The Ministry of Commerce has explained that the chambers of commerce new system, approved by the Council of Ministers today, would facilitate starting up and practicing of business, besides developing the performance of chambers of commerce through certain indicators to assess the performance and raise efficiency in accordance with the best international practices. It would also enhance and promote the strategic partnerships, so that to develop the economic activities in all regions, and to raise the competitiveness of the business sector.
The new system unifies the efforts to serve the private sector through establishing and restructuring of chambers of commerce according to the administrative regions. The new system would enable setting up more than one chamber of commerce in the same region, including as well establishing offices or branches in the governorates and their affiliated centers, in addition to enabling the foreign investor to be a member of the boards of directors of the chambers of commerce. This is happened for the first time after revoking the Saudi nationality requirement for their membership, provided that the membership of the Board of Directors to be renewed for two consecutive sessions only.
The new system facilitates the starting up and practicing of business by exempting new subscribers (companies and establishments) from the chamber’s subscription fees for a period of 3 years, as from the date of registering in the commercial registration. The new system allows those who are practicing licensed trade activities to register in the Chamber of Commerce, and the system does not require to multiple the subscription in case the company or Est. has more than one branch. This is contrary to the old system which required doubling the fees in case of doubling the registered branches.
The new system stipulates amending the name from the Council of Chambers to the Chambers Association, also restructuring the Association Board which is consisted of the heads of the chambers. The new system has set up a supervisory body; the General Assembly of the Chambers Association, besides the activation of the roles of the General Assemblies of the chambers of commerce by granting them the necessary authorities in accordance with the principles of governance. The new system also allows holding meetings and voting through electronic means.
The new system works to raise the efficiency of the chamber of commerce performance through the assessment of performance and continuous evaluation, and in the event that the Chamber’s evaluation score falls below the limit specified by the regulation, then the Minister of Commerce may grant the Board of Directors a one-year period to address the situation and improve the performance, but in case of continuous decline of performance, the Minister may re-establish the Board of Directors.
The new system can be viewed via the following link:
mc.gov.sa/CCS