Arab News, Sat, Apr 20, 2024 | Shawwal 11, 1445
Saudi Arabia issues over 37k certificates of origin in March
Saudi Arabia:
Saudi exporters were issued 37,188 certificates of origin in March by the
Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, marking an annual increase of 0.5
percent.
The document confirms that the products are of
national origin or have acquired that status. It is part of the ministry’s
effort to support and facilitate the service for exporters in various sectors.
This initiative is part of the Kingdom’s goal
under the Vision 2030 economic transformation plan to increase the share of
non-oil exports to Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product from 16 percent to 50
percent by the decade’s end.
According to the Saudi Press Agency, the service
targets industrial establishments, the commercial sector, including companies
and institutions, and individuals, including farmers, fishermen and
individuals, as well as local artisans, and others.
The news agency pointed out that the document
includes four distinct modes: one for national products intended for the Gulf
Cooperation Council countries, another for Arab nations, a preferential origin
certificate, and a bilingual version for countries that do not grant
preferential treatment.
It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of
Industry started issuing these documents following the Cabinet’s decision to
transfer over the handing out of these certificates of origin for all national
products from the Ministry of Commerce.
The initiative is also an electronic service that
enables businesses to obtain the certification without the need to visit the
ministry to save time and effort.
Figures released earlier this year revealed that
the Industry and Mineral Resource Ministry issued 118 new industrial licenses in
February — a 72 percent annual increase – with the volume of investments
amounting to SR1.88 billion ($500 million).
The permits were distributed across five sectors,
with the food product production domain securing 23 licenses.