Foreign firms must have HQ in KSA to get KSA gov. contracts
 

As of Jan 1st, KSA government and state backed institutions will not sign contracts with firms who do not have their MiddleEast HQ in Saudi.

Pretty clear this is a direct challenge to Dubai and Abu Dhabi's position in the area.

So now firms will have to keep two HQs , one in KSA and one in the UAE to be able to do business in both countries?

Wasn't MBZ supposed to be a mentor for MBS?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/saudi...181155586.html

Re: Foreign firms must have HQ in KSA to get KSA gov. contracts
 

No 2 HQs' the Regional HQ for Middle East must be in Saudi.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1809861/business-economy

Re: Foreign firms must have HQ in KSA to get KSA gov. contracts
 

Interesting - curious to see how this plays out. Is there an example of this being done elsewhere in the world? My experience suggests that the higher the calibre of a person, the less likely they are to accept a move to Riyadh (because they have plenty of alternative options). I wonder whether the potential size of the prize is so big in KSA that this outweighs these sorts of human capital considerations.

Re: Foreign firms must have HQ in KSA to get KSA gov. contracts
 

I'm sure it is done on the basis of contact awards within lots of countries - that the contracted entity needs to be based in a meaningful way in the country not just a shelf or satellite company. The idea of the HQ must be in the country is unusual, I wonder is there more caveats like income having to stay within KSA or not. Otherwise it's a branding exercise only.

Having worked in KSA, I can say I did it for a price only and based on that experience I'd need a lot more for a second bite of the cherry. Unless the money is irresistible or I have no other choice it would not be on my radar.

Re: Foreign firms must have HQ in KSA to get KSA gov. contracts
 

Maybe I am an odball but I preferred KSA to UAE or Qatar. I would prefer Jeddah or Al-Sharqiya to Wahabi Riyadh though !

Mind you the KSA that I saw in the 1970s is different from the one I left in 2011 !

Re: Foreign firms must have HQ in KSA to get KSA gov. contracts
 

Re: Foreign firms must have HQ in KSA to get KSA gov. contracts
 

So what happens when UAE demands the same as Saudi, because if they don't Saudi will poach the big corporate HQs ?

Re: Foreign firms must have HQ in KSA to get KSA gov. contracts
 

I'm sure there will be ways around it. My last 2 employers were based in Free Zones in Dubai and opened "mainland" offices in Abu Dhabi to be able to win projects directly from ADNOC, I assume this will be something similar.

Middle East HQ in Riyadh and "North Africa, Caspian and West Asia" HQ in UAE.

Or there will be a rise of Saudi agents to be the main contractor and subcontract everything down, taking a cut out of the revenue.

Re: Foreign firms must have HQ in KSA to get KSA gov. contracts
 

Egypt , Iran and Turkey will have something to say about that.

Would be hilarious if all the big countries with lucrative markets follow Saudi.

Re: Foreign firms must have HQ in KSA to get KSA gov. contracts
 

Keeping in mind I have 80+ live roles in KSA at the moment and have a team interviewing candidates day and night for the Kingdom, I can assure you of the following trend regarding the statement you make;

The former is less and less frequent.
The latter is more and more frequent.

Re: Foreign firms must have HQ in KSA to get KSA gov. contracts
 

Yeah I can imagine, but thankfully I'm not in that latter scenario. Overall and on a country by county basis we are doing extremely well - to the point that the group has fully pulled out of the ME. I'd have to be insane to accept lowered terms to go the KSA

Re: Foreign firms must have HQ in KSA to get KSA gov. contracts
 

Oh 100%, not suggesting anything, just sharing what I'm seeing to be honest.

If someone is on a good deal somewhere, that's got a couple or more years of legs in it and not hating life, they'd be mental to look for something new now. I'd only change if the writing was on the wall and even then, there's good options and bad in the Kingdom. I'm very lucky that my work is in Riyadh, not the arse end of nowhere in a camp.

I still hear a bit of; "I'd go if it was X".....where X doesn't exist anymore, it's half or three-quarters of X which suddenly looks a lot like what they get in Dubai.
I've seen people move from Dubai to Riyadh for the same and even a few for less. Tax free cash is better than the UK or South Africa or Australia at the moment I guess.

Re: Foreign firms must have HQ in KSA to get KSA gov. contracts
 

I fully understand it, the same gun was at my head in 2010 when I first moved there except I never harboured ideas of doing better - I knew the market was f**cked. The rational decision was always accept whatever you can get, ride out the storm and as soon as you can get back out of there. In a perfect economic storm that's about the best anyone can do, having an inflated view of your own self worth will just make the pill harder to swallow.
But right now my calculation is X plus because I have the luxury of job security and choice, but as soon as that changes I know I'll be at X minus.

Re: Foreign firms must have HQ in KSA to get KSA gov. contracts
 

"...not the arse end of nowhere in a camp." :(

Re: Foreign firms must have HQ in KSA to get KSA gov. contracts
 

Riyadh is the arse end of nowhere, plus was always the most restrictive place in Saudi to live. A camp isn't the arse end of nowhere, it's another 500km up it :)