Consumer

In recent years, there have been initiatives to open the consumer market in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to foreign investment. In 2016, the Ministry of Investment in Saudi Arabia (“MISA”) eased restrictions on foreign shareholding in retail businesses, permitting retail and wholesale businesses to be wholly-owned by foreign entities, and our lawyers have been closely involved in advising a number of international retailers on entering the KSA market. We have similarly worked closely with large local family holding companies investing in a range of consumer goods businesses.

Given the recent drive for leisure and recreation projects, there have been increased opportunities in the industry, with giga-projects such as the Qiddiya Entertainment City, a 334km2 project to be built 40km from the capital city, Riyadh, providing scope for further expansion of retail projects.