Business and Investment

To Attract International Companies, Saudi Arabia Grants Licenses to 162 Regional Centres

Published

1 year ago

11th October 2023

Huda

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia revealed that it had issued more than 162 licenses to regional centres by the end of the third quarter of 2023.

Attracting International Companies to Saudi Arabia
These licenses were issued within a program to attract international companies to move their regional headquarters to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Regional offices in Saudi Arabia serve as bases for multinational companies established by Saudi laws to provide support, management and strategic direction to its branches and subsidiaries in the Middle East and North Africa.

Regional Headquarters Programme
The Regional Headquarters Program is a cooperative initiative between the Ministry of Investment and the Royal Commission for the City of Riyadh to invite international companies to move their regional headquarters to the Kingdom.

According to the initial statement, the Ministry of Investment has implemented a mechanism for granting premium residency to executive directors at regional headquarters in coordination with the Premium Residency Center.
In addition, in cooperation with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, the Ministry of Investment has developed an exception mechanism that allows regional headquarters companies wishing to establish their headquarters within one of its branches in the Kingdom.

The Ministry of Investment also cooperated with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development to activate incentives for regional headquarters regarding employees.
These incentives include granting a visa based on the company’s needs, allowing the spouse to work under the husband or wife’s residency permit, and extending the legal age for children to remain with regional headquarters employees to 25 years old.

The Ministry of Investment also cooperated with the Ministry of Commerce to activate a dedicated process for issuing commercial records for companies with regional headquarters and simplifying administrative procedures.