Saudi Arabia opens four special economic zones with eye on foreign investment

Saudi Arabia opens four special economic zones with eye on foreign investment

Saudi Arabia announced on Thursday the launch of four new economic zones that will offer local and international investors incentives to invest in the kingdom, with the goal of bringing in higher inflows of needed foreign direct investment (FDI). 

Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s minister of investment, said this was an exciting moment for his country. 

“We are proud to see the launch of these four special economic zones that offer the chance for foreign investors to have a stake in the world’s fastest-growing economy,” he said in a statement by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), which highlighted that the zones will enable Saudi Arabia to fast-track certain reforms and facilitate the ease of doing business in the country. 

What happened: Saudi Arabia launched four special economic zones (SEZs) across the country on Friday with incentives for international companies to operate within the kingdom. 

The new SEZ are spread strategically across the country: 

King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) - West

Jazan - Southwest

Ras Al Khair - Northeast 

Cloud Computing in King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACT) - Central (Riyadh) 

SEZs are geographically defined areas in a country that permit specific economic activities and have regulations that differ from those of the country at large. SEZs' economic regulations tend