Kuwait Investment Authority's decision to participate in the deal or not will depend on a "study" of the IPO
DUBAI- Saudi Aramco met investors in Dubai on Sunday to market its initial public offering (IPO), after trying to secure demand from Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund for the deal, worth up to $25.6 billion, which relies heavily on local and regional buyers.
Top executives of the Saudi state-owned oil giant, including Aramco's Chief Executive Amin Nasser, met officials of Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund weeks ago, a source familiar with the matter said, confirming an earlier report on Sunday in the Kuwaiti newspaper Alrai.
Meanwhile, Aramco's management including its finance head and advisers met with institutional investors at an IPO roadshow in Dubai on Sunday, the second outside Riyadh after the company decided to cancel all roadshows in developed markets.
The Kuwaiti newspaper said the Kuwait Investment Authority's (KIA) decision on whether to participate in the deal would depend on a "study" of the IPO.
Aramco said in an email it did not comment on specific investor meetings.
The KIA did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. In late October, the KIA's managing director Farouk Bastaki said Aramco had not approached the fund then, but that the KIA would look at the IPO like any other investment.
Talks have taken place with sovereign investors including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Singapore's GIC and other funds, sources have told Reuters.
DUBAI ROADSHOW
Aramco has struggled to attract a major cornerstone or anchor investor for its IPO, which could be potentially the world's biggest.
An executive at a London-based fund, who attended the roadshow in Dubai, told Reuters he was interested in the IPO, but declined to provide more details.
Some investors asked Aramco about the sustainability of its dividend policy.
Aramco has set a base dividend of $75 billion for five years.
A second executive at an investment firm said Aramco did not say whether that base level might grow.
The meeting was led by Aramco's senior vice president of finance, strategy and development, Khaled al-Dabbagh, and Yasser Mufti, the company's vice president of strategy and market analysis, sources said.
"The only thing left for comfort is the Saudi government, it’s fiscal policy and ability to sustain the dividends," said a fund manager. "If you’re OK with that, you’ll invest."
Over 20 people, wearing suits, walked into the presentation area at a luxury hotel in Dubai's financial district, but hotel security restricted entry for reporters.
Another roadshow is planned in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
"Looks like there's a lot of interest both from retail investors and institutions." K. V. Vijay Raghavan, group finance director at Dubai-based investment firm Arenco told Reuters after attending the roadshow.
"I wish it was more like $1.4 trillion to $1.5 trillion, but this is what it is," he said, referring to the company's aim to achieve a valuation of $1.6-$1.7 trillion.
However, he also said that looking at the investor interest, the IPO could hit the top end of the valuation range.
Aramco plans to sell 1.5% of the company. The deal is the centrepiece of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plans to diversify the Saudi economy away from its reliance on oil.
Saudi Arabia's central bank governor told Reuters on Sunday in Riyadh that it was monitoring banking indicators on a daily basis and was not seeing any impact on liquidity from the IPO.
source: zawyazawya
Last Thursday, I was invited by the Saudi National Competitiveness Center (NCC) to the launch of the World Bank report on “Ease of Doing Business” in Saudi Arabia with the participation of senior government officials, leading businessmen and women, diplomats and the media.
I was impressed by the quality of presentation and content.
The Commerce and Investment Ministry, headed by Majid Al-Qasabi, is behind these achievements in cooperation and coordination with other ministries.
It was also a pleasant surprise to listen to the CEO of the NCC, Iman bint Habas Al-Mutairi, who took us through the main drivers behind the enhancement of the business environment in the country.
Saudi Arabia had launched several reforms in eight areas monitored by the World Bank — more than any other country. The report, based on interviews with 50,000 global private-sector executives, found the Kingdom had made the greatest progress in the area of business start-ups.
In terms of indicators, the Kingdom has separate rankings. For instance, in terms of starting a business, the Kingdom ranked 38th.
It was 28th for receiving permits, 18th for access to electricity, 19th for registering property, and third for protecting minority investors. It fared less well for trading across borders (86th), enforcing contracts (51st), paying taxes (57th) and resolving insolvency (168th).
The outcome of this report is in the mainstream of the Saudi Vision 2030 mission, aiming to rely less on oil-based revenues while implementing the aforementioned reforms to maximize revenues from non-oil channels and economic drivers. As for the next level of reforms, in my opinion, we should further enhance transparency, fair competition and good governance.
Sharing my own observations from the initial feedback on this report, there is a certain degree of confusion in the local private sector, which is still experiencing difficulties and challenges in running or setting up new businesses.
Hence, I do suggest that NCC exert more efforts to make the local sector fully aware of these enhancements and how to benefit from them in an efficient and speedy fashion.
The launch of this report is timely with just a week until the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference, with high-level governmental delegations from the US, Switzerland and India planning to participate.
It should provide a vote of confidence in foreign direct investments in different sectors in the country.
The outcome of this report is something we are all proud of and we should capitalize on when inviting global partners to benefit from the investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia.
source: zawya
Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), which is responsible for increasing investments and supporting businesses in the kingdom, has issued 558 licenses in the first half of 2019.
“SAGIA has already issued 558 licenses in the first half of 2019, that's a 85 percent increase compared to the same period last year,” an official tweet from the investment authority confirmed.
New licenses approved for foreign businesses in Saudi Arabia jumped by 70 percent in the first quarter compared to the same time last year, mainly due to an increase in applications for business licenses from Britain and China which went up by 86 percent and 71 percent respectively.
Saudi Arabia is looking at foreign investment to reduce its dependence on the oil. Though Foreign Direct Investment numbers of the kingdom are not available, the growth in foreign licenses reflects its efforts to remove restrictions on foreign investments.
Saudi Arabia improved its ranking in the World Bank's latest Doing Business report, climbing 30 places to 62nd, driven mostly by reforms aimed at building more economic diversification.
According to the World Bank, Saudi Arabia's reforms included establishing a one-stop shop for business registration, introducing a secured transactions law and an insolvency law, improving protections for minority investors, and measures to bring more women into the workforce.
source: zawya
(العربية)
A recently published report from MAGNIT and Startups 500 provides an overview of the business environment for startups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) across a range of themes, including statistical studies aimed at identifying challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurs in the region.
The data were collected through a survey of more than 100 founders of companies based in the Middle East and North Africa, funded by the Startups 500 regional fund.
First: Demographic data
Most of the founders are in their early 30s
Demographic data show that 54% of startups surveyed were established over the past three years and only 9% were established before 2014, showing the growing growth of startups in the MENA region over the past few years. The report also showed that the percentage of companies established by two persons reached 51% compared to 20% for companies established by one person.
On the other hand, the majority of startups employ between 1-10 permanent employees, while the percentage of companies employing 50 employees and more was only 7%. The reason for the relative small number of employees is that most startups are based on service activities and use high technical tools, consequently they do not need a large number of employees.
Second: Fundraising
An investor’s network is the #1 priority for fundraising startups
This topic presents a series of questions that the founders were asked about their recent financing rounds, in terms of how long it took and the number of companies that have offered them financing in their recent rounds. The survey results indicate that more than 60% of startups did not continue their rounds for more than 6 Months during which 29% of companies received between 6 to 10 financing offers.
The authors of this report also raise important questions about the criteria associated with the search for the right investor and the difficulties they face in searching for funds, for example, the owners of the start-ups answered a question concerning the most important criteria to be taken into account when searching for the main investor for their startups, an important question to all financing seekers. The responders sorted the most important criteria in the following order: 1. Network Relations 2- Deal Conditions 3- Long Term Financing.
Third: Investment dynamics
Most startups will look for regional & intl. investors for future rounds
The report provides ample answers to start-up entrepreneurs' vision of their business prospects and their expectations for future gains, with 59% saying they are confident that their companies will be worth $ 100 million in the future, and 46% expect that they will be able to get out of their company within 3 to 5 years. This is a positive outlook, which gives an indication of the value of the estimated profits that people, who are going to start their own companies and investors in the startups sector, can get.
Fourth: recruiting talents
Hiring good people is among the top concerns of MENA founders
This report responds to questions about the difficulties experienced by entrepreneurs in the process of seeking the necessary competencies to employ in their startups. While financial and language barriers have not been a major obstacle for entrepreneurs, despite the difficulties facing entrepreneurs in finding the required talents, they are looking to recruit, on average, about 16 new employees next year.
Fifth: Operations
Large majority of startups focus on growth over profitability
In this regard, the report discusses the operational plans that the founders intend to implement in the future. In this regard, 81% of respondents said they are more interested in growth than making profits. 13% of them indicated that they had started to make profits.
Sixth: 500 Startups, Who are their portfolio startups?
Most startups are based in Dubai, followed by Cairo and Riyadh
The report presents a series of information related to the nature of the sectors in which the startups are working and the amount of funds raised and other important information. As for the question about the headquarters, Dubai and Cairo ranked first and second with 27% and 23% respectively. Riyadh came in third place with 11%. The most important sectors that the startup companies focus on are all belonging to the services sector led by electronic commerce, consumer services and financial technological solutions.
Saudi Arabia is a land of immense opportunities in many spheres, and this is also true when it comes to entrepreneurship.
According to the 2019 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report, around 76.3% of the adult population in Saudi Arabia has perceived good opportunities to start a business– with the percentage ranking second highest out of 49 countries analyzed.
The ambitious yet achievable long-term blueprint of the Saudi Vision 2030 is based on three key pillars: a vibrant society, a thriving economy, and an ambitious nation.
The second pillar in particular –a thriving economy, coupled with rewarding opportunities– aims to stimulate the economy and diversify revenues, which also underscores SMEs as “important agents of economic growth that create jobs, support innovation, and boost exports.” In fact, the Saudi Vision 2030 pledges to raise the contribution of SMEs to Saudi Arabia’s GDP from 20% to 35% by 2030.
It takes an ecosystem
Capitalizing on such a tremendous opportunity and realizing the aforementioned Saudi Vision 2030 mandates demands invigorating a robust entrepreneurship ecosystem.
For this to happen, there needs to be enabling policies, appropriate funding vehicles, a stimulating culture, a range of support mechanisms (including infrastructure and accelerators), a pool of human capital with entrepreneurial drive, and venture-friendly markets.
Such an ecosystem encompasses an array of stakeholder groups that include universities, corporations, risk capitals, and entrepreneurs.
The stakeholders’ chief role is to cultivate the aforementioned ecosystem requirements in order that enable the creation and growth of startups and SMEs.
As part of Saudi Vision 2030, the government is forging the necessary commitments to further fuel entrepreneurship and the SME sector.
Translating such commitments into action has put entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia on steroids, as it has been supercharged and fuel-injected by a range of attractive initiatives and hug funding boosts.
The Saudi government has injected SAR72 billion (US$19.2 billion) stimulus package to boost the private sector, an enormous part of which was allocated to different programs and initiatives supporting the SME sector, such as government fees reimbursement, a government VC Fund, indirect financing to SMEs, and export financing. Furthermore, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) created an investment fund, with a capital of SAR4 billion ($1.1 billion) that will attract private sector participation through investments in venture capital and private equity funds.
The government has also launched the Meras program, which provides all the government and private sector services an entrepreneur needs to set up a business in one day.
In addition, the government established The General Authority for SMEs, otherwise known as Monsha’at, with a number of pledges that include removing obstacles, facilitating access to funding, supporting SMEs in marketing and exporting products and services, and enabling national entities to collaborate with relevant stakeholders. All of these reflect the Saudi government’s considered efforts to make positive changes across the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Inspired by Saudi Vision 2030, a multitude of entities, from the private, public and third sectors, have forged ahead to design and implement a spate of initiatives and programs to accelerate the growth of Saudi Arabia’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Human capital is strategic to the growth of the local entrepreneurship ecosystem To nurture the necessary talent needed in Saudi Arabia, the MiSK Foundation has been playing a pivotal role.
A very recent example is the MiSK Innovation 500 Startups program, which brought Silicon Valley growth techniques to support MENA-based companies to scale up and fundraise. Also, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Communications and IT, as well as Saudi Telecom Company, MiSK Innovation attracted more than one million people to participate in Saudi Codes, an educational initiative which teachesbasic coding skills. In addition, a multitude of sectorfocused hackathons attracted thousands of developers.
One stand-out example was the Hajj Hackathon organized by the Saudi Federation of Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones, which broke the Guinness World Record for the most participants with around 3000 developers from 100 countries.
Funding SMEs and initiatives is another crucial component for the development of the entrepreneurship ecosystem The Ministry of Communications and IT has recently signed a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Labor and Social Development to allocate up to SAR1 billion fund to support initiatives across the tech sector, including tech startups.
The fund will be targeting investors, entrepreneurs, government entities, accelerators, and tech developers in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Venture Capital Company (SVC), which was recently launched, has made a financial commitment as a limited partner in more than 10 VC funds.
SVC is a government VC company that was established as part of the Private Sector Stimulus Plan (PSSP) to minimize the existing equity funding gap for startups. It has also co-invested in about 14 startups through a matching program.
To further advance this vital sector, the Saudi Association of Venture Capital and Private Equity was established to promote the industry’s contribution to the growing Saudi economy, helping to determine and improve best-in-class regulatory policies, as well as raising awareness and fostering collaborations between industry professionals.
The Saudi entrepreneurship ecosystem is nimble to adapt to emerging trends The Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) established the Financial Technology Experimental Permit (FinTech ExPermit) granting permission for equity crowdfunding platforms to operate.
In addition, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) designed a sandbox regulatory environment, and granted a number of banks and companies experimental licenses to provide various services in the field of digital payments.
It also launched Fintech Saudi, which brings together key stakeholders to foster a culture of innovation in the financial sector in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, a bundle of support companies has sprouted up out of TAQNIA, a subsidiary owned by PIF, with the mission to create value from technology.
A few examples of such companies include Business Incubators and Accelerators Company (BIAC), Riyad TAQNIA Fund, and Research Products Development (RDP), a center for technology development and commercialization.
Diversity and inclusion augment developing local entrepreneurship ecosystems The Saudi General Investment Authority (SAGIA) has been playing an integral role in making local entrepreneurship more inclusive to the global entrepreneurship scene, as well as to the international business community wanting to access the diverse and lucrative Saudi market.
Since 2017, the authority has been granting international entrepreneurs an innovation license to pilot the expansion of their startups in Saudi using partner Saudi universities and business incubators. In addition, SAGIA has recently launched VENTURE, an initiative aimed at attracting global venture capital firms to the kingdom.
During the recent Financial Sector Conference, held in Riyadh earlier this year, 20 venture capital firms signed agreements as part of the initiative.
NGOs are an essential building block of the Saudi entrepreneurship ecosystem A prime example of this is Saudi Endeavor, which has been supporting a number of high-impact, high-growth local entrepreneurs in scaling up their companies, creating thousands of jobs and increasing their annual revenue by an average of 16%.
Measuring impact
With such a proliferation of initiatives, a couple of inextricably linked recommendations come to mind. First, key stakeholders should build a repository of the ongoing initiatives’ outcomes in order to keep track of and gauge the impact on the local entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Secondly, these initiatives have a cost burden which necessitates having shared ecosystem metrics to measure the returns that entrepreneurship generates locally.
One overall ecosystem metric is the National Entrepreneurship Context Index (NECI) that was introduced by the Global Entrepreneurship monitor this year.
NECI, which assesses the environment for entrepreneurship in an economy, is based on 12 framework conditions such as internal market dynamics, entrepreneurial finance, government policies, and entrepreneurial education, evaluated by local experts. Other ecosystem metrics could also be developed based on the indicators proposed by the Kauffman Foundation, such as density, fluidity, connectivity and diversity. Each of these indicators measures an entrepreneurship ecosystem in specific ways.
Ultimately, the local entrepreneurship ecosystem could leverage a rich pool of lessons learned to accelerate its evolution. It could thus further improve its conditions to increase the chances of success for entrepreneurs and SMEs. A word of caution though: published indices and rankings should not be perceived as the “guardrails” of entrepreneurship ecosystem development.
Rather, policy makers and other stakeholders should keep their fingers on the pulse of the ecosystem to assess the validity and contribution of their initiatives, and iterate accordingly.
The aforementioned efforts have gained lots of impetus at a national level, showing a fertile ground for a variety of entrepreneurship ecosystem stakeholders.
However, the real yardstick that will reveal how the entrepreneurship ecosystem is developing is embedded in the regions.
Hence, efforts at a national level should be also cascaded down to a regional level in order to harness the wide spectrum of comparative advantages that Saudi regions enjoy.
The Saudi Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Lab, or SEE LAB, was developed for this purpose. It is an integrated platform with the mission of contributing to the growth of every Saudi region’s entrepreneurship ecosystem through three key levers: enabling the interaction between the ecosystem stakeholders, engaging the entrepreneurial community in generating and implementing relevant initiatives, and educating the stakeholders about trends and issues in the respective region’s ecosystem for potential improvements. The initiative was piloted in 2018 and started to take root in the Almadinah and Ha’il regions.
To further reinforce the development of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the regions, I have led the efforts to set up an arrangement with MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program.
This arrangement is structured around having different regions from Saudi Arabia engage in the program to design and implement specific interventions that will enhance the participating regions’ respective entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The Makkah and Madinah regions have already participated in previous cohorts of the program focusing on the comparative advantage of Hajj and Umrah, and Ha’il region will take part in the upcoming cohort starting later this year.
A boulevard of fulfilled dreams
It takes an ecosystem to get a fledgling startup off the ground. It is equally important to have an ecosystem to help SMEs grow and create the desired impact on the social and economic levels.
It is becoming more evident that Saudi Vision 2030 has fueled the efforts of many players in the Saudi entrepreneurial ecosystem– indicating the emergence of a healthy, stimulating ecosystem platform.
Aligned with Saudi Vision 2030’s entrepreneurship related objectives, fostering an entrepreneurship ecosystem has become imperative to enable the alignment of these stakeholders’ efforts towards a collective impact at both regional and national levels.
Such stakeholders must dovetail their efforts to nurture such entrepreneurial ecosystems, and thereby create a boulevard of fulfilled dreams.
source: entrepreneur
Saudi Arabia plans to introduce Hajj Smart ID instead of passports in 2020 in a move to ease the pilgrimage for millions of Muslims in Makkah, Al Arabiya reported.
The new ID will contain the pilgrim’s information and documentation instead of carrying official documents including passports.
The card, which stores each pilgrim’s health information, was used by 150 pilgrims during Hajj in 2019, and it was powered by a battery that runs for up to two years.
Moreover, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah also developed a smartphone app for smart ID services.
source: mubasher
Saudi Arabia’s capital market regulator on Tuesday approved two companies to test using robo-advisory services, or computer-generated advice for investors, as part of moves by
the Arab world’s biggest economy to encourage the use of financial technology. The approvals for Wahed Capital and Haseed Investing Co.
come after the Saudi central bank launched an initiative last year to encourage banks to settle payments using blockchain software.
Financial centers in the Gulf region including Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Bahrain are also looking to cultivate a financial startup
scene to position themselves as regional powerhouses in financial technology, or fintech.
The Saudi Capital Market Authority will allow clients to get advice on securities or investment schemes through automated online platforms
operated separately by the two companies.
The companies will also be able to offer automated online discretionary investment management under what the regulator called a “financial technology experiment permit.”
source: arabnews
Cities do not have to expand higher and lower, they can grow in the use of time.
Expanding night time creates jobs and supports social inclusion
The Evening Economy (EE) is increasingly capturing the attention of researchers, policymakers, private business, public agencies, the media and the wider community.
The UK’s EE alone supports 1.3 million jobs and creates $100 billion per year in revenue. The EE accounts for 10-16 percent of town center jobs in Sydney. New York’s EE supports around 300,000 employees.
Last week, the Saudi Council of Ministers endorsed the regulation to grant the private sector the right to extend business hours to 24 hours.
This will have a positive impact on the economy by increasing employment opportunities, consumption and disposable income, and allowing new small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially restaurants and retail operators, to participate in evening hours.
Due to the recent deregulation of business hours, there will be 45,000 direct jobs created in the restaurant and retail sectors, and 20,000 indirect jobs created, over the short to medium term.
An estimated 30,000 part-time jobs could be established.
Female and youth employment could also be encouraged over time. Female unemployment is still high at
31.7 percent but is down from the fourth quarter of 2018.
SMEs could see an uptick in business activity by 6-8 percent, and an increase of 5-6 percent in terms of new establishments.
Restaurants could see an increase in 7-9 percent of their annual business turnover, which could translate to SR68 billion ($18 billion).
Total non-oil gross domestic product (GDP) would amount to an increase of 0.4-0.5 percent of additional value added over the next three years. In terms of gross value added, it translates to SR90-100 billion per annum.
The impact on tourism GDP would amount to an increase of 2.4 percent. The entertainment sector could see an increase of 4 percentage points in value-added terms.
Deregulated business hours is the direction that most developed economies worldwide are taking.
The effects of deregulating business hours are unequivocally positive on the overall economy.
Deregulation will have a negligible effect on inflation on average prices throughout the economy, even as more recently the food and beverage sector has seen prices rise by 1.1 percent.
International agricultural prices have been rising in conjunction with an uptick in some local food items.
Throughout history, towns and cities have had some manifestation of an economy that operates in the evening and at night.
In ancient Greece (and probably before), people traded objects and services beyond the end of the commonly understood working day.
In Asia, night markets selling domestic goods, medicines and food have existed for thousands of years.
But in the 21st-century leisure or post-industrial age, the transactional nature of the evening and night has appeared to grow in importance to the functioning of towns and cities.
So while not having the same weight of economic contribution as daytime activity, what happens “after dark” has greater strategic interest than ever before.
This makes the importance of measuring the location, makeup and economic significance of the EE relevant to a range of policymakers and planners.
This is particularly true in Western and Western-influenced nations, where regenerated post-industrial areas have developed a strong focus on leisure consumption linked to the rise of complimentary changes such as the increase in city-center living, agglomeration of industries attracting mobile young professionals in the new economies and the rise of urban tourism.
The many potential benefits of a vibrant EE have been underemphasized.
There have been no studies of the wellbeing and mental health benefits that may come from enjoying a city’s EE provision.
With Vision 2030 targets to raise female participation rates, working hours in the retail sector gain extra significance. Youth unemployment and part-time employment would also be supported over time.
Businesses are expected to extend their working day by an average of three hours.
This should give people more opportunities to shop in the evening.
Unlike other countries, Saudi Arabia’s peak hours tend to center around the late evening window (around 9 p.m.) for climate and social reasons.
According to the UN, by 2050 more than 80 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas.
This can be seen as a challenge or an opportunity. To feed and house people, cities will have to create more on the same land.
Cities do not have to expand higher and lower, they can grow in the use of time. Expanding night time creates jobs and supports social inclusion.
Source: zawya
The main difference between traditional trade activity and e-commerce in the market. The market in essence is the space that provides information about the goods or services available by the producers.
Here lies the difference and importance of e-commerce at the same time. The consumer does not need the physical presence of the spatial space in which information is available about the item or service he wishes to purchase.
The "cash for product or service" deal between the product and the consumer can also be done via digital tools. This e-commerce feature provides the hassle of moving to the market, which may be in another country, and provides the ability to identify products that are much broader than those offered by the market Traditional Which is limited to limited geography while the electronic market is a global market without limits, but one of the most prominent obstacles to the electronic market appear in the reliability, in the sense that is the guarantor of the consumer that the product or service that will pay for it will be identical to what is displayed on the electronic platform, The case for the product provider, which wishes to receive the amounts due for its producer from the problem of reliability, which still hinder the expansion of e-commerce in the Arab region.
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Commerce and Investment has issued a new law regulating the electronic commerce process to enhance the reliability of electronic commerce in order to increase its contribution to the national economy to achieve the objectives of the vision of the Kingdom in 2030, according to the ministry's statement.
As for article 26 of the new law, the service provider is required to use the means necessary to protect the consumer data and not to keep it. And the responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of personal data declared by the consumer and to prevent any process of disclosure to any other entity without the consent of the consumer, as regards data on the service provider, Article VI requires the service provider to disclose the procedures B on the buyer to take to the conclusion of the contract and data relating to the service provider, the basic characteristics of the products or services, in addition to the total price, which includes all additions of fees or taxes and arrangements for payment, delivery and implementation.
The law also guarantees the right of the consumer to cancel the purchase of the "contract termination" within seven days from the date of contracting or receipt of the service, if not benefited from it, and to ensure the refund of payments in case the service provider delayed delivery of the goods / service for more than 15 days.
The details of the new law’s articles mentioned above and other articles indicate the possibility of expanding e-commerce exchanges in the Saudi market , while providing more reliability and transparency in electronic activity, which are essential requirements in the market ranked among the top ten countries in terms of growth of the e-commerce sector, The growth rate of e-commerce in the Kingdom to more than 32%, with a total volume of trade amounting to 80 billion Saudi riyals (about 21 billion dollars) in 2018.
يكمن الاختلاف الرئيسي بين نشاط التجارة التقليدية والتجارة الإلكترونية في السوق، والسوق بجوهره هو الحيز الذي يوفر المعلومات حول السلع او الخدمات المتوفرة من قبل المنتجين، وهنا بالذات يكمن اختلاف واهمية التجارة الإلكترونية في آن، فالمستهلك ليس بحاجة للحضور الفيزيائي للحيز المكاني الذي تتوفر فيه المعلومات حول السلعة او الخدمة التي يرغب في شرائها، كما ان عملية انجاز الصفقة (النقد مقابل السلعة او الخدمة) بين المنتج والمستهلك هي الاخرى يمكن ان تتم عبر أدوات رقمية، هذه الميزة للتجارة الإلكترونية توفر عناء الانتقال الى السوق، الذي قد يكون في بلد اخر، كما توفر إمكانية التعرف على منتجات أوسع بكثير من تلك التي يوفرها السوق التقليدي الذي ينحصر بجغرافية محدودة، بينما السوق الإلكترونية هي سوق عالمية بلا حدود، إلا ان احدى ابرز معوقات السوق الإلكترونية تظهر في الموثوقية، بمعنى ما هو الضامن للمستهلك ان السلعة او الخدمة التي سوف يدفع ثمنها سوف تكون مطابقة لما هو معروض على منصة البيع الإلكترونية، كذلك الحال لمقدم المنتج، الذي يرغب من جهته بتلقي المبالغ المستحقة مقابل منتجه. انطلاقا من مشكلة الموثوقية التي مازالت الى الان تحد من عملية توسع التجارة الإلكترونية في المنطقة العربية، أصدرت وزارة التجارة والاستثمار السعودية قانوناً جديداً ينظم عملية التجارة الإلكترونية الذي اتى ليعزز موثوقية التجارة الالكترونية بهدف زيادة مساهمتها في الاقتصاد الوطني لتحقيق اهداف رؤية المملكة لعام 2030، وذلك حسب بيان الوزارة.
اما عن اهم ما جاء في المواد الـ 26 المنظمة للتجارة الإلكترونية، فكانت تتمحور بمجملها حول الشفافية والافصاح في النشاط الإلكتروني وحماية البيانات الشخصية للمستهلك، حيث جاء في المادة الخامسة من القانون الجديد إلزام موفر الخدمة (مقدم الخدمة) استخدام الوسائل اللازمة لحماية بيانات المستهلك وعدم الاحتفاظ بها، وتحميله مسؤولية الحفاظ على سرية البيانات الشخصية المصرح عنها من قبل المستهلك ومنع أي عملية افصاح عنها لأي جهة أخرى دون موافقة المستهلك، اما بخصوص البيانات المتعلقة بموفر الخدمة فتلزم المادة السادسة موفر الخدمة على الإفصاح عن الإجراءات الواجب على المشتري اتخاذها لابرام العقد والبيانات المتعلقة بموفر الخدمة، والخصائص الأساسية للمنتجات او الخدمات، بالإضافة الى اجمالي السعر التي تشمل جميع الإضافات من رسوم او ضرائب وترتيبات الدفع والتسليم والتنفيذ.
كما يضمن القانون حق المستهلك في إلغاء عملية الشراء (فسخ العقد) خلال سبعة أيام من تاريخ التعاقد او تسلم الخدمة، في حال لم يستفد منها، وضمان استرجاع المبالغ المدفوعة في حال تأخر موفر الخدمة عن تسليم السلعة/الخدمة لمدة تزيد عن 15 يوماً.
تشي تفاصيل مواد القانون الجديد الواردة أعلاه، والمواد الأخرى، عن إمكانية توسع تبادلات التجارة الإلكترونية في السوق السعودية، وذلك مع توفير المزيد من الموثوقية والشفافية في النشاط الإلكترونية، وهي متطلبات أساسية في سوق يصنف من بين اعلى عشر دول من حيث نمو قطاع التجارة الإلكترونية، حيث وصلت معدلات نمو التجارة الإلكترونية في المملكة لأكثر من 32%، بإجمالي حجم تداولات تصل الى 80 مليار ريال سعودي (اي حوالي 21 مليار دولار) وذلك خلال عام 2018.
