by many foreign companies trying to localize and strengthen supply chains in Saudi Arabia, and will help the Kingdom create a truly differentiated business environment by activating new sectors and supply chains.