Saudi Arabia is opening up its stock market to foreign investors

Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The Kingdom Tower, operated by Kingdom Holding Co., centre, stands on the skyline above the King Fahd highway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Foreign investors are now able to participate in initial public offerings within Saudi Arabia and will be given access to a stock market aimed at small and medium-sized businesses.

Mohammed El Kuwaiz, chairman of the country’s Capital Market Authority (CMA), said Thursday that foreign investors can take part in company flotations when asked about the IPO of oil giant Saudi Aramco, according to Reuters.

Speaking at Riyadh’s Future Investment Summit on Thursday, the chairman also announced that non-resident foreign investors will be able to investor directly into the NOMU parallel market from January next year, according to the news agency.

The Kingdom aims to raise about $100 billion by taking a portion of its state oil giant public next year. The funds will underwrite an effort led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to diversify the nation’s economy through a plan called Vision 2030.

Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, has repeatedly said that there will be a dual-listing — one in Saudi Arabia and a second on in an international market. He has also said that this remains on track for 2018.