RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Investment announced that it has issued 812 licenses for new foreign investments during the first nine months of 2020, compared to 840 licenses during the same period last year. The number of foreign investment licenses in the Kingdom increased by 20 percent during the first quarter of the year against the same period in 2019, reaching 350 licenses. It recorded a decline of 47 percent in the second quarter of 2020 to 156 licenses, which was the first quarterly decline in three years, and this sharp fall could be attributed to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The number of foreign investment licenses issued in the third quarter of the year witnessed a rapid recovery with 306 licenses, an increase of 20 percent on year-on-year and 96 percent on a quarterly basis. During the third quarter of 2020, foreign investments with full ownership accounted for about 68 percent of the total licenses and 32 percent of joint ventures with the participation of local investors.
