The General Investment Authority issued a statement outlining the key steps it has announced regarding investment licenses, which can be summarized as the implementation of fast-track service mechanisms (3 documents and 5 business days) to issue licenses for all investment applications in the Kingdom without exception. This means that all investment companies will benefit from this advanced measure introduced by the Authority, as the number of required documents has been reduced from 12 to 3.

The measures also include extending investment licenses for up to 15 years, renewable, to support the stability of licensed investment companies in the Kingdom and to enhance opportunities for the localization of these investments, making them a key pillar in achieving the Kingdom’s development goals, and the adoption of regulations granting “investor” status to entrepreneurs and owners of innovative companies, which will support the Kingdom’s efforts to transition to a knowledge-based economy and diversify its production base by stimulating small and medium-sized investments focused on transferring and localizing knowledge within the Kingdom.

During the Saudi-American Business Forum, which concluded last Friday, the Authority reaffirmed its relentless and ongoing efforts to provide every possible facilitation to investment companies wishing to enter and invest in the Saudi market by reducing the time required to process investment applications and minimizing the number of required documents.

In the same statement, the Authority explained that the forum witnessed a number of initiatives and agreements aimed at enhancing the investment environment in the Kingdom, in line with the wise leadership’s directives to support the comprehensive development process in our country, as emphasized by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud—may God protect him—in his address to a number of American business leaders and heads of major U.S. companies investing in the Kingdom.