By Muhammad Al-Misbahi

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Economists welcomed the proposed Premium Residency (Special Privileged Iqamas) scheme patterned on the Green Card system where qualified and affluent expats will get privileged residence status.

The Green Card system was announced three years ago by Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman to support the Kingdom’s plans to make it an investment hub in the region on the basis of the size of the Saudi economy and its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The scheme will provide residence permits to an expatriate and his family. He will also be able to obtain visas for relatives, recruit domestic workers, own real estate among privileges.

Economist Khaled Al-Dhubay’i said that the Premium Residency system will help attract at least SR100 billion investment.

This will also help reduce expatriate remittances from the Kingdom amounting to SR400 billion annually.

This is exacerbated by losses due to commercial cover-up (tasattur) and illegal remittances exceeding SR300 billion.

Chairman of the Real Estate Appraisal Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) Abdullah Al-Ahmari said allowing real estate ownership and transportation will support investments in these vital sectors.

Economist Khaled Al-Mubayyidh said the scheme will provide many options to foreign investors as part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

He lauded the foreign investments flowing into the country, as it witnessed a 100 percent increase last year, increasing investment volume to SR3 billion.