A total of 44 multinational companies have agreed to move their regional headquarters to the Saudi capital Riyadh.
It comes following a directive announced earlier this year by the Saudi authorities, which stipulated that, from 2024, companies who failed to have their regional HQ in Riyadh would not be considered for government contracts.
The licenses authorising the move were issued at the fifth edition of the Future Investment Initiative conference on Wednesday to companies from the tech sector, F&B, consulting and construction.
The firms will get exemptions from work visa limits, eased regulations, and help with the relocation of staff under a new program to facilitate business, according to a website for the program and Hosam Alqurashi, a senior adviser at the Royal Commission for Riyadh City.
The companies that have signed up so far also include Deloitte, Pepsico, Unilever, Siemens and Philips, according to a presentation Alqurashi gave at an investment conference in Riyadh.
Around half of the companies that received their permits this week had already signed agreements in January to relocate their regional headquarters to the kingdom. The rest were new.
Minister of Investment, Khalid Al-Falih, said: “We have noted a strong response from investors in recent years, which is driving increases in FDI. As investment grows, we expect to see these investors expand their presence in the local market.”
It is estimated that for every job attracted through the Regional Headquarters Attraction Program of Multinational Companies, 2.5 jobs are created indirectly in the base economy.
CEO of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC), Fahd Al-Rasheed, said: “The RHQ companies will bring new expertise, research and development as well as innovation in a wide range of sectors, resulting in knowledge transfer in the medium to long-term, and improvement in the local talent pool. By 2030, the program will contribute $18 billion to the local economy and create around 30,000 new jobs.”
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has pushed a $800bn strategy to double the size of the city and turn it into a global hub.
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