Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

Allows non-Saudis to invest in real estate funds

09 Nov 2021

On 9 November 2021, the Capital Market Authority (CMA) allowed financial market institutions to accept the subscriptions of non-Saudis in the real estate funds that invest in assets within the boundaries of Makkah and Madinah. This measure is part of the National Investment Strategy (Vision 2030) launched on 11 October to help increase foreign direct investment.

The ownership system for non-Saudis in the Kingdom stipulates that non-Saudis are allowed to own real estate for their own residence, after obtaining a license from the Ministry of Interior, and for foreign representations to own their official headquarters on the condition of obtaining a license from the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The decision aims to activate the role of investment funds as a tool for financing real estate developers and SMEs.

  • UNCTAD has been collecting information on changes in national foreign direct investment (FDI) policies on an annual basis since 1992. This collection has provided input to the analysis of global and regional investment policy trends in the World Investment Report, the Investment Policy Monitors and the UNCTAD-OECD Reports on G20 Measures.

    In 2024, to further strengthen the quality of reporting, UNCTAD revised the methodology of monitoring investment policy measures. and revised the measures going back to 2012 accordingly.

    The Investment Policy Monitor provides the international investment community with country-specific, up-to-date information about the latest developments in foreign investment policies.

    Through its monitoring of investment policy changes, UNCTAD offers cutting-edge and innovative contributions to investment policy discourse, and contributes to preparing the ground for future policymaking in the interest of making foreign investment work for sustainable development.

  • The UNCTAD's Investment Policy Monitor database include official measures affecting FDI adopted by United Nations Member States. These encompass measures explicitly targeting FDI (FDI-specific), as well as general investment measures with a clear impact on foreign investment (FDI-related). The measures are either reported directly to UNCTAD by Member States through annual surveys or identified by UNCTAD researchers through publicly accessible sources (such as government websites and specialized policy databases). The classification of measures as more or less favourable is based solely on their potential impact on investors.

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