The Trade and Investment System under the reign of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdul Aziz, witnessed a great prosperity in light of the royal directives towards enhancing the investment environment in the Kingdom for the realization of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, aiming at raising the efficiency of the Saudi economy.
Three years have passed since the accession and the allegiance pledge for King Salman bin Abdul Aziz. During this era, the Trade and Investment System has witnessed great leaps through the amendment and enactment of laws and regulations that go in line with the government's trend to create an attractive investment environment. This would reflect positively on the national economy and contribute to attract various investments and create more job opportunities.
The Ministry of Commerce and Investment has issued more than 1.2 million Commercial Registrations for enterprises and companies by mid-December 2017, and more than 168,000 C.R. for businesswomen during the same period.
The Ministry's statistics showed that the total capital of the companies that were established, and the companies that had been converted into Closed Joint Stock Co. reached more than SR 23 billion riyals, during 1438. Thus the growth rate of the capital of the closed joint stock companies increased by 49% compared to 1437H. In addition, the average rate of the companies capitals had been raised as well from 3 to 5 million riyals during the same period.
The Kingdom has achieved a great progress in the World Index 2018 AD for the ease of doing business, following the implementation of many reforms and measures that have contributed to improving the business and investment environment and had boosted the investors’ confidence. The World Bank Group Report ranked the Kingdom the second among the high income countries, and the second among the G20 countries in terms of implementing reforms to improve the business environment.
For the realization of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, a number of initiatives have been taken to improve the business environment and to reduce the procedures of business start-ups. Therefore, electronic links have been established with several government agencies. Then the initiative of “Merass” and the Integrated Service Center had been launched, which provides more than 74 e-services, related to 16 government authorities, under one single platform.
The Ministry's electronic services have also reduced the procedures and steps for starting up a business, from the allocation of the trade name to the issuance of the Commercial Registration. All that to be carried out electronically in one step for the commercial Establishments and for three steps for the companies. Linking had been effected as well with a number of government agencies, so that the Commercial Registration can be issued on line together with the file of Labor and Social Insurance, and zakat & Income file. This service also enables the beneficiaries to issue, amend or renew the C.R. through the Ministry of the Interior’s service "Absher".
A number of technical initiatives aimed at improving the business environment have recently been launched. The most important of these is the service of "Wosool", which aims at facilitating communication among businessmen in the Kingdom, whether individuals or commercial establishments. This would contribute positively to support and enhance the development process and investment opportunities. In addition to online power of attorney service, which enables the owners of CR to make power of attorneys and authorizations online easily.
The online power of attorney service comes as part of a series of e-services launched by the Ministry to facilitate the procedures and transactions online for businessmen. This is for the realization of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, in cooperation with the Ministry’s strategic partner, Thiqa Business Services Company.
MCI has recently launched the Business Service Center in Riyadh, which comes as a continuation of the development process in the services provided to the business sector, which the Ministry has been expanding in accordance with the latest methods and means. This Business Service Center provides all the necessary services, such as the Commercial Registration, Trademarks, Trade names, permits for jewelry and gems, and other services of the Ministry.
This Center applies the concept of a comprehensive employee within a new and sophisticated work environment, based on modern technologies that facilitate the procedures and save the time of customers. A dedicated area for self-services has been allocated, along with specific routes and groups for each service. A specialized team for taking care of the customers and to answer their queries has been provided as well. As far as the businesswomen are concerned, an independent center for businesswomen has been established to provide all needed services, so that the businesswomen can participate in various aspects of economic life.