Published on 17 March 2026 in Client Alerts

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia approves regulatory frameworks for its Special Economic Zones

The Saudi Council’s ministerial Resolution No. 468, published in the Official Gazette on 16 January 2026, approves the governance regulations for each of the Special Economic Zones (“SEZs”), (i.e. the King Abdullah Economic City SEZ, Ras Al Khair SEZ), Jazan SEZ and Cloud Computing SEZ, originally launched on 13 April 2023.  While the first three SEZs are physically demarcated zones, the Cloud Computing SEZ offers cloud service providers with flexibility to establish data centres across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (the “KSA”).  The purpose of the establishment of these SEZs is to diversify the KSA’s economy beyond oil, especially in the sectors of maritime logistics, manufacturing and energy related industries.  The resolution aims to provide regulatory certainty for investors operating within these zones.

These regulations pursue the objectives of the project to promote economic diversification through strategic investment, creation of an investor friendly environment for growth, along with empowering the KSA’s supply chain sectors.  Under the current ministerial resolution, companies operating inside these SEZs are except from certain provisions of the Companies Law, Commercial Register Law and Trade Names Law.  Additionally, it empowers the Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority, in agreement with the Ministry of Commerce to issue further necessary rules in this regard.  Such delegated authority ensures that the regulatory framework can remain adaptable to evolving commercial and economic conditions in the SEZs.

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