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E-link between four ministries to grant investors visas within 24 hours

March 2, 2017

Riyadh, Mar 2: Four government ministries have agreed to link their systems electronically to facilitate issuing new visas to investors within 24 hours.

E-link

Al-Eqtisadiya newspaper quoted the Foreign Ministry’s head of media Osama Nugali as saying: “The agreement was reached to link the Ministry of Foreign Affairs electronically to the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Commerce and Investment, and the Ministry of Labor and Social Development by supplying the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s visa system with information and data needed to facilitate and speed up the process for issuing visas.”

He said the agreement also extends to the General Investment Authority to provide the Foreign Ministry with a list of approved establishments to facilitate their requests via the Kingdom’s missions abroad.

Nugali added that based on the agreement, the Kingdom’s missions have been approved to issue business visas to those wishing to come to the Kingdom to explore investment opportunities. He said applications do not need to be accepted from an authority in the Kingdom, and visas can be directly issued from embassies. Upon confirming the status of the application and approving it, visas will be issued within 24 hours from the time of receipt of the passport.

“These facilities also include commercial visits by individuals who hold commercial or business status, both men or women, and heads of foreign companies, regardless of titles. Representatives of companies coming on the basis of an invitation from a company in the Kingdom for a meeting with counterparts are also included,” he said.

The Kingdom’s embassies abroad have also been tasked with monitoring and evaluating the performance of visa service offices in host countries, and approving and ensuring these offices hand over the visa and passport on the same day, or within 24 hours from the time the application is made and documents are received.

Nugali said these developments are in line with Vision 2030 and based on the decision of Prince Mohammed bin Salman — deputy crown prince, second deputy prime minister, defense minister and chairman of the Committee for Economic and Development Affairs — to establish a committee to oversee process improvement in the private sector and incentivize participation in economic development.

The committee, chaired by the Ministry of Commerce and Investment, is responsible for facilitating the process of obtaining business visas through active participation of all concerned sectors and parties.

Al-Eqtisadiya reported in January that the Foreign Ministry adopted a mechanism to facilitate and speed up business and investment visa issuance procedures through electronic systems. This would allow foreign investors to visit the Kingdom and review investment opportunities more easily.

Under the new system, business visas have been classified into three groups: Business visit visas to a company operating in the Kingdom, business visas, and commercial delegation visit visas.

Application of the decision to issue commercial visas to businessmen and commercial delegations began on Jan. 1, 2017, Al-Eqtisadiya reported, while issuance of visas to visit commercial establishments in the Kingdom is set to begin in the coming days.

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Agencies
April 8,2020

Riyadh, Apr 8: Saudi Arabia's health minister has warned the number of COVID-19 cases in the country could reach 200,000 in coming weeks.

As of Tuesday, the kingdom registered a total of 2,795 coronavirus infections, including 41 deaths.

"Within the next few weeks, studies predict the number of infections will range from a minimum of 10,000 to a maximum of 200,000," health minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah was cited as saying by the official Saudi Press Agency on Tuesday.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia extended the duration of daily curfews in four governorates and five cities to 24 hours.

The kingdom imposed round-the-clock lockdowns in the capital Riyadh, Tabuk, Dammam, Dhahran and Hofuf, the interior ministry said on Twitter.

The same measures were also imposed on the governorates of Jeddah, Taif, Qatif and Khobar, the ministry added.

Authorities had already sealed off the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, barring people from entering and exiting as well as prohibiting movement between all provinces.

Last month, Saudi Arabia suspended the year-round "Umrah" pilgrimage over fears of the coronavirus pandemic spreading to Islam's holiest cities.

Authorities are yet to announce whether they will proceed with this year's Hajj, scheduled for the end of July. Last week, authorities urged Muslims to temporarily defer preparations for the annual pilgrimage.

Last year, about 2.5 million people travelled to Saudi Arabia to take part in the Hajj, which all Muslims must perform at least once in their lives if able.

The Arab world's biggest economy has also closed down cinemas, malls and restaurants and halted flights as it steps up efforts to contain the virus.

King Salman has warned of a "more difficult" fight ahead against the virus, as the kingdom faces the economic double blow of virus-led shutdowns and crashing oil prices

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News Network
May 25,2020

May 25: A total of 241 Indians including 136 people who were jailed in Kuwait would return to the country soon, a senior minister said on Sunday.

The other 105 people were stranded in Bangladesh, Law Minister Ratan Lal Nath said.

"Altogether 136 people from Tripura and Assam, who are at present in jail in Kuwait for violating that country's laws, would be deported. They will reach Guwahati between May 27 and June 4 in a special flight," Nath told reporters.

He said the matter has been officially informed by the Kuwaiti government, but the reason for their imprisonment is not known.

"We had requested the Kuwaiti authorities to drop the Tripura residents here. However, they informed us that the flight would land in a single airport," the minister added.

Nath said 105 residents of Tripura, who are stranded in different places of Bangladesh will return to the state through the Agartala-Akhaura integrated check post on May 28.

"They would be taken to institutional quarantine and swabs of all the passengers would be collected for COVID-19 test," Nath said.

If the report of their samples tests negative, they would be allowed to leave the facility and remain under 14 days of home quarantine. And those who test positive would be hospitalized, he said.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Makkah, Jul 31: Organising this year's scaled-down hajj required "double efforts" by Saudi authorities amid the coronavirus pandemic, King Salman said Friday after being discharged from hospital following gall bladder surgery.

Only up to 10,000 people already residing in the kingdom are participating in this year's pilgrimage, compared with 2019's gathering of some 2.5 million from around the world.

"Holding the ritual in the shadow of this pandemic... required reducing the numbers of pilgrims, but it obliged various official agencies to put in double efforts," 84-year-old King Salman said in a speech read out on state television by acting media minister Majid Al-Qasabi.

"The hajj this year was restricted to a very limited number of people from multiple nationalities, ensuring the ritual was completed despite the difficult circumstances," he said.

The speech came on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim festival of sacrifice, a day after the king left hospital following a 10-day stay for surgery to remove his gall bladder.

The hajj, which began on Wednesday, is one of the five pillars of Islam and a must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime.

Authorities implemented the "highest health precautions" during the rituals, the king said.

Pilgrims, who were all tested for the virus, are required to wear masks and observe social distancing.

For Friday's "stoning of the devil", the last major ritual of the hajj, Saudi authorities offered the pilgrims pebbles that were sanitised to protect against the pandemic.

In a sign that its strict measures were working, the health ministry reported no coronavirus cases in the holy sites on Wednesday or Thursday.

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