Legal restrictions on foreign investment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Foreign investment projects are growing as a positive result of liberalization and the removal of barriers that hinder them in all international economies, especially in developing countries, and it is clear that the interaction between countries is not much different from the interaction between people in that they tend to deal with civil nature, so they cannot live in isolation from the rest of the world, Given that the development of a country's economy depends on the effectiveness of the economic sector activity in it, it was natural for all countries to try to overcome the legal obstacles facing the foreign investor, because the investor’s decision to start investing in a country does not depend solely on his assessment of the economic, political and security conditions. ; Rather, the foreign investor bases his decision to invest based on the availability of legal guarantees to protect his investments. This means the importance of clarity of the systems and regulations that provide the factors that attract foreign investment on the one hand, and the necessary legal protection for it, and this means the availability of the largest possible amount of legal guarantees against non-commercial risks, and perhaps the most important of these guarantees is to grant the foreign project the treatment of the national project. This is what international custom between countries has been granting to the foreign investment project, when necessary; The host country for foreign investment stipulates in its legislation, laws and international agreements that it adheres to the principle of national treatment of the foreign project, similar to what the national project deals with, in terms of benefits, incentives and facilities, and this is what is a competitive advantage that varies in the provision of attracting countries to foreign direct investment. The Kingdom seeks to provide the necessary legal protection to receive foreign capital, and to encourage it to participate in achieving economic development and diversifying sources of income. That is why the rational government has been keen to consolidate its economic relations with the countries that export foreign investments through Saudi legislation, and by concluding bilateral agreements between them and the country of the foreign investor to encourage and protect investment, thus reassuring the foreign investor that any prejudice to the agreement protection of his money will constitute a violation of an international obligation that complicates responsibility International host country. In response to the new developments on the global and regional levels, the Saudi legislator realizes the importance of this guarantee, as it stipulates in Article Six of the Foreign Investment Law that “the project licensed under this system shall enjoy all the advantages, incentives and guarantees enjoyed by the national project according to the regulations and instructions.” According to this text, the foreign project is treated as national investments in terms of enjoying incentives and benefits. This confirms the great interest in the foreign investor by the rational government, in its belief in the principle of strategic partnership with the private sector, whether national or foreign, as long as his contribution achieves the objectives of the economic development policy. However, there are legal barriers and restrictions in the same basic system of the country. I want my research to shed light on it. This may require me to clarify the nature of the legal approach followed in Saudi Arabia and then reach the legal restrictions and barriers imposed on the foreign investor. Also, mechanisms for settling disputes resulting from foreign investment and recognition of international arbitration in settling disputes. Some of the headlines: Restrictions imposed on the foreign investor: In the regulati