In Interview, Governor of SAGIA Ibrahim Al-Omar Says New Licenses for Investment and Business Soaring

The head of Saudi Arabia’s top licensing and investment body says that the Kingdom is increasing its new licenses to investors and businessmen seeking to do business in the Kingdom, according to an interview in TheBanker.com.

Ibrahim Al-Omar, head of the powerful Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), told journalist James King in an interview how Saudi Arabia plans to become an investment powerhouse and expand the organization’s engagements with both existing investors and potential investors.

“The number of licenses we are issuing is increasing in a manner we are more than comfortable with, and we are very optimistic,” Al-Omar said. “SAGIA is partnering with major international companies across all of its sectors, linking them to the right stakeholders and the right investment opportunities, and is helping them to successfully navigate the Saudi market and ecosystem.”

Al-Omar also discussed how SAGIA is working to tackle key obstacles facing foreign investors today in Saudi Arabia – challenges that are rapidly evolving along with the new vigor being put into economic transformation as part of Vision 2030.

SAGIA’s goal over the medium turn is to secure high-value investments “that add more than 5500 jobs into the economy and an added value of $10bn, while ensuring that Saudi Arabia is being promoted by leveraging the ‘Invest Saudi’ brand,” Al-Omar said.

Recently, SAGIA worked to slash the time taken to process business licenses in Saudi Arabia by more than 92 percent in a bid to encourage further investment in the Kingdom, cutting the processing time from about 53 hours to four hours.