Saudi contractor sector needs support, reforms: official

The Saudi contractor is facing challenges, as 99 percent or more of the contractors in Saudi Arabia are distributed over small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Secretary General of the Committee, Thabit Mubarak Al Suwaid, told CNBC Arabia Tuesday.

Around 55 percent of the contractors in the Kingdom are distributed over micro enterprises; 41 percent over small businesses; 3 percent over the mediums; and less than 1 percent are working with large companies.

He added that only 2 percent of the total 142,000 contractors are classified, which are working with the government.

Al Suwaid highlighted that one of the biggest challenges facing the sector is the lack of access to reliable statistics in the Kingdom, which negatively impacts investor awareness and decision-making.

There’s also a lack of qualified labor, he said, adding that the committee has proposed a rollover system between contracting companies instead of recruiting additional foreign workers.

He added that the committee is working on addressing these challenges and has introduced 34 foundational, regulatory and service initiatives that cover: licensing, classification, model contracts, statistics, arbitration, consultation, price indices, specialized conferences and others.