Saudi Arabia plans to introduce Hajj Smart ID instead of passports in 2020 in a move to ease the pilgrimage for millions of Muslims in Makkah, Al Arabiya reported.

The new ID will contain the pilgrim’s information and documentation instead of carrying official documents including passports.

The card, which stores each pilgrim’s health information, was used by 150 pilgrims during Hajj in 2019, and it was powered by a battery that runs for up to two years.

Moreover, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah also developed a smartphone app for smart ID services.

source: mubasher

Cities do not have to expand higher and lower, they can grow in the use of time.

Expanding night time creates jobs and supports social inclusion

The Evening Economy (EE) is increasingly capturing the attention of researchers, policymakers, private business, public agencies, the media and the wider community.

The UK’s EE alone supports 1.3 million jobs and creates $100 billion per year in revenue. The EE accounts for 10-16 percent of town center jobs in Sydney. New York’s EE supports around 300,000 employees.

Last week, the Saudi Council of Ministers endorsed the regulation to grant the private sector the right to extend business hours to 24 hours.

This will have a positive impact on the economy by increasing employment opportunities, consumption and disposable income, and allowing new small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially restaurants and retail operators, to participate in evening hours.

Due to the recent deregulation of business hours, there will be 45,000 direct jobs created in the restaurant and retail sectors, and 20,000 indirect jobs created, over the short to medium term.

An estimated 30,000 part-time jobs could be established.

Female and youth employment could also be encouraged over time. Female unemployment is still high at
31.7 percent but is down from the fourth quarter of 2018.

SMEs could see an uptick in business activity by 6-8 percent, and an increase of 5-6 percent in terms of new establishments.

Restaurants could see an increase in 7-9 percent of their annual business turnover, which could translate to SR68 billion ($18 billion).

Total non-oil gross domestic product (GDP) would amount to an increase of 0.4-0.5 percent of additional value added over the next three years. In terms of gross value added, it translates to SR90-100 billion per annum.

The impact on tourism GDP would amount to an increase of 2.4 percent. The entertainment sector could see an increase of 4 percentage points in value-added terms.

Deregulated business hours is the direction that most developed economies worldwide are taking.

The effects of deregulating business hours are unequivocally positive on the overall economy.

Deregulation will have a negligible effect on inflation on average prices throughout the economy, even as more recently the food and beverage sector has seen prices rise by 1.1 percent.

International agricultural prices have been rising in conjunction with an uptick in some local food items.

Throughout history, towns and cities have had some manifestation of an economy that operates in the evening and at night.

In ancient Greece (and probably before), people traded objects and services beyond the end of the commonly understood working day.

In Asia, night markets selling domestic goods, medicines and food have existed for thousands of years.

But in the 21st-century leisure or post-industrial age, the transactional nature of the evening and night has appeared to grow in importance to the functioning of towns and cities.

So while not having the same weight of economic contribution as daytime activity, what happens “after dark” has greater strategic interest than ever before.

This makes the importance of measuring the location, makeup and economic significance of the EE relevant to a range of policymakers and planners.

This is particularly true in Western and Western-influenced nations, where regenerated post-industrial areas have developed a strong focus on leisure consumption linked to the rise of complimentary changes such as the increase in city-center living, agglomeration of industries attracting mobile young professionals in the new economies and the rise of urban tourism.

The many potential benefits of a vibrant EE have been underemphasized.

There have been no studies of the wellbeing and mental health benefits that may come from enjoying a city’s EE provision.

With Vision 2030 targets to raise female participation rates, working hours in the retail sector gain extra significance. Youth unemployment and part-time employment would also be supported over time.

Businesses are expected to extend their working day by an average of three hours.

This should give people more opportunities to shop in the evening.

Unlike other countries, Saudi Arabia’s peak hours tend to center around the late evening window (around 9 p.m.) for climate and social reasons.

According to the UN, by 2050 more than 80 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas.

This can be seen as a challenge or an opportunity. To feed and house people, cities will have to create more on the same land.

Cities do not have to expand higher and lower, they can grow in the use of time. Expanding night time creates jobs and supports social inclusion.

Source: zawya

Saudi Arabia is the third Gulf country in nine months to introduce a “golden visa”. Permanent residence starts at €187,000, while one-year renewable residencies are available from €23,000.

Saudi Arabia’s new “Premium Residency” program – approved in May – is now open for applications through a government-administered website.

Under the plan, foreigners will be able to buy real estate, take up employment, conduct business, come and go as they please, as well as sponsor residence permits for their family members, all without a Saudi sponsor, as previously needed, reports Bloomberg.

Subject to their having a clean criminal record and bill of health, as well as demonstrating financial solvency, the program is open to applicants of at least 21 years of age.

The plan “ensures that residents and expatriates – including those who have lived in the kingdom for decades – are an active part of Saudi Arabia’s economy.

This will strengthen the state’s revenue and robustly support the Saudi economy,” Economy Minister Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri told Bloomberg.

Under Saudi law, foreign employees and workers have been subject to considerable monthly fees intended to incentivize private firms to prefer local employees to expatriate ones. Resident foreigners, moreover, needed local sponsors and permission to leave the country, and could not own property.

Those legislative handicaps, coupled with dismal growth in economic output (-0.7% in 2017), have impelled the departure of several hundred thousand expats from the country in recent years, a trend the young ruler hopes to reverse.

Lofty – but perhaps not unrealistic – revenue targets

The program – first proposed by Crown Prince and de facto regent Mohammed bin Salman – is part of a wider strategy to boost foreign investment and reduce the economy’s dependence on oil.

When floating the idea in 2016, the monarch estimated the scheme would raise some US$10 billion per year by 2020.

While that estimate may appear ambitious (even the most popular European programs struggle to reach a billion euros in annual revenue), Saudi Arabia’s golden visa has a built-in customer group; thousands of wealthy Arabs who have lived in the country for decades, and 12 million foreign residents overall, more than a third of the total population.

In a region historically characterized by skepticism toward foreign influence and hyper-restrictive residence requirements, Saudi Arabia becomes the latest country to confirm a trend of immigration policy relaxation; in September last year, both the UAE and Qatar introduced means-based residence visas for expats.

Source: imidaily

Saudi Arabia seeks foreign direct investment to help diversify the economy away from oil.

The Saudi Arabia General Investment Authority (SAGIA) said that the number of new licences approved for foreign businesses in Saudi Arabia rose by 70 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier.

Ibrahim Al Omar, the Governor of SAGIA, said that applications from British and Chinese companies drove the increase, rising by 86 per cent and 71 per cent, respectively.

The fastest-growing industries were education, which the Kingdom only opened to foreign investors in November, and information and communications technology, added Al Omar.

The year-on-year growth in foreign licences follows Saudi efforts to remove restrictions on international investments. Yet, fresh foreign direct investment in the country has been modest.

SAGIA is working with the World Bank to improve its ranking on the ease-of-doing-business index, where it currently ranks 92 among 190 countries.

“We are reviewing all licencing requirements, and you will see a 50 per cent drop overall from government departments in terms of the time, cost and number of requirements to invest in Saudi Arabia,” Al Omar said.

Source: bankerme