Saudi govt bodies asked to scrap paperwork, use e-services within 60 days

King Salman issued a royal decree on Friday ordering all ministries and government agencies to scrap paper transactions in financial procedures and to fully adopt using the e-services of Etimad digital platform within 60 days.

Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Finance Minister, welcomed the decree, adding that the move comes as part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

State bodies that fail to fulfill this task within the determined duration should send their reasons to the finance ministry for review, in participation of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Al-Jadaan said.

Etimad digital platform, which was launched on January 21, aims to provide digital financial services for the public and private sectors in a way that saves time and efforts through scrapping paper transactions and achieving a higher degree of transparency, he added.

The finance ministry has already completed the automation process of the budget management, as well as the digitalization of purchases, tenders, contracts, payments and state-employees’ financial benefits.