July 2026 Recap: FDI Hits Global Milestone as Investment and Licensing Activity Accelerate

This month's highlights include Saudi's FDI milestone, accelerating commercial activity, and major construction and investment updates.

Rising foreign participation in M&A activity, accelerating business registrations in the first half of 2026, and expanding trade ties with key markets such as Canada defined Saudi’s business landscape in July.

From a sharp rise in FDI inflows and mega-scale project awards, the month reinforced the Kingdom's growing pull on international capital and its deepening domestic business activity.

Here's a roundup of the most important developments across the Kingdom's high-priority sectors.

General Economy & Business

• Saudi Issues and Renews More Than 274,000 Commercial Licenses in First Half of 2026
• Saudi Arabia Climbs to 13th Globally for FDI Inflows in 2025 With $33 Billion
• Saudi-Canada Trade Nears $18 Billion Over Five Years
• Saudi Arabia and France Deepen Economic Ties Through Private Sector Cooperation
• US Companies Lead Foreign Merger Applications in Saudi Arabia

Big Picture: The volume of activity across licensing, registrations, and international trade points to a business environment that is both scaling up domestically and pulling in more foreign participants. The expanding base of nearly 1.91 million active commercial records and the rising share of foreign M&A applications suggest a market where international entrants are increasingly becoming the norm, not the exception.

Real Estate

• Real Estate and Construction SMEs Surpass 370,000
• Real Estate Registry Opens Registration for 1,491 Properties Across Three Regions
• Al-Hogail Launches SR1.67 Billion in Municipal and Housing Projects in Al-Baha

Big Picture: The real estate sector continues to mature on both the supply and regulatory sides. The phased rollout of a unified property registration system is bringing greater transparency to ownership records, a prerequisite for institutional investment at scale. Companies in adjacent sectors should watch the pace of secondary-city development, with Al-Baha's SR1.67 billion in new projects signaling that infrastructure investment is reaching beyond the traditional Riyadh-Jeddah corridor.

Infrastructure & Transportation

• Saudi Contractors Authority Says Projects Awarded in June 2026 Exceed $8 Billion
• King Salman International Airport to Tender Two Major Infrastructure Contracts
• Saudi Contractor Registrations Reach 117,000 Amid Construction Boom

Big Picture: June's SR29.5 billion in project awards is the highest monthly figure of 2026 so far, with building and construction accounting for 56% of the total. The upcoming King Salman International Airport tenders add further weight to an already crowded infrastructure calendar. For companies establishing a business in Saudi Arabia, these award trends provide a clear signal of where demand is accelerating and where localized capabilities are likely to create the strongest competitive advantage.

Financial Services & Capital Markets

• International Investors Deploy $5.3 Billion Into Saudi Arabia's Private Markets in 2025
• PIF Secures Up to $2 Billion From I Squared Capital for Real Estate and Infrastructure

Big Picture: With international capital now accounting for roughly 60% of total private investment activity, the Kingdom is building the institutional investor base needed to support long-term market liquidity. The growing presence of venture capital, private equity, and private debt investors translates into a broader range of funding options and access to increasingly sophisticated financial partners.