The Ministry of Commerce was established pursuant to Royal Decree No. 5/22/702, dated 11/7/1373 AH, and the first Minister of Commerce was appointed on 8/3/1374 AH. Its first budget was set retroactively for the period between 11/7/1373 AH and the end of 1374 AH.
Following its development and the expansion of its areas of responsibility, the Ministry came to consist of the following branches and departments:
- Department of Industrial and Electrical Affairs
- Department of Companies
- Department of Foreign Capital Investment
- Department of Commercial Affairs
- Regional Office for the Boycott of Israel
- Calibration and Standards Division
- Department for Combating Commercial Fraud
- Legal Department
- Statistics Division
- Commercial Register
In addition to the Ministry’s administrative sections and regional branches, which include:
- Translation Section
- Commercial Attachés Section
- Chemical Laboratories Section
- Ministry branch in Jeddah
- Ministry branch in Dammam
- Ministry branch in Makkah
- Ministry branch in Arar
Department of Industrial and Electrical Affairs
In the past, this department was responsible solely for electrical affairs, supervising the operations of electric companies and resolving disputes arising between consumers and electricity providers. However, due to the growing interest in establishing national industries and the need to overcome the challenges they faced, it was deemed necessary to create a section dedicated to industrial affairs.
On 28/2/1382 AH, Ministerial Resolution No. 301 was issued, merging the Department of Industrial Affairs and the Electricity Affairs Section into a single entity known as the Directorate of Industrial and Electrical Affairs.
Despite being only a year and a half old, the Directorate has made significant progress in organizing, encouraging, and protecting industrial investment. In the field of regulation:
- The Directorate collected comprehensive information on a large number of local factories in the Kingdom and is in the process of completing data collection and classification for the remaining factories. This will enable the preparation of the first accurate industrial census in the Kingdom.
- The Directorate submitted recommendations calling for contracting an accounting firm to prepare standardized templates for accounting records, as well as establishing a unified system for warehouses that factory owners must adhere to. This would facilitate factory operations and enable the Directorate—or any government body—to monitor industrial development in the Kingdom and contribute to solving the challenges faced by the sector.
- The Directorate is preparing recommendations regarding the industrial registry system, including the requirement of obtaining prior authorization from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry before establishing any factory. This measure aims to prevent the waste of national wealth on misguided industrial investments that may lead to excess capacity, and to redirect such investments toward other industrial fields.
Electrical Affairs
With regard to the electricity sector, the Ministry contracted an investment company to study all issues related to electrical power in the Kingdom and to develop appropriate recommendations. The study includes formulating a general electricity policy, standardizing network systems, frequency, and voltage, and proposing measures to ensure the provision of electricity to the public and national industries at the lowest possible cost.
The company is nearing completion of its study and has already submitted part of its recommendations to the Directorate, with the final reports expected soon.