"The challenge is the bureaucracy and legislation for establishing ventures in Saudi Arabia. Registering a foreign company or a joint venture with an international company in Saudi Arabia is quite difficult. The process takes a very long time, it should take weeks, but instead it takes months. There is a big demand for industrial zones. MODON is working very hard to supply these areas, but still, the demand exceeds the supply," says Emad Al-Shamma, CEO of Al Khafrah Group Holding Co.

"The environment of industrial investments in Saudi Arabia is fantastic. There is the SIDF, SAGIA and MODON; so all the components are there, we just the coherent integration of these departments to allow for a continuous flow from A to Z in less than one to two months, which will be similar to Dubai and other places."