Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is aggressively moving to transform the Saudi capital, Riyadh, into an international hub for business and talent, a push that’s increasingly posing a challenge to Dubai.
Saudi officials are offering tax breaks and other incentives to attract 7,000 companies around the world to open their regional headquarters in the kingdom, thereby turning the desert capital into a global business hub that would rival Dubai.
More than 40 multinational companies including Baker Hughes Co., KPMG and Schlumberger have already received licenses as part of the new program to facilitate business presence in the country. These firms will get exemptions from work visa limits, help with relocation of staff and enjoy eased regulations.
BOOM Television also gathered from declassified Reports from the Riyadh Investment Conference that Deloitte, Pepsico, Unilever, Siemens Mobility and Philips have also signed up for licenses.
Officials are talking to major companies with annual revenues of a billion dollars or more, with the target of getting 480 of them to set up in Saudi Arabia by 2030.
