KSA This Week: Aramco takes 49% of HUMAIN, US licences jump to 530, new training-disclosure deadline
This week from the Kingdom, with the focus on deals and business growth: Aramco closed a deal to take 49% of the national AI company HUMAIN, with PIF keeping 51%; the HR Ministry set a 31 January deadline for firms with 50+ staff to disclose their training data on Qiwa; US investment licences jumped to around 530 this year; Riyadh launched its first public-private land investment project; MEED data shows contract awards running at $76 billion with Riyadh in the lead; a Parsons-led joint venture won the Riyadh Metro Red Line extension contract; the Cabinet approved a new 271-article Commercial Transactions Law; non-oil activity grew 1.9%; visitors drove services exports up 6.9% to SR251.7 billion; and 1,275 new foreign-investor companies registered in a single month. Here is what it means for employers and businesses in Saudi Arabia.
Investment & AI
|
SR9.9bn cash Aramco is putting into HUMAIN in 2026 for a 49% stake |
Two of the Kingdom's biggest names are now joint owners of its national AI company. On 1 November, PIF (the Public Investment Fund) and Aramco closed a deal in which Aramco takes a 49% stake in HUMAIN, while PIF keeps 51%. Aramco is transferring key AI assets and contributing about SR9.9 billion ($2.6 billion) in cash to HUMAIN during 2026.
Launched in May 2025, HUMAIN is building AI across data centres, cloud platforms, AI models such as the Arabic language model ALLaM, and industry solutions. It plans to deploy 3 gigawatts of AI data-centre capacity by 2030. Aramco says it expects to use HUMAIN's infrastructure to bring AI into its industrial operations. PIF says the deal supports its 2026-2030 strategy and will help build talent and local intellectual property in AI.
|
The TASC Take This puts serious money and Aramco's industrial demand behind Saudi AI. Expect more hiring for data-centre, cloud and AI engineering roles, and tighter competition for that talent. If you need these skills, plan early and consider flexible staffing to secure people before the market heats up further. |
Source: Aramco (joint PIF-Aramco announcement)
Labour & HR
|
50+ employees: the firm size that must disclose training data on Qiwa by 31 January 2027 |
Saudi Arabia wants a clearer picture of how companies train their people. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) has told private-sector establishments with 50 or more workers to disclose their training data through the Qiwa platform before 31 January 2027. Disclosure is mandatory for every covered establishment, whether or not it has run any training.
Firms that trained staff must report the number of trainees, the programmes run, the training hours and the associated costs. Those that trained no one must disclose that fact, which does not exempt them from their legal training obligations. The ministry says more than 53% of establishments disclosed their data in 2025, up from over 38% in 2024, feeding a national database that shapes training policy. The data also supports the decision requiring covered firms to train graduates and jobseekers equal to 2% of their workforce, and cooperative training that reached more than 120,000 students by the end of 2025.
|
The TASC Take Put this on your HR calendar now. If you employ 50 or more people, log in to Qiwa and file your training disclosure before 31 January, even if you ran no programmes. The same data feeds the rule to train graduates and jobseekers at 2% of your workforce, so use it to plan next year's training budget and your Saudi talent pipeline. |
Source: Saudi Gazette (MHRSD)
FDI
|
530 new investment licences issued to US companies in 2026 so far, up from 371 in 2025 |
More American companies are setting up in Saudi Arabia. Speaking to the US-Saudi Business Council on 26 October, Investment Minister Fahad Al-Saif said about 530 new investment licences had been issued to US companies so far in 2026, up from 371 in the whole of 2025.
The minister said the ministry is moving from promoting investment to making it work better, with clearer data and investment proposals for companies. In aerospace and defence, he wants to go beyond buying from US firms and build local manufacturing partnerships instead. Official data cited in the report shows US companies invested SR55.6 billion in the Kingdom through foreign direct investment between 2016 and 2024. Bilateral trade reached SR1.34 trillion ($357 billion) between 2015 and 2024, according to GASTAT.
|
The TASC Take Every new licence is a company that will need a local team, often fast. Foreign firms entering the Kingdom face Saudisation, Qiwa and payroll rules from day one. An employer of record (EOR) setup lets them hire compliantly while their own entity is being set up. |
Source: Arab News (Al-Eqtisadiah)
Investment & PPP
|
50 years term of Riyadh's first joint land investment project with the private sector |
Riyadh is bringing private investors into the way it develops city land. On 3 November, Riyadh Region Municipality, the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing and the National Center for Privatization & PPP (NCP) launched the expression-of-interest, prequalification and proposal phase for a joint land investment project in northern Riyadh. It is the municipality's first project under this model.
The private sector will design, build, operate and maintain all facilities on a 30,015-square-metre plot on Zaid bin Asim Street in the Al-Narjis district, under a 50-year agreement. Urban planning rules there allow mixed-use development, including residential, commercial, office and recreational space. The municipality says the aim is high-quality developments that meet growing demand and serve the community. Investors can request the project documents until 3 February 2027.
|
The TASC Take Privatisation and PPP deals like this create a long pipeline of work in construction, operations and facilities management. If you serve the built-environment sector, this is a signal to build the teams that will design, deliver and run these developments, and to line up flexible staffing for project peaks. |
Source: Saudi Press Agency (SPA)
Projects & Construction
|
$76bn Saudi contract awards so far in 2026, down from $102bn last year |
Saudi contract awards are slowing, but Riyadh is still where the work is. MEED's head of content and research, Edward James, told a Saudi projects webinar on 27 October that contract awards across the Kingdom reached $76 billion so far this year, down from $102 billion last year, Skift reported.
Giga-project awards fell for a third year to $10.6 billion, from a peak of $31.7 billion in 2023. MEED links that mainly to NEOM, including the postponement of The Line and Trojena. This year's giga-project awards went mostly to Qiddiya and Diriyah on Riyadh's edge. MEED expects the next wave to come from King Salman International Airport, Expo 2030 and the 2034 World Cup stadiums from 2027. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's hotel pipeline grew 13% to 387 projects, according to Lodging Econometrics.
|
The TASC Take Fewer, more focused projects mean contractors will compete harder for Riyadh work and for skilled staff. If you are in construction or engineering, keep a flexible workforce mix so you can scale up quickly when airport, Expo and stadium contracts start flowing from 2027. |
Source: Skift (MEED data)
Projects & Infrastructure
|
8.4 km Riyadh Metro Red Line extension, with 5 stations, from King Saud University to Diriyah |
Riyadh's metro keeps expanding. On 2 November, Parsons Corporation said its joint venture, Riyadh Metro Transit Consultants (RMTC), with Systra and Egis, won the contract to provide project and construction management for the Riyadh Metro Red Line extension, for the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC).
The 8.4-kilometre extension, 1.3 km elevated and 7.1 km underground, will add five stations and connect King Saud University to Diriyah. The work is expected to take about six years. The design-and-build was awarded earlier to a Webuild-led consortium. The extension adds to a network that has driven record public-transport use in the capital, and points to steady demand for engineering, project-management and construction talent as Riyadh builds toward Expo 2030 and the 2034 World Cup.
|
The TASC Take Big transport projects need engineers, project managers and skilled trades for years, not months. Contractors and consultants working on Riyadh's metro should plan their workforce for a multi-year build, and keep a flexible staffing mix so they can scale teams up and down across project phases. |
Source: TradeArabia
Ministry & Legal
|
271 articles in the new Commercial Transactions Law, which replaces three older laws |
Saudi Arabia has a new rulebook for everyday business dealings. The Cabinet, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, approved the Commercial Transactions Law on 27 October. The Ministry of Commerce says the 271-article law covers commercial activities, merchants, traders' obligations, accounting records, contracts and negotiable instruments such as cheques, promissory notes and bills of exchange.
It replaces three older laws, including the Commercial Law and the Commercial Books Law. For the first time, rules on commercial sales, supply contracts, commercial agency and brokerage sit in one law. Some categories of trader will not need to keep accounting records, and records can be kept electronically or on paper. Saudis aged 15 and over can trade with permission from a guardian or the court. The law takes effect 180 days after it is published in the official gazette, Umm Al-Qura.
|
The TASC Take If you sign supply, agency or brokerage contracts in the Kingdom, have your legal team review your templates against the new law before it takes effect. Clearer rules should mean fewer disputes, especially for SMEs. Watch for the Umm Al-Qura publication date, which starts the 180-day clock. |
Source: Arab News (Ministry of Commerce)
Economy
|
1.9% non-oil growth in Q3 2026, up from 0.8% in Q2 |
Saudi Arabia's non-oil economy is still growing, even as oil drags the headline number down. Flash estimates from GASTAT (the General Authority for Statistics), released on 1 November, show non-oil activities grew 1.9% year on year in the third quarter of 2026, up from 0.8% in the second quarter.
Overall real GDP fell 3.8% from a year earlier, after a 4.7% drop in the second quarter. Oil activities fell 20.4%, taking 4.7 percentage points off growth, as the regional conflict and disruption around the Strait of Hormuz continued to weigh on output. Government activities shrank 2.7%. Compared with the previous quarter, the economy grew 1.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis. Separately, the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI, a gauge of private-sector activity) rose to 55.3 in September from 53.8 in August.
|
The TASC Take For most private employers, the non-oil number is the one that matters, and it is moving the right way. Plan headcount around your own order book rather than the headline GDP figure. These are flash estimates and can be revised, so watch the final release. |
Source: Arab News (GASTAT flash estimates)
Tourism
|
SR159.9bn travel services exports in 2025, the largest category of Saudi services exports |
Visitors are now one of Saudi Arabia's biggest service exports. GASTAT figures reported on 29 October show the Kingdom's services exports rose 6.9% to SR251.7 billion ($67.1 billion) in 2025. Travel services, meaning what visitors spend in the Kingdom, made up the largest share at about SR159.9 billion, after 4.1% growth. Transport came second at SR35.4 billion.
The Ministry of Tourism says the Kingdom welcomed a record 123 million domestic and inbound tourists in 2025, up about 6%, while tourism spending rose 7% to SR304 billion. The national target is 150 million tourists a year by 2030. This year has been softer: services exports fell 4% to SR59.5 billion in the second quarter of 2026, as the regional conflict weighed on travel and trade.
|
The TASC Take Tourism is a long-term jobs engine, even in a softer 2026. Hotels, attractions and event operators should plan now for the hiring needed to reach 150 million visitors a year, keeping in mind that many tourism roles now carry Saudisation quotas. |
Source: Arab News (GASTAT)
Investment & Jobs
|
1,275 new foreign-investor companies registered in October 2026, with SR10.3bn in capital |
Foreign companies are setting up in Saudi Arabia at a record pace. The Federation of Saudi Chambers says 1,275 new establishments with foreign investors were registered in October 2026, with declared capital of SR10.3 billion and investors from 45 countries. That works out at more than 50 foreign company registrations a day.
Secretary-General Sultan Al-Musallam said 57% of the registrations were in manufacturing and construction (35% and 22% respectively), followed by information and communications technology at 10%, agriculture and wholesale and retail at 7% each, and transport at 4%. He said the challenge now is turning these registrations into working businesses that deploy their capital and hire. For context, Saudi FDI inflows rose 33.5% in 2025 to about SR159 billion, while the stock of foreign investment reached SR1.059 trillion.
|
The TASC Take Every one of these companies will need to hire and set up payroll under Saudisation and Qiwa rules, often before their own entity is fully running. That is a fast-growing pool of employers who need local teams quickly, which is exactly where contract staffing and EOR support make the difference. |
Source: Federation of Saudi Chambers (via entarabi)
TASC in Saudi Arabia
Saudization in 2026: key hiring rules for employers
Saudisation and training rules keep widening: firms with 50+ staff must disclose training data on Qiwa by 31 January, and the Nitaqat wage bar for Saudi employees is rising to SR5,000 and then SR6,000. Our guide sets out what changed this year, what it means for your Nitaqat band, and how to stay compliant while you hire.
TASC Outsourcing — People for Tomorrow. Contract staffing, permanent hiring, payroll and EOR across Saudi Arabia.
Contact us · tascoutsourcing.com
