Eng. Abdullatif Al-Othman, Governor of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, stressed that holding of Forum of Saudi-Russian Business Council in Saint Petersburg today comes within framework of developing new prospects for economic and investment relationship between the two states. In his speech delivered at the opening of the Saudi-Russian Business Council Forum held today under the title: 'Time for Work: Joint Efforts to Achieve Stability and Growth', Eng. Al-Othman said that the forum aims to strengthen and consolidate the economic and investment relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Russia, particularly that the two countries are among the countries of the Group of Twenty (G-20). 'Many people ask me about the Kingdom and its economy and investment. I always say that the Kingdom's past witnessed great achievements and its future is bright supported by ambitious visions of the leadership,' he added, highlighting that the Kingdom is the largest economy in the region and one of the three fastest growing countries in the Group of Twenty where the volume of the Kingdom's economy reached $746 billion. Eng. Al-Othman highlighted that the local and foreign projects established in the Kingdom can benefit of energy and land with very reasonable prices and access to concessional financing from several government funds to support investment projects and to provide financial support in exchange for training and employment of the Saudi nationals. Regarding the foreign companies, including the Russian leading companies, Al-Othman said that the foreign companies are allowed of ownership with 100% in all sectors, with the exceptions of some sectors which require presence of a local partner, including sectors of financial services, telecommunications, professional advisory services and wholesale and retail with no imposing income tax, value-added tax, sales tax or property tax with presence of a tax competition rate on the companies' profits with 20% of the profits. He stressed that that the Kingdom is witnessing a huge economic activity and comprehensive development in all regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, pointing out that the foreign investment in the Kingdom reached $208 billion. Eng. Al-Othman said that these investments were concentrated in the energy, petrochemical and construction sectors, 'the Kingdom seeks to double the size of these investments by taking advantage of growth in new sectors such as health, transport, tourism, information technology and many other promising sectors,' he added.
