The digitization process initiated by Saudi Arabia has been boosted by the launch of a series of initiatives that seek to promote innovation and technological development. The National Technology Development Program has funds of approximately 568 million euros, to which must be added the 1,000 million euros that will go to training, improving the digital skills of up to 100,000 young Saudis.
The ambitious goals set are intended to place the country among the top five in Artificial Intelligence (AI), as pointed out by Arab News, and increase the value of the ICT sector to 23 billion euros in 2025. To achieve this, they want to train 25,000 specialists in data science and AI, as well as one programmer for every 100 inhabitants all with a deadline of 2030.
Those responsible for carrying out this project will be the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority, and the Saudi Federation of Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones. They will also have the support of large companies in the technology sector such as Amazon, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, or Microsoft with which different collaboration agreements have been signed.
The technology sector globally has shown its resilience during the recent crisis caused by the pandemic and its long-term potential seems beyond doubt. These good prospects join the efforts and initiatives of Saudi Arabia already mentioned. Thus, the IoT sector is expected to experience an annual market growth of close to 26%, a figure that rises to 30% if we refer to cloud services. In addition, it seems that the process in Saudi Arabia is beginning to bear fruit, as it has achieved a relevant milestone with the presentation of the first line of smart chips manufactured in the country, suitable for both civil and military uses.
Import Regulation in Saudi Arabia
During the last decade, technology has been finding its way into the country and companies from around the world are investing in building their infrastructure. IT infrastructure development has been boosted up to 30% since last year.
Import Duty and Tax in Saudi Arabia
Import VAT is 15% and import duties on IT equipment are not more than 5%. There is no major restriction on importing IT equipment. Saudi Arabia is a complex country for IT equipment imports. There are a series of import requirements that is mandatory to be filled before initiating the import process.
Import Compliance in Saudi Arabia
In KSA IT and telecom equipment are regulated by SABER and CITC, these are government authorities who regulate all IT-related imports. There are two major categories in which all high-tech IT and telecom equipment is categorized. Some are regulated while others are nonregulated. All regulated items are required to get SABER registration and sometimes they also require additional certification from other concerned authorities. For instance, all equipment that contains 4G or 5G functionality falls under CITC authorization. All such equipment should have a CITC certificate.
Import Solution for Saudi Arabia
For the past 5 years, some of the big companies have been benefiting from our Importer of record service in KSA. We have hands-on experience in importing almost every kind of IT and Telecom equipment in Saudi Arabia. We have a SABER expert team that can help you with SABER registrations and make trade compliance easier. We initiate the product registration before initiating the import process so that once the goods are at KSA airport they are released on the first attempt.
Looking for a reliable IOR Partner in Saudi Arabia? Contact our Importer of record expert now.