Riyadh – Mubasher: Foreign investments in Saudi Arabia grew 13.7% year-on-year (YoY), by the end of the third quarter (Q3) of 2019.

Foreign direct investment (FDI), alongside portfolio and other foreign investments, increased by SAR 210.13 billion ($56.03 billion) between the beginning of Q4-18 and the end Q3-19 (12 months).

Investments amounted to SAR 1.739 trillion ($463.71 billion), compared with SAR 1.529 trillion ($407.67 billion) by the end of Q3-18, according to the most recent data by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA).

It is worth noting that the number of foreign investment licenses in Saudi Arabia increased by 30% (251 licenses) to reach 809 licenses by the end of last September, according to the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA).

During the three-month period between July and September 2019, foreign investments went up by 2.1% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), increasing by SAR 36.2 billion ($9.65 billion).

As for the first nine months of 2019, foreign investments in the kingdom surged by 11.5% YoY.

FDI increased by SAR 12.7 billion ($3.39 billion) or 1.47% YoY by the end of Q3-19, reaching SAR 877.21 billion (233.92 billion).

Data showed that FDI constituted 50.5% of the total foreign investments in Saudi Arabia.