RIYADH — The Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has approved the classification of foreign investors (owners of private establishments) as Saudis under the Nitaqat Saudization program. This is one of the provisions for the classification of categories of people who will be treated equal to Saudis while calculating the percentage of Saudization, according to the Qiwa platform affiliated with the ministry, Okaz/Saudi Gazette has learnt. The platform indicated that there are two categories of non-Saudis who are treated as Saudis in the Nitaqat program. They include Saudi woman citizen's son and daughter from a non-Saudi national and non-Saudi mother or non-Saudi widow of a citizen. Saudi citizens working remotely will be treated as equal to other regular Saudi employees. The platform revealed that workers from displaced tribes, citizens of Gulf countries, and Gulf players or athletes will be treated equal to Saudis while calculating percentage of Saudization. The Qiwa clarified that some expatriates will be calculated in lower proportions while calculating percentage of Saudization. They include Palestinians holding Egyptian passports and Baluchis, who will be calculated at a rate of 0.25 of the normal proportion of expatriate workers. This means that employing four Palestinians will be equivalent to employing one non-Saudi in calculating Nitaqat, provided that the number of employees from these categories shall not exceed 50 percent of the total number of employees. This rule will also apply to individuals from Myanmar or Burmese by calculating them at a rate of 0.25 of the normal percentage of expatriate workers in all regions of the Kingdom. However, Burmese nationals living in Makkah and Madinah are exempted from this. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Investment revealed, in its latest report, that the net inflow of foreign direct investment reached SR105 billion by the end of 2022, recording an increase of 21.4 percent compared to the previous year, and thus achieving the highest net inflow of foreign direct investment since 2004. This is attributed to the substantial improvement in the investment environment in Saudi Arabia and the efforts made within the framework of enhancing competitiveness and empowering the private sector. The ministry stated that the new methodology will contribute to identifying promising investment opportunities in priority non-oil sectors to attract investors from all over the world, and achieve the requirements of Vision 2030, with regard to following up on the goals of the National Investment Strategy.
