|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
RIYADH, April 11 (AFP) - A new investment law to attract foreign capital came into effect in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, reducing taxation and allowing 100 percent foreign ownership of companies. The Saudi Press Agency said that King Fahd published a royal decree overnight after the cabinet approved the law on Monday following adoption by the nominal Shura consultative council last month. Foreign ownership in the kingdom had been limited to 49 percent but will now be boosted to 100 percent for industrial projects. In other words, foreign entrepreneurs will no longer have to seek out a Saudi associate. The law was drawn up by the Supreme Economic Council (SEC), an institution chaired by Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdelaziz, as part of efforts to bolster local and external investments to reduce Saudi Arabia's dependency on oil. Industry and Electricity Minister Hashem bin Abdullah al-Yamani told SPA the law would "make the investment climate more healthy and attract increasing amounts" of capital. The aim was to "remove obstacles" and "ease the bureaucracy" which made investment complicated in the oil-rich kingdom. He added that the State would "cover 15 percent of tax on company profits exceeding 100,000 riyals ($26,000) a year." The Supreme Economic Council was established in August 1999 by King Fahd to accelerate the pace of economic reform. It gathers together ministers holding the national finance and economy, oil, trade, industry, planning and labor portfolios. "The most interesting thing in the law for foreign investors will be the part about tax cuts," economic analyst Beshr Bakheet of the Riyadh-based Bakheet Financial Advisors said. The new law "will also bring about a reduction in monopolies and encourage competition, which will profit the economy and consumers," Bakheet said, adding that it would also spur the return of Saudi capital invested abroad.
|
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
