A practical guide for regional and international companies: how to assess the opportunity, choose your market presence, and turn the decision to enter into achievable business growth.
Entering the Saudi market does not necessarily mean being able to build a successful business there.
An international company may complete the process of establishing its entity in Saudi Arabia and begin building its team and operations before it has identified its target customers, understood how they buy, or developed a clear path to its first commercial contract.
This highlights one of the main challenges of expanding into new markets: the difference between establishing a legal and operational presence and building a company capable of generating revenue and growing.
Expansion involves more than choosing a market and meeting its legal entry requirements. It also involves commercial and strategic decisions: Where are the right opportunities for the company? How well does its product meet customer needs? Which entry model balances opportunities, costs, and risks? How can it reach customers and partners and turn opportunities into signed contracts?
These decisions cannot be treated separately, because the outcome of each directly affects the viability of the others.
This is where soft landing services become valuable: an integrated approach that helps companies assess market opportunities, choose suitable entry routes, adapt their business models, and build a commercial and operational presence that supports long-term growth.
Before exploring these services, however, it is important to understand what makes Saudi Arabia a strategic destination for expansion and which options international companies have for pursuing its opportunities.
Why Are International Companies Expanding into Saudi Arabia?
Saudi Arabia has become a major destination for regional and international companies seeking new opportunities to expand, driven by the country's economic transformation, growth in non-oil activities, and the private sector's increasing role in the economy.
Economic indicators reflect the scale of this transformation and the opportunities it offers regional and international companies. According to the General Authority for Statistics, real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 4.5% in 2025, while non-oil activities grew by 4.9%. GDP at current prices reached approximately SAR 4.79 trillion.
At the sector level, wholesale and retail trade, restaurants, and hotels accounted for 12.3% of GDP at current prices, manufacturing excluding oil refining accounted for 11.1%, and construction accounted for 8.0% in the same year.
Non-oil activities continued to grow in 2026, recording year-on-year growth of 0.9% in the second quarter, reflecting continued economic activity outside the oil sector.
For international companies, these indicators matter because they show the diversity of economic activity and the range of sectors in which business opportunities can be explored. Taking advantage of those opportunities, however, requires moving beyond broad economic indicators to analyze target sectors, understand customer needs, and assess actual demand and the ability to compete.
Economic growth identifies areas worth exploring. Commercial analysis determines whether those opportunities suit a particular company and whether it can turn them into sustainable business and revenue.
An economic opportunity does not necessarily mean that every company has a ready-made commercial opportunity.
Growth in real estate, for example, may create openings for property management, operations, and maintenance solutions, but it does not establish actual demand for a particular product. Similarly, growth in tourism and hospitality may offer opportunities for booking management and customer experience solutions. Turning those opportunities into business requires an understanding of target organizations' needs, existing systems, and operational and investment priorities.
The same applies to financial technology, insurance technology, artificial intelligence, and other sectors. Customers, buying cycles, regulatory requirements, and revenue models differ from one sector to another.
This illustrates the difference between assessing market attractiveness and assessing a commercial opportunity.
The former helps a company understand economic trends, promising sectors, the scale of activity, and competition. The latter examines questions more directly connected to expansion: Which customers can the company reach? What problem would lead them to buy the solution? What alternatives do they have? Is there a budget and a real ability to enter into a contract?
An opportunity assessment is incomplete without considering the company's own ability to compete and deliver the service. Demand may exist, yet customer acquisition costs or delivery requirements may make entry unviable under the current business model.
The real value of economic indicators, therefore, lies in helping companies identify sectors and customer segments worth investigating before committing resources to expansion, rather than simply justifying entry into Saudi Arabia.
From Assessing the Opportunity to Choosing an Entry Route
Making use of opportunities in the Saudi market begins with identifying the right commercial opportunity, understanding customer needs, and assessing the company's ability to compete and deliver.
Once that understanding is in place, the decision turns to how to reach the market. Should the company begin by testing demand and doing business from abroad? Work with a Saudi partner? Build a commercial and operational presence or establish an entity in Saudi Arabia?
The second article in this series explores these questions: “Expanding into Saudi Arabia: Market Entry Routes.”
Sources and References
[1] General Authority for Statistics — GDP Results for 2025.
