Saudi firms set to benefit from govt reimbursement initiative: report

A total of 350,000 private companies are expected to benefit from Saudi Arabia’s decision to reimburse eligible companies for 2017-18 incremental expat fees, Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper reported on Sunday, citing official sources at the Ministry of Labor and Social Development.

The number of those beneficiaries could change upon data updates.

According to the Minister of Labor, a total of SAR 11.5 billion was allocated for reimbursements under Saudi King’s decision, Argaam reported.

The reimbursement or waiving scheme will be limited to companies with an equal or higher number of Saudis versus expats – the companies that maintained a platinum, or all levels of green Saudization rating for 12 months.

Eligible companies will have incremental expat fees reimbursed or waived for 2018.

Companies in the red and yellow categories of the Nitaqat Saudization program can benefit from the government’s reimbursement initiative if they hire more locals within 12 months.